Get-ADDomainController

  • Article

Get-ADDomainController

Gets one or more Active Directory domain controllers based on discoverable services criteria, search parameters or by providing a domain controller identifier, such as the NetBIOS name.

Syntax

Get-ADDomainController [[-Identity] <ADDomainController>] [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-Server <string>] [-AuthType {<Negotiate> | <Basic>}] [<CommonParameters>]

  • Identity

  • Credential

  • Server

  • AuthType

    Get-ADDomainController -Discover [-AvoidSelf ] [-DomainName ] [-ForceDiscover ] [-MinimumDirectoryServiceVersion { | }] [-NextClosestSite ] [-Service <ADDiscoverableService[]>] [-SiteName ] [-Writable ] [-AuthType { | }] []

  • Discover

  • AvoidSelf

  • DomainName

  • ForceDiscover

  • MinimumDirectoryServiceVersion

  • NextClosestSite

  • Service

  • SiteName

  • Writable

  • AuthType

    Get-ADDomainController -Filter [-Credential ] [-Server ] [-AuthType { | }] []

  • Filter

  • Credential

  • Server

  • AuthType

Detailed Description

The Get-ADDomainController cmdlet gets the domain controllers specified by the parameters. You can get domain controllers by setting the Identity, Filter or Discover parameters.

The Identity parameter specifies the domain controller to get. You can identify a domain controller by its GUID, IPV4Address, global IPV6Address, or DNS host name. You can also identify a domain controller by the name of the server object that represents the domain controller, the Distinguished Name (DN) of the NTDS settings object or the server object, the GUID of the NTDS settings object or the server object under the configuration partition, or the DN of the computer object that represents the domain controller. You can also set the Identity parameter to a domain controller object variable, such as $<localDomainControllerObject>, or pass a domain controller object through the pipeline to the Identity parameter.

To search for and retrieve more than one domain controller, use the Filter parameter. The Filter parameter uses the PowerShell Expression Language to write query strings for Active Directory. PowerShell Expression Language syntax provides rich type conversion support for value types received by the Filter parameter. For more information about the Filter parameter syntax, see about_ActiveDirectory_Filter. You cannot use an LDAP query string with this cmdlet.

To get a domain controller by using the discovery mechanism of DCLocator, use the Discover parameter. You can provide search criteria by setting parameters such as Service, SiteName, DomainName, NextClosestSite, AvoidSelf, and ForceDiscover.

Parameters

AuthType

Specifies the authentication method to use. Possible values for this parameter include:
Negotiate or 0
Basic or 1

The default authentication method is Negotiate.

A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection is required for the Basic authentication method.

The following example shows how to set this parameter to Basic.
-AuthType Basic

The following lists the acceptable values for this parameter:

  • Negotiate**

  • Basic**

Default Value: Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.AuthType.Negotiate

Data Type: ADAuthType

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

AvoidSelf

Specifies to not return the current computer as a domain controller. If the current computer is not a domain controller, this parameter is ignored. You can specify this parameter when you want to get the name of another domain controller in the domain.

The following example shows how to specify this parameter.
-AvoidSelf

Default Value: **

Data Type: switch

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Credential

Specifies the user account credentials to use to perform this task. The default credentials are the credentials of the currently logged on user unless the cmdlet is run from an Active Directory PowerShell provider drive. If the cmdlet is run from such a provider drive, the account associated with the drive is the default.

To specify this parameter, you can type a user name, such as "User1" or "Domain01\User01" or you can specify a PSCredential object. If you specify a user name for this parameter, the cmdlet prompts for a password.

You can also create a PSCredential object by using a script or by using the Get-Credential cmdlet. You can then set the Credential parameter to the PSCredential object The following example shows how to create credentials.
$AdminCredentials = Get-Credential "Domain01\User01"

The following shows how to set the Credential parameter to these credentials.
-Credential $AdminCredentials

If the acting credentials do not have directory-level permission to perform the task, Active Directory PowerShell returns a terminating error.

Default Value: **

Data Type: PSCredential

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Discover

Specifies to return a discoverable domain controller that meets the conditions specified by the cmdlet parameters.
To get a domain controller by using the discovery mechanism of DCLocator, use the Discover parameter. Along with this parameter, you can provide search criteria by setting parameters such as Service, SiteName, DomainName, NextClosestSite, AvoidSelf, and ForceDiscover.

