Computer Name Change

Kota · 05-14-2007, 04:54 PM

I am looking to change all the Computer names in our environment to a different standard.

Our current PC names look like the AB-C12345. I want to keep the "12345" and append something new to the front of it. It would look like DEF-12345.

Any ideas on how to do this? My vbscript knowledge is poor.

LordofthePatch · 05-14-2007, 06:06 PM

If a computer name is ABC12345 and you want to change it to DEF12345 I would be inclined to use Regular Expressions to isolate the numeric values as a string and then append a new character string to the front. Are all machines in your environment named this consistently (i.e. name begins with characters and ends in digits)?

Kota · 05-14-2007, 06:13 PM

I would say 80 percent of our computers are named the same. I understand what you are saying about regular expressions and appending the numeric but I don't know how to do that in VBscript. I don't know the syntax at all.

andykn · 05-15-2007, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kota

I would say 80 percent of our computers are named the same. I understand what you are saying about regular expressions and appending the numeric but I don't know how to do that in VBscript. I don't know the syntax at all.

Nor do I.

I'd install the Windows XP Support tools and use the NETDOM command as follows:

netdom renamecomputer %COMPUTERNAME% /newname

EF-%COMPUTERNAME:~-5% /force

Run the script in DS with an account that is a member of the Administrators Local Security Group on each PC and that has the rights to change computer names in the AD.

You probably have to reboot the PC after installing the Support Tools. More info on NETDOM is given in Microsoft KB article 298593.

I got the info on using the :~ stuff from here:

http://www.ss64.com/ntsyntax/varsubstring.html

Nick · 05-15-2007, 09:04 AM

How about using the following query (Thanks to John Doyle for the help!) on your express database to change the display name in the DS console to what you want the systems to be renamed to.

Code:

UPDATE dbo.computer
SET [name] = REPLACE([name],N'ABC-',N'DEF-')
WHERE [name] LIKE N'ABC-%'

Now create a job called Rename in the DS console
Create a new Task in the job to Modify Configuration
Select Microsoft Networking
Select Use token for computer name
Select Token %NAME% which is default
Select Workgroup or Domain
Select Finish

Kota · 05-15-2007, 10:49 AM

Shouldn't the Replace statement be like this?

REplace([Name], 'ABC-', 'DEF')

I don't know where the N came from in your statement.

Kota · 05-15-2007, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andykn

Nor do I.

I'd install the Windows XP Support tools and use the NETDOM command as follows:

netdom renamecomputer %COMPUTERNAME% /newname

EF-%COMPUTERNAME:~-5% /force

Run the script in DS with an account that is a member of the Administrators Local Security Group on each PC and that has the rights to change computer names in the AD.

You probably have to reboot the PC after installing the Support Tools. More info on NETDOM is given in Microsoft KB article 298593.

I got the info on using the :~ stuff from here:

http://www.ss64.com/ntsyntax/varsubstring.html

I don't want to have to install the support tools onto 2000 PC's. I don't think this would work unless you can install them on a share.

Nick · 05-15-2007, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kota

Shouldn't the Replace statement be like this?

REplace([Name], 'ABC-', 'DEF')

I don't know where the N came from in your statement.

The N denotes that the subsequent string is in Unicode (the N actually stands for National language character set). Which means that you are passing an NCHAR, NVARCHAR or NTEXT value, as opposed to CHAR, VARCHAR or TEXT.

I tested this out on my lab and it worked without a problem.

Kota · 05-15-2007, 12:49 PM

I just tested this out. Worked like a charm. Thanks for all the help.