NetBIOS domain of computer in PowerShell

Question

How can I get the NetBIOS (aka 'short') domain name of the current computer from PowerShell?

$ENV:USERDOMAIN displays the domain of the current user, but I want the domain that the current machine is a member of.

I've discovered you can do it pretty easily in VBScript, but apparently ADSystemInfo isn't very nice to use in PowerShell.

Update

Here's my final solution incorporating the suggestion of using Win32_NTDomain, but filtering to the current machine's domain

$wmiDomain = Get-WmiObject Win32_NTDomain -Filter "DnsForestName = '$( (Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem).Domain)'"
$domain = $wmiDomain.DomainName

Answer 1

In most cases, the default NetBIOS domain name is the leftmost label in the DNS domain name up to the first 15 bytes (NetBIOS names have a limit of 15 bytes). The NetBIOS domain name may be changed during the installation of the Active Directory, but it cannot be changed.

The WIN32_ComputerSystem WMI object gives informations on a Windows computer

PS C:\> Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem

Domain              : WORKGROUP
Manufacturer        : Hewlett-Packard
Model               : HP EliteBook 8530w (XXXXXXXXX)
Name                : ABCHPP2
PrimaryOwnerName    : ABC
TotalPhysicalMemory : 4190388224

So the domain Name is given by :

PS C:\> (gwmi WIN32_ComputerSystem).Domain

But in domain installation, the DNS name is given. In this case, you can use nbtstat -n command to find the NetBIOS domain name which is displayed like this <DOMAIN><1B>.

The PowerShell Command may be :

nbtstat -n | Select-String -Pattern "^ *(.*) *<1B>.*$" | % {$_ -replace '^ *(.*) *<1B>.*$','$1'}

Here is another way using WMI

PS C:\> (gwmi Win32_NTDomain).DomainName

Answer 2

OP is after "computer domain" so the answer would be $GetComputerDomain (below) but I will add the $GetUserDomain also for reference.

$GetComputerDomain = ([System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::GetComputerDomain()).Name
$GetUserDomain = ([System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::GetCurrentDomain()).Name

I find the wmi (gwmi) option to be extremely slow, especially, when you are querying the Win32_NTDomain class. I have a multi-trusted domain environment and it takes forever when I just need that simple info quick.

Answer 3

import-module activedirectory
(Get-ADDomain -Identity (Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem).Domain).NetBIOSName

Answer 4

The below powershell command works great! I tested after trying various solutions.

If you use the following .Net command:

 [System.Net.Dns]::GetHostByAddress('192.168.1.101').hostname

It works too, but it is using DNS to resolve, in my case, we have WINS setup to support an application that requires it, so can't use it. Below is what I ended up using as part of a script I use to check for WINS registration for each client:

$IPAddress = "<enterIPAddress>" (remove brackets, just enter IP address)

(nbtstat -A $IPAddress | ?{$_ -match '\<00\>  UNIQUE'}).Split()[4]

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/f52eb2c7-d55d-4d31-ab4e-09d65d366771/how-to-process-cmd-nbtstat-a-ipaddress-output-and-display-the-computer-name-in-powershell?forum=ITCG

The above link has the thread and conversation.

Answer 5

From Here

# Retrieve Distinguished Name of current domain.
$Domain = [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::GetCurrentDomain()
$Root = $Domain.GetDirectoryEntry()
$Base = ($Root.distinguishedName)

# Use the NameTranslate object.
$objTrans = New-Object -comObject "NameTranslate"
$objNT = $objTrans.GetType()

# Invoke the Init method to Initialize NameTranslate by locating
# the Global Catalog. Note the constant 3 is ADS_NAME_INITTYPE_GC.
$objNT.InvokeMember("Init", "InvokeMethod", $Null, $objTrans, (3, $Null))

# Use the Set method to specify the Distinguished Name of the current domain.
# Note the constant 1 is ADS_NAME_TYPE_1779.
$objNT.InvokeMember("Set", "InvokeMethod", $Null, $objTrans, (1, "$Base"))

# Use the Get method to retrieve the NetBIOS name of the current domain.
# Note the constant 3 is ADS_NAME_TYPE_NT4.
# The value retrieved includes a trailing backslash.
$strDomain = $objNT.InvokeMember("Get", "InvokeMethod", $Null, $objTrans, 3)

Answer 6

This can also be done by using .NET framework (which is much faster than WMI)

PS > [System.Net.NetworkInformation.IPGlobalProperties]::GetIPGlobalProperties()

Will return

HostName      : SurfaceBook
DomainName    : mydomain.com
NodeType      : Hybrid
DhcpScopeName :
IsWinsProxy   : False

Answer 7

Use env: to get environment settings through PowerShell

NetBIOS: $env:userdomain

FQDN: $env:userdnsdomain

To see all the values:

dir env:  (no $)

Answer 8

Using the ADSystemInfo COM object should work, with no delay from Win32_NTDomain lookup:

[System.__ComObject].InvokeMember("DomainShortName", [System.Reflection.BindingFlags]::GetProperty, $null, (New-Object -ComObject "ADSystemInfo"), $null)

There are other AD-related properties available from this COM object too:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/adsi/iadsadsysteminfo-property-methods

[EDITED - Updated to use ADSystemInfo - in response to a comment that WinNTSystemInfo only returns the user's short domain]

Answer 9

Using NetGetJoinInformation and P/Invoke:

Add-Type -MemberDefinition @"
[DllImport("netapi32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, SetLastError = true)]
public static extern uint NetApiBufferFree(IntPtr Buffer);
[DllImport("netapi32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, SetLastError = true)]
public static extern int NetGetJoinInformation(
  string server,
  out IntPtr NameBuffer,
  out int BufferType);
"@ -Namespace Win32Api -Name NetApi32

function GetDomainName {
  $pNameBuffer = [IntPtr]::Zero
  $joinStatus = 0
  $apiResult = [Win32Api.NetApi32]::NetGetJoinInformation(
    $null,               # lpServer
    [Ref] $pNameBuffer,  # lpNameBuffer
    [Ref] $joinStatus    # BufferType
  )
  if ( $apiResult -eq 0 ) {
    [Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::PtrToStringAuto($pNameBuffer)
    [Void] [Win32Api.NetApi32]::NetApiBufferFree($pNameBuffer)
  }
}

Answer 10

Use the Active Directory Cmdlet Get-ADDomain:

(Get-ADDomain -Current LocalComputer).NetBIOSName

Answer 11

Here is another faster method than Win32_NTDomain, for getting the NetBIOS domain of the computer.

# Get the computer system CIM/WMI
$computersystem = Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem

# Create a Windows Identity Principal object based on the name and domain in Win32_ComputerSystem
$ComputerPrincipal = [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::new("$($computersystem.name)@$($computersystem.domain)")

# Split the NetBIOS name on \ and get the first value which should be the domain
($ComputerPrincipal.Name -split "\\")[0]


# Bonus point, the WindowsIdentity Principal has a bunch of other useful information.
# Like quick enumeration of the groups it's in (but needs to be translated from SID to NTAccount format).
$ComputerPrincipal.Groups.Translate([System.Security.Principal.NTAccount]).value