Active Directory Cookbook

2.7. Finding the NetBIOS Name of a Domain

Problem

You want to find the NetBIOS name of a domain. Although Microsoft has moved to using DNS for primary name resolution, the NetBIOS name of a domain is still important, especially with down-level clients that are still based on NetBIOS instead of DNS for naming.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. Open the Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in.

2. Right-click the domain you want to view in the left pane and select Properties.

The NetBIOS name will be shown in the “Domain name (pre-Windows 2000)” field.

Using a command-line interface

> dsquery * cn=partitions,cn=configuration,<ForestRootDN> -filter[RETURN] 
"(&(objectcategory=crossref)(dnsroot=<DomainDNSName>)(netbiosname=*))" -attr[RETURN] 
netbiosname

Using VBScript

' This code prints the NetBIOS name for the specified domain
' ------ SCRIPT CONFIGURATION ------
strDomain = "<DomainDNSName>" ' e.g. amer.rallencorp.com ' ------ END CONFIGURATION --------- set objRootDSE = GetObject("LDAP://" & strDomain & "/RootDSE") strADsPath = "<LDAP://" & strDomain & "/cn=Partitions," & _ objRootDSE.Get("configurationNamingContext") & ">;" strFilter = "(&(objectcategory=Crossref)" & _ "(dnsRoot=" & strDomain & ")(netBIOSName=*));" strAttrs = "netbiosname;" strScope = "Onelevel" set objConn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") objConn.Provider = "ADsDSOObject" objConn.Open "Active Directory Provider" set objRS = objConn.Execute(strADsPath & strFilter & strAttrs & strScope) objRS.MoveFirst WScript.Echo ...