The following example shows how to specify this parameter.
-Discover

The following example shows how to get a live DC that has Web Services enabled in a specific site with name "RODC-Site".
Get-ADDomainController -Discover -Services ADWS -SiteName RODC-Site

Default Value: **

Data Type: SwitchParameter

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

DomainName

Specifies the domain to search. The cmdlet locates a discoverable domain controller in this domain. Specify the domain by using the NetBIOS name or Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the domain.

The following example shows how to set this parameter to the FQDN of a domain.
-DomainName "contoso.com"

Default Value: Name of the domain to which this machine is joined

Data Type: string

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Filter

Specifies a query string that retrieves Active Directory objects. This string uses the PowerShell Expression Language syntax. The PowerShell Expression Language syntax provides rich type-conversion support for value types received by the Filter parameter. The syntax uses an in-order representation, which means that the operator is placed between the operand and the value. For more information about the Filter parameter, see about_ActiveDirectory_Filter.

Syntax:
The following syntax uses Backus-Naur form to show how to use the PowerShell Expression Language for this parameter.

<filter> ::= "{" <FilterComponentList> "}"

<FilterComponentList> ::= <FilterComponent> | <FilterComponent> <JoinOperator> <FilterComponent> | <NotOperator> <FilterComponent>

<FilterComponent> ::= <attr> <FilterOperator> <value> | "(" <FilterComponent> ")"

<FilterOperator> ::= "-eq" | "-le" | "-ge" | "-ne" | "-lt" | "-gt"| "-approx" | "-bor" | "-band" | "-recursivematch" | "-like" | "-notlike"

<JoinOperator> ::= "-and" | "-or"

<NotOperator> ::= "-not"

<attr> ::= <PropertyName> | <LDAPDisplayName of the attribute>

<value>::= <compare this value with an <attr> by using the specified <FilterOperator>>

For a list of supported types for <value>, see about_ActiveDirectory_ObjectModel.

Examples:
The following examples show how to use this syntax with Active Directory cmdlets.

To get all objects of the type specified by the cmdlet, use the asterisk wildcard:
All user objects:
Get-ADUser -Filter *
-or-
All computer objects:
Get-ADComputer -Filter *

To get all user objects that have an e-mail message attribute, use one of the following commands:
Get-ADUser -Filter {EmailAddress -like "*"}
Get-ADUser -Filter {mail -like "*"}
-or-
Get-ADObject -Filter {(mail -like "*") -and (ObjectClass -eq "user")}

Note: PowerShell wildcards other than "*", such as "?" are not supported by the Filter syntax.

To get all users objects that have surname of Smith and that have an e-mail attribute, use one of the following commands:
Get-ADUser -filter {(EmailAddress -like "*") -and (Surname -eq "smith")}
-or-
Get-ADUser -filter {(mail -eq "*") -and (sn -eq "Smith")}

To get all user objects who have not logged on since January 1, 2007, use the following commands:
$logonDate = New-Object System.DateTime(2007, 1, 1)
Get-ADUser -filter { lastLogon -le $logonDate }

To get all groups that have a group category of Security and a group scope of Global, use one of the following commands:
Get-ADGroup -filter {GroupCategory -eq "Security" -and GroupScope -eq "Global"}
-or-
Get-ADGroup -filter {GroupType -band 0x80000000}

Note: To query using LDAP query strings, use the LDAPFilter parameter.

Default Value: **

Data Type: string

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

ForceDiscover

Forces the cmdlet to clear any cached domain controller information and perform a new discovery. If this parameter is not specified the cmdlet may return cached domain controller information.

The following example shows how to set this parameter.
-ForceDiscover

Default Value: **

Data Type: switch

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Identity

Specifies an Active Directory domain controller object by providing one of the following values. The identifier in parentheses is the LDAP display name for the attribute. Unless specified otherwise, these values are for the server object that represents the domain controller.

