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Need to Change Hostname for Windows Server Domain Controller?

If you promoted your server to a domain controller, you won't be able to change the hostname for Windows Server Domain Controller without inputting commands in the command prompt. Basically, you need to open the command prompt, add a new alternate hostname, make the domain controller your primary hostname, reboot your server, and then remove the old hostname. This is useful if the server's hostname was not changed before the server gets promoted as a domain controller. The order of commands along with the syntax is as follows:

netdom computername oldcomputername.yourlocaldomain.lan /add:newcomputername.yourlocaldomain.lan
netdom computername oldcomputername.yourlocaldomain.lan /makeprimary:newcomputername.yourlocaldomain.lan
shutdown /r /t 0
netdom computername newcomputername.yourlocaldomain.lan /remove:oldcomputername.yourlocaldomain.lan
netdom computername
The command to execute.
oldcomputername
Old hostname (example: WIN-R61PT45).
yourlocaldomain.lan
Local domain name (example: graysonpeddie.lan)
newcomputername
New hostname (example: grayson-dc1)
/add
Adds a new hostname to the domain controller as an alternate hostname. For this example, newcomputername will be added as an alternate hostname for the domain controller.
/makeprimary
Makes a hostname a primary name for the domain controller. newcomputername will be the primary name for the domain controller and the oldcomputername will be the alternate hostname for the domain controller.
/remove
Deletes the hostname from the domain controller. In this case, the /remove flag removes the oldcomputername from the domain controller.
/enumerate
Although not shown in the order of commands above this list of commands, parameters, and flags, this will enumerate the list of hostnames assigned to the domain controller. This flag does not require a parameter, so the colon after the enumerate flag is not needed.
shutdown /r /t 0
This command reboots the server (hence, /r) immediately (/t 0. The /t 0 flag and parameter is a timer.
dcdiag
Not shown in the list of commands above. This command runs a diagnostic for the domain controller to make sure everything in the domain controller is working fine. There might be some errors and warnings, but if computers can login to the domain controller, it should be fine.

Because I did not know the commands myself, I must give credit to "The ICT Guy" (Twitter profile) for writing an article titled Correctly renaming a Domain Controller for a seamless easy migration. That article has been of great help to me since I am testing Windows Server 2016 Essentials edition as part of my virtual homelab setup. For example, I wanted to test the domain joining functionality in macOS and test an Active Directory integration in Nextcloud using an LDAP/AD integration app. LDAP stands for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and is used for managing users and groups.

I hope I can be of help to Windows administrators.

Article published: 2022-09-25 01:15

Categories: The World of Computers, Information Technology,

About Grayson Peddie

Hello! I am a web developer and I have a passion for the world of Information Technology. I currently hold 4 CompTIA certificates (A+, Network+, Security+, and CySA+) including Cisco's CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certificate. Speaking of web development, I am a web accessibility enthusiast. I make sure that users of screen readers and keyboard users who cannot use a mouse can be able to access my website with just only the keyboard. Plus, I have learned a whole lot about Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

So what are my hobbies? Aside from web development, I watch Star Trek: The Next Generation from time to time during the nights. I listen to music from the likes of David Arkenstone, Yanni, Checkfield, Cucso, Looreena McKennitt, Clannad, 2002, Enya, and even soundtrack from EPCOT Center (1982-1994), Tomorrowland, WALL-E, and TRON: Legacy. Oh, yes! Tomorrowland, TRON: Legacy, and WALL-E are the three movies I watch during Friday nights and every Friday night is my pizza night. I'm an optimist who likes to see what kind of future the world would look like. That's why I follow The Venus Project on Twitter (here's the website to The Venus Project. I do have a lot to cover in my introductory article in my website, so if you want to go in-depth and know more about me, that is the article to visit.