How to rename computer account using Powershell 2.0

Question

Hi,
For my Win7 deployment environment i need a script that can rename my workstation and it's Active Directory computer account.
Is this possible using Powershell 2.0 included in Win7?

Answer 1

I created a PowerShell script that, among other things, renames the computer.
Function Rename-Computer ([string]$NewComputerName) {
$comp = (gwmi win32_computersystem).Name.Trim()
$ComputerInfo = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_ComputerSystem
Write-Host "Renaming computer...`n`tOld name: $comp`n`tNew name: $apnewname"
#Start-Sleep (10)
$ComputerInfo.rename($NewComputerName) | Out-Null
After that you should reboot
function RestartMachine{
$os = gwmi win32_operatingsystem
$os.psbase.Scope.Options.EnablePrivileges = $True
$os.Reboot()
Or better yet just use the `Restart-Computer` cmdlet built into PoSH.
Now, the original post also said there was a need to rename the computer object n AD.  Below are two functions I use primarily for moving AD objects into their appropriate OU home.  While that doesn't immediately answer the question or solve the
problem, I do believe you can rename the object you bind to using a very similar method.
# This was created with the idea that machines would join the
# domain automatically, into a predetermined OU. From there,
# we would determine which OU the machine should be in, then
# move it by calling this function.
function MoveOU ($newOU) {
$comp = (gwmi win32_computersystem).Name.Trim()
$dumpOU = "CN=Computers,"
# DC=dc,DC=net
$root = [adsi]""
#CN=Computers,DC=dc,DC=net
$srcOU = [adsi]("LDAP://"+$dumpOU+$root.distinguishedName)
#OU=fixedOU,OU=testOU,DC=dc,DC=net
$destOU = [adsi]("LDAP://OU=fixedOU,OU=testOU,"+$root.distinguishedName)
#CN=COMPUTERNAME,CN=Computers,DC=dc,DC=net
$admin = [adsi]("LDAP://CN="+$comp+","+$srcOU.distinguishedName)
#$admin.psbase | get-member | where-object {$_.Name -eq "MoveTo"}
#System.Void MoveTo(DirectoryEntry newParent), System.Void MoveTo(DirectoryEntry newParent, String newName)
$admin.PSBase.MoveTo($destOU)
Function Move-OU ($SiteDC, $newOU) {
$computerName = (gwmi win32_computersystem).Name.Trim()
$_computerType = "CN=Computer,CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=dc,DC=net"
$path = "LDAP://$SiteDC/DC=dc,DC=net"
$domain = "domain"
$user = "user"
$pass = "password"
$de = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry($path,"$domain\$user",$pass)
$ds = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher($de)
$ds.Filter = "(&(ObjectCategory=computer)(samaccountname=$computerName$))"
$res = $ds.FindAll()
if ($res.count -gt 0) {
# Machine has been found
# Bind to the Computer Object in AD
$oldComputerObject = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry($res[0].path,"$domain\$user",$pass)
#$oldOU = $oldComputerObject.distinguishedName
$oldOU = $oldComputerObject.Path
Else {
$strFilter = "(Name=$computerName)"
$objDomain = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry("LDAP://$SiteDC/dc=dc,dc=net","$domain\$user",$pass)
$objSearcher = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher($objdomain)
$objSearcher.SearchRoot = $objDomain
$objSearcher.PageSize = 1000
$objSearcher.Filter = $strFilter
$objSearcher.SearchScope = "Subtree"
$colPropList = "distinguishedName", "Name"
foreach ($i in $colPropList){$objSearcher.PropertiesToLoad.Add($i) | Out-Null}
$colResults = $objSearcher.FindAll()
#$colResults.Count
if($colResults.count -gt 0) {
foreach($result in $colResults) { $target = $result.Properties }
$Error.Clear()
#$oldOU = $target.distinguishedname
$oldOU = [string]$target.adspath
Else {
write-host "`tWARNING: Unable to locate $computername in AD; Cannot move to correct OU"
ErrorLog "WARNING: Cannot move object $computername to correct OU; Not found in AD."
$destOU = New-Object System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry("LDAP://$SiteDC/$newOU","$domain\$user",$pass)
$oldComputerObject.PSBase.MoveTo($destOU)
/\/\o\/\/ who has been known to dabble in scripting a bit (;) has also covered this subject here.  I would copy & paste, but I highly recommend reading it to get a better understanding of what's going on.  Plus, there's LOADS of useful information
on that site!
http://mow001.blogspot.com/2006/09/powershell-active-directory-part-11.html