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

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.