ID: Q193068
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
- Microsoft Windows 2000
******************************************************************** BETA INFORMATION BETA INFORMATION BETA INFORMATION BETA This article discusses a Beta release of a Microsoft product. The information in this article is provided as-is and is subject to change without notice. No formal product support is available from Microsoft for this Beta product. For information about obtaining support for a Beta release, please see the documentation included with the Beta product files, or check the Web location from which you downloaded the release. BETA INFORMATION BETA INFORMATION BETA INFORMATION BETA ********************************************************************
Occasionally, you might need to rename a Windows 2000, Windows NT, or Windows 9x computer account programmatically. This article provides sample code that demonstrates how to accomplish this task.
Windows 2000 provides a new API called NetRenameMachineInDomain that makes it easy to rename an account programmatically. The sample code provided in this article does a version check and executes the correct code path based on the version of the operating system.
Under Windows NT 4.0, you cannot run this code from a remote computer. It must be run on the target computer.
If the computer account that you want to rename is a Windows 9x account, the task is slightly more complicated. Because Windows 9x does not implement the 32-bit version of NetUserSetInfo, you must also do one of the following to proceed:
#define UNICODE
#define _UNICODE
/*++
Module Name:
chngmachname.c
Abstract:
This sample changes the computer name for the local Windows NT
computer.
This sample uses NetUserSetInfo() to change the account name on the
domain PDC and SetComputerName() to change the name on the local
computer.
When targeting a domain controller for account update operations,
you need to make sure you target the primary domain controller for
the domain. The account settings are replicated by the primary domain
controller to each backup domain controller as appropriate. You can
use the NetGetDCName() Lan Manager API call to get the primary domain
controller computer name from a domain name.
NOTE: You must restart the computer after running this code to
implement the changes.
Link with netapi32.lib user32.lib
David Mowers (davemo) Jun-01-1998
--*/
#include <windows.h>
#include <lm.h>
int
__cdecl
wmain(
int argc,
wchar_t *argv[]
)
{
LPWSTR wComputerName;
DWORD dwNameSize;
LPWSTR wNewComputerName=NULL;
LPWSTR wDCName=NULL;
USER_INFO_0 ui_0;
NET_API_STATUS nas;
NTSTATUS Status;
OSVERSIONINFO OSVersionInfo;
BOOL bSuccess = FALSE;
if( argc < 2 ) {
wprintf(L"Usage: %s <new_computer_name>\n", argv[0]);
return 0;
}
//
// Process the command line arguments, and
// prepare new computer name.
//
wNewComputerName = LocalAlloc(LPTR,
(MAX_COMPUTERNAME_LENGTH+3)*sizeof(WCHAR));
lstrcpy(wNewComputerName,argv[1]);
lstrcat(wNewComputerName,L"$");
CharUpper(wNewComputerName);
//
// Look up the PDC for the target computer.
//
nas = NetGetDCName(
NULL,
NULL,
(LPBYTE *)&wDCName
);
if(nas != NERR_Success)
{
wprintf(L"NetGetDCName error! (%lu)\n", nas);
goto cleanup;
}
wprintf(L"Changing account name on server \\\\%s\n",wDCName);
//
// Windows 2000 implements a new API for changing the computer
// name. Failure to use this API for a Windows 2000 computer in a
// Windows 2000 Domain can cause serious problems.
//
// If you do not have the Windows 2000 headers and libraries,
// comment out this section to avoid linker errors.
//
//
GetVersionEx(&OSVersionInfo);
if(OSVersionInfo.dwPlatformId == VER_PLATFORM_WIN32_WINDOWS)
{
wprintf(L"For Windows 9x, please see the comments section\n");
goto cleanup;
}
if(OSVersionInfo.dwMajorVersion > 4)
{
nas = NetRenameMachineInDomain(
wDCName, // Do this operation at the DC.
wNewComputerName, // New computer name.
NULL, // Assume you are the domain admin.
NULL, // No password either.
NETSETUP_ACCT_CREATE // Necessary flag.
);
if(nas != NERR_Success)
{
wprintf(L"NetRenameMachineInDomain error! (%lu)\n", nas);
goto cleanup;
}
wprintf(L"Computer name changed to %s using
NetRenameMachineInDomain()", argv[1]);
bSuccess = TRUE;
goto cleanup;
}
//
// Use uppercase original command line argument
// without a trailing dollar sign for SetComputerName.
//
if(!SetComputerName(CharUpper(argv[1])))
{
wprintf(L"SetComputerName error! (%lu)\n", GetLastError());
goto cleanup;
}
wprintf(L"Computer Name changed locally to %s\n", argv[1]);
//
// Get the local computer name.
//
dwNameSize = (MAX_COMPUTERNAME_LENGTH+3)*sizeof(WCHAR);
wComputerName = LocalAlloc(LPTR,dwNameSize);
if(!GetComputerName(wComputerName,&dwNameSize))
{
wprintf(L"GetComputerName error! (%lu)\n", GetLastError());
goto cleanup;
}
//
// All computer accounts have a trailing $.
//
lstrcat(wComputerName,L"$");
//
// And they need to be uppercase.
//
CharUpper(wComputerName);
ui_0.usri0_name= wNewComputerName;
nas = NetUserSetInfo(
wDCName, // PDC where the operation will take place.
wComputerName, // User name.
0, // Information level.
(LPBYTE)&ui_0, // New information.
NULL
);
if(nas != NERR_Success)
{
wprintf(L"NetUserSetInfo error! (%lu)\n", nas);
//
// Change the local computer name back to what it was originally.
//
lstrcpyn(wComputerName,wComputerName,lstrlen(wComputerName));
SetComputerName(wComputerName);
goto cleanup;
}
bSuccess = TRUE;
cleanup:
if(wDCName != NULL)
{
//
// A buffer was allocated for the PDC name. Free it.
//
NetApiBufferFree(wDCName);
}
if(wComputerName)
LocalFree(wComputerName);
if(bSuccess)
wprintf(L"Reboot your computer now to complete name change!\n");
else
wprintf(L"Computer name change operation failed!\n");
return bSuccess ;
}
Keywords : kbKernBase kbWinOS2000 kbSDKPlatform kbSDKWin32 kbSecurity kbCodeSam
Issue type : kbhowtoLast Reviewed: January 7, 1999