AD computer name updated but DNS name didn't, how long will that update?

Question

Dear Experts,

We have quite some computers were renamed with PowerShell remotely.
After the computers were rebooted, the new computer names displayed in AD Users and Computers, however, I checked on DNS server forward lookup Zone, it still showed the old names with their IP address, I can't find the new names anywhere.

Any idea if this is normal? It's been over 24 hours after that renaming change was made.
Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

Hi @Eaven Huang

Try running ipconfig /registerdns on the workstation and check if the name is updated.

Gary.

Answer 2

HI @Eaven Huang ,

if the clients gets its IP address from a DHCP Server, then you need to check also the DNS Zone Updates setting. If those are set to "Secure Updates" only, then you need to give the DHCP Permission to update the DNS record, which is done with the help of the DNSUpdateProxy group. You need also to ensure that the setting "Always dynamically update DNS A and PTR records" is enabled on your DHCP server. The following MS Doc article contains all the information and guides in regards to Secure DNS Updates and the different dependencies regarding DHCP. Please read it carefully and make the necessary configurations according to your case:

How to configure DNS dynamic updates in Windows
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/configure-dns-dynamic-updates-windows-server-2003

This will surely help you resolve the issue.

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(If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)
Regards
Stoyan Chalakov

Answer 3

Hi EavenHuang ,

When you rename a computer that is a member of an Active Directory domain, the computer will attempt to re-register itself in DNS, and remove the old DNS entry. You don't specify how you are querying DNS? Are you using nslookup or similar, if so, you might be seeing cached results.

Does nslookup MyServer actually resolve? If so, you might find that ipconfig /flushdns (or a little patience) is all that you need to clear the old name from your DNS queries.

If you aren't a member of an AD domain, or you aren't using dynamic DNS, then the chances are that you will need to manually update your DNS records, or switch configure your DNS server to accept dynamic updates.

To configure dynamic updates in the DNS server.

1. Configure your server

On your server, open the DNS administrative tool and expand the tree to show your server, and expand Forward Lookup Zones. Right click the relevant forward lookup zone and click properties, on the general tab, you will find the Allow dynamic updates dropdown box, you need to select the option that allows 'non secure updates' for your configuration. Click OK to close all dialog boxes.

2. Configure your clients

On each workstation, open the properties for the network interface, and drill down into the TCP/IP properties. You will find a DNS tab, which contains two checkboxes at the bottom for 'Register this connection's address in DNS' and 'Use this connections DNS suffix in DNS registration'. Ensure both of these checkboxes are ticked.

Update the DNS records manually.

In the DNS management tool, locate the out of date DNS A Record for your server, right click on it and select 'Delete'. Now right click on a blank part of the screen (or right click on the forward lookup zone) and select the option to add a new A record. Give the A record the new hostname and the IP address of your server.

I hope this answers your question.

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