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Ticket 03 — Account Lockout

Ticket Summary

Michael reported that he was unable to sign in to his domain account.

User Request

Michael submitted a service desk ticket reporting that he could not access his account.

Michael account lockout ticket submitted

Michael's account-lockout request submitted through osTicket.

Initial Assessment

I first checked whether the login problem was caused by an incorrect password or an account lockout.

The investigation focused on:

  • Confirming the affected user account.
  • Checking the account status.
  • Reviewing the configured account-lockout policy.
  • Unlocking the account if a lockout was confirmed.
  • Verifying the account after the change.

Account Status and Lockout Policy

I checked Michael's account to establish its normal state before the lockout condition.

Michael account before lockout

Michael's Active Directory account before the simulated lockout.

I also configured an account-lockout policy in the domain to provide a realistic authentication environment.

Account lockout policy applied

Account-lockout policy configured in the domain environment.

I then verified the configuration.

Account lockout policy verified

Verified account-lockout policy configuration.

Confirming the Lockout

After the simulated failed-login attempts, I checked Michael's account again.

Michael locked account confirmed

Active Directory showing Michael's account in a locked state.

This confirmed that the authentication failure was caused by the account lockout condition rather than simply an incorrect password.

Technical Resolution

Once the lockout was confirmed, I unlocked the account through Active Directory.

I then checked the account again to confirm that the lockout had been cleared.

Michael account lockout resolved

Michael's account after the lockout was cleared.

Verification

The troubleshooting process followed a simple support workflow: 

Login failure reported
        │
        ▼
Check account status
        │
        ▼
Confirm account lockout
        │
        ▼
Review lockout policy
        │
        ▼
Unlock account
        │
        ▼
Verify account status
        │
        ▼
Confirm authentication is restored
The verification step ensured that I did not assume the problem was fixed simply because the unlock operation had been performed.

Service Desk Resolution and Closure

After the technical work was completed and the account status was verified, I documented the resolution in osTicket and closed the ticket.

Michael account lockout resolved and closed

Michael's account-lockout ticket showing the completed resolution and closure.