NetDom Examples

by Zubair Alexander @ 8:59 am. Filed under Active Directory, Scripting, Tips & Tricks, Windows 2003, Windows 2008

NetDom is a command-line tool that is built into Windows Server 2008. It is available if you have the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) server role installed. To use NetDom, you must run the NetDom command from an elevated command prompt. To open an elevated command prompt, click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

You can use NetDom to:

- Join a computer that runs Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista to a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 domain.

- Provide an option to specify the organizational unit (OU) for the computer account.

- Generate a random computer password for an initial Join operation.

- Manage computer accounts for domain member workstations and member servers. Management operations include:

- Add, Remove, Query.

- An option to specify the OU for the computer account.

- An option to move an existing computer account for a member workstation from one domain to another while maintaining the security descriptor on the computer account.

- Establish one-way or two-way trust relationships between domains, including the following kinds of trust relationships:

- From a Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 domain to a Windows NT 4.0 domain.

- From a Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 domain to a Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 domain in another enterprise.

- Between two Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 domains in an enterprise (a shortcut trust).

- The Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server half of an interoperable Kerberos protocol realm.

- Verify or reset the secure channel for the following configurations:

- Member workstations and servers.

- Backup domain controllers (BDCs) in a Windows NT 4.0 domain.

- Specific Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 replicas.

- Manage trust relationships between domains, including the following operations:

- Enumerate trust relationships (direct and indirect).

- View and change some attributes on a trust.

NetDom Commands

Here are the NetDom commands.

Command	Description
Netdom add	Adds a workstation or server account to the domain.
Netdom computername	Manages the primary and alternate names for a computer. This command can safely rename Active Directory domain controllers as well as member servers.
Netdom join	Joins a workstation or member server to a domain. The act of joining a computer to a domain creates an account for the computer on the domain, if it does not already exist.
Netdom move	Moves a workstation or member server to a new domain. The act of moving a computer to a new domain creates an account for the computer on the domain, if it does not already exist.
Netdom query	Queries the domain for information such as membership and trust.
Netdom remove	Removes a workstation or server from the domain.
Netdom movent4bdc	Renames a Windows NT 4.0 backup domain controller to reflect a domain name change. This can assist in Windows NT 4.0 domain renaming efforts.
Netdom renamecomputer	Renames a domain computer and its corresponding domain account. Use this command to rename domain workstations and member servers only. To rename domain controllers, use the netdom computername command.
Netdom reset	Resets the secure connection between a workstation and a domain controller.
Netdom resetpwd	Resets the computer account password for a domain controller.
Netdom trust	Establishes, verifies, or resets a trust relationship between domains.
Netdom verify	Verifies the secure connection between a workstation and a domain controller.

Microsoft has listed lots of examples on TechNet here. Here are some of them.

NetDom Examples

NOTE: The following examples apply to at least Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1 and Windows Server 2003 with SP2.

Example 1: Add a Workstation or Member Server to a Windows NT 4.0 Domain

To add the workstation mywksta to the Windows NT 4.0 domainreskita, type the following at the command line:

netdom add /d:reskita mywksta /ud:mydomain\admin /pd:password

Example 2: Add a Workstation or Member Server to a Windows Server 2003 Domain

To add the workstation mywksta to the Windows Server 2003 domain devgroup.example.com in the organizational unit (OU) Dsys/workstations, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom add/d:devgroup.example.com mywksta /OU:OU=Dsys,OU=Workstations,DC=microsoft,DC=com

Note

If the /ou parameter is not specified, the account is created in the Computers container.

Example 3: Move a Windows NT 4.0 BDC to a new domain

To join myBDC to the Windows NT 4.0 domain reskita type the following at the command prompt:

netdom mybdc moveNT4BDC /domain:reskita

Example 4: Add an alternate name for a Windows Server 2003 domain controller

To give an alternate name for the domain controller DC in the example.com domain, use the following syntax:

netdom computername dc /add:altDC.example.com

A name must first exist as an alternate before it can be made the primary name of a computer.

Example 5: Rename a domain controller in a Windows Server 2003 domain

To rename the domain controller DC to altDC in the example.com domain use the following syntax:

netdom computername dc /makeprimary:altdc.example.com

To rename a member server you must choose one of the existing alternate names for the computer and make it the new primary name.

Example 6: Rename a Member Server

To rename the member server member to member1, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom renamecomputer member /newname:member1.example.com /userd:administrator

Example 7: Join a Workstation or Member Server to a Domain

To join mywksta to the devgroup.example.com domain in the Dsys/workstations organizational unit, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom join /d:devgroup.example.com mywksta /OU:OU=Dsys,OU=Workstations,DC=microsoft,DC=com

Besides adding the computer account to the domain, the workstation is modified to contain the appropriate shared secret to complete the join operation.

