Schedule a bulk force password change for users in Google Workspace

In this blog post, we will learn how o schedule a bulk force password change for users in Google Workspace. As a Google Workspace user, you need to have a unique password to safeguard your account and the details it consists of. However, there are incidents of security breaches due to a lack of care with the credentials, and in such situations, the Admins put an action to force password changes and inform the users about these changes. Also, they can schedule an accurate time to trigger this task. It helps to secure your Google account without any further delay.

Now, to schedule a bulk force password change, Admins need to add a CSV of the users’ list. In this write-up, you will learn how to automate this whole process by using Foresight.

Purpose of scheduling the bulk force password changes

• For security purposes, IT Admin can change the users’ Google accounts’ passwords. Thus they schedule bulk force password changes for users.
• When you schedule it by setting a time trigger that means the task will automatically execute at that particular time. The users should not be bothered by any delay. You can schedule it at any time as per your preference. You need to use a third-party tool like Foresight to avail of this feature.
• Force password change works as a shield from using your password by someone else. Admin should recommend a strict password with a certain combination of alphanumeric characters for users. This way, the password saves users’ valuable information. It keeps their account away from vulnerable activities. 
• It prohibits the organization’s honor by removing data breaches, and losses. Even it saves OU’s data from other organizations’ access.
• Also, the admin should change the sign-in cookies for these users after a forced password change. This means the users can’t use the old password once more. So, the user needs to set a new password at the next sign-in. Read more

Read More: Set up password recovery for users.

Schedule bulk force password changes with Foresight in Google Workspace

A SaaS platform like Foresight helps businesses streamline and automate Google Workspace workflows without learning to code. It empowers administrators and users to design complex business workflows that cannot be done with native Google Cloud services and work smarter.

The Google Admin has the feature of bulk force password reset but it does not have the option to schedule that task. It needs two columns when you upload CSV on the Admin console for this task.

But the task becomes much simple with Foresight-

• It requires a single column in CSV to reset passwords for bulk users.
• Secondly, you can schedule a time to trigger this task.

Note: The column names on CSV will be different for the Admin console and Foresight.

Users list to schedule for password change - Foresight Template

Video demo

From this demo video, you can learn about the scheduling force password change for users by using Foresight.

Instructions

We will divide our rule into two parts. In part 1, we will create a rule to force users password change at the next sign-in. While in part 2, we will create a rule to schedule the first rule.

Part 1- Creating a rule to force users password change at next sign-in.

Rule Creation

1. Here we are taking an email list of 50 users in Google Sheets. It has one column – Email. Please note for this demo purpose we have taken on 50 users, but in real cases, we can handle thousands of users at a time. Download the Google sheet as CSV.
2. Log in to Foresight with the Google Admin account. Go to the Rules page and click on the new rule button in the bottom-right corner.
3. Select the Data uploaded trigger and upload the CSV file with the updated info. Wait for the file to be parsed. Then click on Next.
4. Select the Require password change action. This action will be responsible to navigate you for setting a new password at the next sign-in.
5. Then, you may need to grant permission for Foresight in the Google Workspace account. After a successful permission grant, you will see the Access granted status.
6. Select Email in the UserPrimary email field and true in Require a password change at the next sign-in field. Click Review.
7. Enter the Rule name (Part 1-Schedule Bulk force password change for users in Google Workspace) and click Create. You can see the rule (part 1) has been created.

Now it’s time for Part-2. Select a Time trigger from the Rules page.

1. Set the time at the Trigger time field. Let’s say the admin scheduled the time at 4:55 PM today. This time must be within 15 minutes of the schedule. Then, click Next.
2. Select the Upload data to rule action.
3. Select the Upload from the computer checkbox in the CSV file source field. Then upload the same CSV again. Wait for the file to be parsed. Again select the Rule name (Part 1-Schedule Bulk force password change for users in Google Workspace) and click Review. The CSV and the rule will help to execute the final rule.
4. Enter the Rule name (Schedule Bulk force password change for users in Google Workspace) and click Create. Finally, the rule has been created.

Rule Triggering

We don’t need to manually trigger any part of this rule. Cause, it only needs the automated time trigger for starting.

Verifying Results

1. Some notifications will appear in the top-right corner. Click on the notification icon and then click on View All. You can also go to the Logs page from the left sidebar. The logs show the rule is triggered successfully. Now, all users require changing their password at the next sign-in.
2. Now test for the user’s Ms. Laura Sample's account. You will notice the user becomes logged out automatically. The user has been asked to reset the password after the login with the old password. So, the user needs to set a new password and then it directs the user to log in again.

Conclusion

You have learned to schedule a bulk force password change for users with Google admin accounts. Foresight is a handy tool that helps us to carry out this task smoothly within a little time. If you are using Foresight try its 14-day free trial and keep exploring. Also, you can read - Bulk Force Password Change For Users In Google Workspace, etc.