Renaming a Computer

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To change a computer name, use the Rename-Computer cmdlet. Note that the computer must be online and connected to Active Directory.

Basic Syntax

Rename a computer remotely:

Rename-Computer –ComputerName "FS1" -NewName "FS2"

Running Locally

If you want to run this script locally:

Rename-Computer -NewName "newname" -DomainCredential "Domain\Administrator"

Advanced: Rename, Join, and Move to OU

You can improve the renaming script by joining the computer to the domain and putting it into a specified OU simultaneously. The script should be run on the target machine, not on the domain controller.

$NewComputerName = "Server3" # Specify the new computer name
$DC = "contoso.com" # Specify the domain to join
$Path = "OU=TestOU,DC=contoso,DC=com" # Specify the path to the OU

Add-Computer -DomainName $DC -OUPath $Path `
  -NewName $NewComputerName –Restart –Force

The script will:

  1. Prompt for credentials of an account that has permissions to join computers to the domain
  2. Rename the computer
  3. Restart it
  4. Join it to the domain
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