Troubleshooting Tip: Issue with changing the Admin Password through CLI
Description
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This article describes the steps to follow when encountering issues during the process of updating the Local Admin Account password via the CLI.
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Scope
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FortiGate, CLI.
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Solution
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The Admin account password can be updated using either the GUI or the CLI.
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GUI:
For password updates via the GUI, navigate to System -> Administrators -> Select Admin Account -> Change Password.
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CLI:
When using the CLI, run the following command:
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config system admin
edit "<admin_username>"
       set password <new_password> <old_password>
end  Â
Important:
An issue may occur when a backslash (\) is included in the password while changing it via the CLI.
The command completes successfully and updates the password; however, logging in with the new password may trigger an 'Authentication Failure' error.
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Example:
config system admin
edit "Demo_Admin"
       set password New\Password Password
end Â
Reminder:
Logging in with New\Password results in the following error message:
Tip:
To resolve the issue caused by using a backslash in the password, enclose the password in double quotes (" ") when running the command:
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config system admin
edit "<admin_username>"
       set password "<new_password>" "<old_password>"
end
Example:
config system admin
edit "Demo_Admin"
       set password "New\Password" "Password"
end Â
Result:
Authentication will now be successful with the same password containing a backslash.
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Note:
On version 7.6.6, there is an issue where local Admin users with super_admin privileges cannot change the admin account passwords from either the GUI or the CLI.
Both resulted in the following error:
"Please enter current administrator password: *************** Incorrect admin's password. Command fail. Return code -30"
Debugging the httpsd process results in the following errors:
2026-05-18 16:28:12 [httpsd 29703 - 1777362625 warning] JavaScript -- Possibly unhandled rejection: {"user_notified":"error","http_method":"PUT","revision":"dc0727dbaf8364e10effc2b40ef0f356","revision_changed":false,"cli_error":"<strong>Invalid password.</strong>
<ul class=\"error-msg-list\">
Incorrect admin's password.
","error":-30,"status":"error","http_status":500,"vdom":"root","path":"system","name":"admin","action"
:"","mkey":"helmich","serial":"FGT70FTXXXXXX","version":"v7.6.6","build":3652}
at window.FOS_LIB (https://172.16.10.25/static/ng/app.js:2:3957741)
at processChecks (https://172.16.10.25/static/ng/app.js:2:2039234)
at Scope.$digest (https://172.16.10.25/static/ng/app.js:2:2050196)
2026-05-18 16:28:12 [httpsd 29703 - 1777361355 warning] JavaScript -- Possibly unhandled rejection: {"data":{"http_method":"PUT","revision":"8c0718dbaf1364f30effc2b60e80d318","revision_changed":false,"cli_error":"<stron
g>Invalid password.</strong>
<ul class=\"error-msg-list\">
Incorrect admin's password.
","error":-30,"status":"error","http_status":500,"vdom":"root","path":"system","name":"admin","action":"","mkey":"helm
The workaround for this issue is to enable password policy and then force a password change for the admin account:
Technical Tip: How to force a password change for a FortiGate admin account on next login
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