What is the password hash format used in the exported XML configuration file?

Question

I am trying to set up some preconfigured XML configuration files to support an automated deployment of ArcGIS Server (and Portal) that uses the /ACCOUNT=UseConfigFile /CONFIGPATH=my_config.xml installer command line options. I have an XML file that I saved from a previous install and was hoping to use that as a template. However, the password field of the XML file appears to be stored as a base64-encoded hashed value. See examples below. Is there any documentation on exactly how a password in encoded in this file? Also related, the XML configuration file for Portal also encodes the password, but appears to use a different technique. Is there any documentation on the Portal configuration file as well? If there is a different approach to setting up deployment configurations without having to store plain-text credentials, I'm open to suggestions. Example ArcGIS Server XML config file domain\webgis AgAAADAAAAAuaGNuU2Niq1ZpNjY5MmNaWXZOc3ZjRHNSMEhIadpo2G5oWVNkbAgzVkxVN1V9KgA= Example Portal XML config file domain\webgis 00022e684e54686754597261625452584378425171317638616b6f665a696843766541416e7636515659bf6d695a6b3e7a00

LucasScharenbroich · Answer

I'm not trying to decrypt an existing password.

I'm using DSC for the deployment (versus chef), and I want to take a known password and hash it into the correct format so that it can be used in the config.xml file during the ArcGIS Server installation.

Hopefully that makes things a bit clearer.

JonathanQuinn · Answer

I can't imagine how to decrypt an encrypted password for a service account would ever be documented.  If the password changes, you should create a new configuration file or use Chef where you can control the deployment of your site.