Recipe 2.7 Finding the NetBIOS Name of a Domain

2.7.1 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.

2.7.2 Solution

2.7.2.1 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.

2.7.2.2 Using a command-line interface

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

2.7.2.3 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 "NetBIOS name for " & strDomain & " is " & objRS.Fields(0).Value

2.7.3 Discussion

Each domain has a crossRef object that is used by Active Directory to generate referrals. Referrals are necessary when a client performs a query and the directory server handling the request does not have the matching object(s) in its domain. The NetBIOS name of a domain is stored in the domain's crossRef object in the Partitions container in the Configuration NC. Each crossRef object has a dnsRoot attribute, which is the fully qualified DNS name of the domain. The netBIOSName attribute contains the NetBIOS name for the domain.