Rename-Computer

Rename-Computer [-NewName*] <String> [-ComputerName <String>] [-Confirm] [-DomainCredential <PSCredential>][-Force] [-LocalCredential <PSCredential>] [-PassThru] [-Protocol {DCOM | WSMan}] [-Restart] [-WhatIf][-WsmanAuthentication {Default | Basic | Negotiate | CredSSP | Digest | Kerberos}] [<CommonParameters>]

The Rename-Computer cmdlet renames the local computer or a remote computer. It renames one computer in each command.

This cmdlet was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

Parameters

-ComputerName <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Renames the specified remote computer. The default is the local computer.

Type the NetBIOS name, an IP address, or a fully qualified domain name of a remote computer. To specify the local computer, type the computer name, a dot (.), or localhost.

This parameter does not rely on Windows PowerShell remoting. You can use the ComputerName parameter of Rename-Computer even if your computer is not configured to run remote commands.

-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

-DomainCredential <PSCredential>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a user account that has permission to connect to the domain. Explicit credentials are required to rename a computer that is joined to a domain.

Type a user name, such as User01 or Domain01\User01, or enter a PSCredential object, such as one generated by the Get-Credential cmdlet. If you type a user name, this cmdlet prompts you for a password.

To specify a user account that has permission to connect to the computer that is specified by the ComputerName parameter, use the LocalCredential parameter.

-Force [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Forces the command to run without asking for user confirmation.

-LocalCredential <PSCredential>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a user account that has permission to connect to the computer specified by the ComputerName parameter. The default is the current user.

To specify a user account that has permission to connect to the domain, use the DomainCredential parameter.

-NewName <String>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies a new name for the computer. This parameter is required. The name cannot include control characters, leading or trailing spaces, or any of the following characters: / \\ [ ].

-PassThru [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Returns the results of the command. Otherwise, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

-Protocol <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies which protocol to use to rename the computer. The acceptable values for this parameter are: WSMan and DCOM. The default value is DCOM.

This parameter was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

-Restart [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Indicates that this cmdlet restarts the computer that was renamed. A restart is often required to make the change effective.

-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

-WsmanAuthentication <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the mechanism that is used to authenticate the user credentials when this cmdlet uses the WSMan protocol. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

- Basic

- CredSSP

- Default

- Digest

- Kerberos

- Negotiate

The default value is Default.

Caution: Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) authentication, in which the user credentials are passed to a remote computer to be authenticated, is designed for commands that require authentication on more than one resource, such as accessing a remote network share. This mechanism increases the security risk of the remote operation. If the remote computer is compromised, the credentials that are passed to it can be used to control the network session.This parameter was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Inputs

None

This cmdlet does not have parameters that take input by value. However, you can pipe the values of the ComputerName and NewName properties of objects to this cmdlet.

Outputs

Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ComputerChangeInfo

This cmdlet returns a ComputerChangeInfo object, if you specify the PassThru parameter. Otherwise, it does not return any output.

Examples

Rename the local computer:
```
PS C:\> Rename-Computer -NewName "Server044" -DomainCredential Domain01\Admin01 -Restart
```
This command renames the local computer to Server044 and then restarts it to make the change effective.
Rename a remote computer:
```
PS C:\> Rename-Computer -ComputerName "Srv01" -NewName "Server001" -LocalCredential Srv01\Admin01 -DomainCredential Domain01\Admin01 -Force -PassThru -Restart
```
This command renames the Srv01 computer to Server001 and then restarts it to make the change effective. It uses the LocalCredential parameter to supply the credentials of a user who has permission to connect to the local computer and the DomainCredential parameter to supply the credentials of a user who has permission to rename computers in the domain. It uses the Force parameter to suppress the confirmation prompt and the PassThru parameter to return the results of the command.
Rename multiple computers:
```
PS C:\> $a = Import-Csv ServerNames.csv -Header OldName, NewName
PS C:\>  Foreach ( $Server in $a ) {Rename-Computer -ComputerName $Server.OldName -NewName $Server.NewName -DomainCredential Domain01\Admin01 -Force -Restart}
```
This command renames multiple computers in the domain. It uses a CSV file to specify the values for the current and new names of each computer. The CSV file contains a series of name pairs in "OldName, NewName" format with one name pair on each line of the file.

The first command uses the Import-Csv cmdlet to import the ServerNames.csv file into the $a variable. It uses the Header parameter to specify the column header names of each of the two columns. This creates a collection of custom objects in $a, each of which has an OldName and NewName property.

The second command runs the Rename-Computer cmdlet on each object in the $a variable. It specifies the old name, which is the value of the OldName property, for the value of the ComputerName parameter. It specifiesthe new name, the value of the NewName property, for the value of the NewName parameter. The command specifies domain credentials and uses Force and Restart to suppress all user prompts and restart each computer after it is renamed.

Additional Notes

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. It is attributed to Microsoft Corporation and can be found here.

PowerShell Commands