Example 8: Remove a Workstation or Member Server from a Domain

To remove mywksta from the mydomain domain and make the workstation a part of a workgroup, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom remove /d:mydomain mywksta /ud:mydomain\admin /pd:password

Example 9: Move a Workstation or Member Server from One Domain to Another

To move mywksta from its current domain into the mydomain domain, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom move /d:mydomain mywksta /ud:mydomain\admin /pd:password

If the destination is a Windows 2000 domain, the Security ID history (SIDHistory) for the workstation is updated, retaining the security permissions that the computer account had previously.

Example 10: Reset the secure channel for a workstation, member server, or Windows NT 4.0 BDC

To reset the secure channel secret maintained between mywksta and devgroup.example.com (regardless of OU), type the following at the command prompt:

netdom reset /d:devgroup.example.com mywksta

To reset the secure channel between the Windows NT 4.0 PDC for Northamerica and the backup domain controller NABDC, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom reset /d:Northamerica NABDC

Example 11: Force a Secure Channel Session Between a Member and a Specific Domain Controller

Members often establish secure channel sessions with non-local domain controllers. To force a secure channel session between a member and a specific domain controller by using the /server parameter with the reset operation, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom reset /d:devgroup.example.com mywksta /Server:mylocalbdc

Example 12: Verify a Workstation or Member Server Secure Channel

To verify the secure channel secret is maintained between mywksta and devgroup.example.com, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom verify /d:devgroup.example.com mywksta

Example 13: Establish a One-Way Trust Relationship

When used with the trust operation, the /d:Domain parameter always refers to the trusted domain.

To set the Windows NT 4.0 resource domain USA-Chicago to trust the Windows NT 4.0 account domain Northamerica, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust /d:Northamerica USA-Chicago /add /Ud:Northamerica\admin /Pd:* /Uo:USA-Chicago\admin /Po:*

Press Enter and the following prompt is displayed:

Password for Northamerica\admin:

Enter the password for Northamerica\admin and press Enter. The following prompt is displayed:

Password for USA-Chicago\admin:

Enter the password for USA-Chicago\admin and press Enter.

The user must have credentials for both domains. The /pd parameter can be used to specify the password for Northamerica\admin and the /po parameter can be used to specify the password for USA-Chicago\admin. If passwords are not provided on the command line, the user is prompted for both.

If you then want to specify a two-way trust, type the following at the command prompt

netdom trust /d:marketing.example.com engineering.example.com /add /twoway /Uo:admin@engineering.example.com /Ud:admin@marketing.example.com:

Example 14: Establish a One-Way Trust Relationship from a Windows Domain to a Non-Windows Kerberos Realm

To establish a one-way trust where Northamerica trusts the non-Windows Kerberos realm ATHENA, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust /d:ATHENA Northamerica /add /PT:password /realm

The /d parameter specifies the trusted domain and the /realm parameter indicates that this is a non-Windows Kerberos realm. The order of the domains is not important. Credentials to the Windows 2000 domain can be supplied if needed.

Note

Verifying a specific trust relationship requires credentials unless the user has domain administrator privileges on both domains.

If you want to set the Kerberos realm ATHENA to trust the Northamerica domain, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust /d:Northamerica ATHENA /add

Note

To make the trust two-way, you can specify the /twoway parameter.

Non-Windows Kerberos trusts are created as non-transitive. If you want to change the trust from ATHENA to Northamerica as transitive, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust Northamerica /d:ATHENA /trans:yes

To display the transitive state, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust Northamerica /d:ATHENA /trans

The order of the two domains above is not important. Either can be the non-Windows Kerberos domain.

Example 15: Break a One-Way Trust Relationship

To undo the trust that USA-Chicago has for Northamerica, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust /d:Northamerica USA-Chicago /remove

Example 16: Break a Two-Way Trust Relationship

To break a two-way trust relationship, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust /d:marketing.example.com Engineering.example.com /remove /twoway /Uo:admin@engineering.example.com /Ud:admin@marketing.example.com

Example 17: Verify a Specific Trust Relationship

To verify the one-way trust that USA-Chicago has for Northamerica, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust /d:Northamerica USA-Chicago /verify

To verify a two-way trust between the Northamerica and Europe domains, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust /d:Northamerica EUROPE /verify /twoway

The /verify parameter checks that the appropriate shared secrets are synchronized between the two items involved in the trust.

Example 18: Reset a Specific Trust Relationship

To reset the secure channel for the one-way trust between Northamerica and USA-Chicago, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust /d:Northamerica USA-Chicago /Ud:Northamerica\admin /reset

The /reset parameter synchronizes the appropriate shared secrets if they are not already synchronized.

Example 19: Verify Kerberos Functionality

To verify Kerberos authentication between a workstation and a service located in the domain devgroup.example.com, type the following at the command prompt:

netdom trust /d:devgroup.example.com /verify /KERBEROS

When you use the NetDom trust operation with the /verify /kerberos parameters, it seeks a session ticket for the Kerberos Admin service in the target domain. If successful, you can conclude that all Kerberos operations (for example KDC referrals) are operating correctly between the workstation and the target domain.

Note