Active Directory Cookbook

1.4. Replaceable Text

This book is filled with examples. Every recipe consists of one or more examples that show how to accomplish a task. Most CLI- and VBScript-based solutions use parameters that are based on the domain, forest, OU, user, etc., that is being added, modified, queried, and so on. Instead of using fictitious names, in most cases, I use replaceable text. This text should be easily recognizable because it is in italics and surrounded by angle brackets (<>). Instead of describing what each replaceable element represents every time I use it, I’ve included a list of some of the commonly used ones here:

<DomainDN>

Distinguished name of domain (e.g., dc=amer,dc=rallencorp,dc=com)

<ForestRootDN>

Distinguished name of the forest root domain (e.g., dc=rallencorp,dc=com)

<DomainDNSName>

Fully qualified DNS name of domain (e.g., amer.rallencorp.com)

<ForestDNSName>

Fully qualified DNS name of forest root domain (e.g., rallencorp.com)

<DomainControllerName>

Single label or fully qualified DNS hostname of domain controller (e.g., dc01.rallencorp.com)

<UserDN>

Distinguished name of user (e.g., cn=administrator,cn=users,dc=rallencorp,dc=com)

<GroupDN>

Distinguished name of group (e.g., cn=DomainAdmins,cn=users,dc=rallencorp,dc=com)

<ComputerName>

Single label DNS hostname of computer (e.g., rallen-xp)