GUID (objectGUID)
Example: 768c44de-f72d-66e0-8a88-0523ca495f20
IPV4Address
Example:157.59.132.61
Global IPV6Address
Example: 2001:4898:0:fff:200:5efe:157.59.132.61
DNS Host Name (dNSHostName)
Example: corp-DC01.corp.contoso.com
Name of the server object
Example: corp-DC01$
Distinguished Name of the NTDS Settings object
Example: CN=NTDS Settings,CN=CORP-DC12,CN=Servers,CN=NA-CAN-QBC,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=corp,DC=contoso
Distinguished Name of the server object that represents the domain controller
Example: CN=CORP-DC12,CN=Servers,CN=NA-CAN-QBC,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=corp,DC=contoso,DC=com
GUID of NTDS settings object under the configuration partition
Example: 68adaf21-e28d-6012-bca8-320d93450ab0
GUID of server object under the configuration partition
Example: 599c3d2e-f72d-4d20-8a88-030d99495f20
Distinguished Name of the computer object that represents the domain controller.
Example: CN=CORP-DC12,OU=Domain Controllers,DC=corp,DC=contoso,DC=com

The cmdlet searches the default naming context or partition to find the object. If two or more objects are found, the cmdlet returns a non-terminating error.

This parameter can also get this object through the pipeline or you can set this parameter to an object instance.

This example shows how to set the parameter to a distinguished name of the NTDS Settings object.
-Identity "CN=NTDS Settings,CN=CORP-DC12,CN=Servers,CN=NA-CAN-QBC,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=corp,DC=contoso"

This example shows how to set this parameter to a domain controller object instance named "AD_DCInstance".
-Identity $AD_DCInstance

Default Value: **

Data Type: ADDomainController

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

true (ByValue)

pipelineInput

Position?

1

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

MinimumDirectoryServiceVersion

Species the earliest operating system that the domain controller can have so that it is returned by the cmdlet when getting a DC using -Discover switch. Possible values are:
Windows2000 or 1
Windows2008 or 2

The following example shows how to set this parameter.
-MinimumDirectoryServiceVersion Windows2000

The following example shows how to get any live DC that is Windows 2008 or above:
Get-ADDomainController -Discover -MinimumDirectoryServiceVersion Windows2008

The following lists the acceptable values for this parameter:

  • Windows2000**

  • Windows2008**

Default Value: **

Data Type: ADMinimumDirectoryServiceVersion

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

NextClosestSite

Specifies to return a domain controller in the next closest site when a domain controller is not found in the site that contains the client. The next closest site is the site with the lowest site link cost with respect to the current site. Costs between sites are based on factors such as bandwidth, as well as physical proximity.

The following example shows how to specify this parameter.
-NextClosestSite

Default Value: **

Data Type: switch

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Server

Specifies the Active Directory Domain Services instance to connect to, by providing one of the following values for a corresponding domain name or directory server. The service may be any of the following: Active Directory Lightweight Domain Services, Active Directory Domain Services or Active Directory Snapshot instance.
Domain name values:
Fully qualified domain name
Examples: corp.contoso.com
NetBIOS name
Example: CORP

Directory server values:
Fully qualified directory server name
Example: corp-DC12.corp.contoso.com
NetBIOS name
Example: corp-DC12
Fully qualified directory server name and port
Example: corp-DC12.corp.contoso.com:3268

The default value for the Server parameter is determined by one of the following methods in the order that they are listed:
-By using Server value from objects passed through the pipeline.
-By using the server information associated with the Active Directory PowerShell provider drive, when running under that drive.
-By using the domain of the computer running Powershell.

The following example shows how to specify a full qualified domain name as the parameter value.
-Server "corp.contoso.com"

Default Value: **

Data Type: string

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Service

Species the types of domain controllers to get. You can specify more than one type by using a comma-separated list. Possible values for this parameter are:
PrimaryDC or 1
GlobalCatalog or 2
KDC or 3
TimeService or 4
ReliableTimeService or 5
ADWS or 6

The following example shows how to set this parameter.
-Service GlobalCatalog, KDC

The following example shows how to get a live DC that has Web Services enabled:
Get-ADDomainController -Discover -Services ADWS

Default Value: **

Data Type: ADDiscoverableService[]

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

true

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

true

variableLength

SiteName

Specifies the name of a site to search in to find the domain controller. If this parameter is not set, the cmdlet searches for domain controllers in the same site as the client. The name of the site is defined by the Name property of the site object.

The following example shows how to use this parameter to specify a site.
-SiteName "redmond"

Default Value: Name of the site that the client is in

Data Type: string

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Writable

Default Value: **

Data Type: switch

Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

false

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Accept wildcard characters?

false

globbing

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

pipelineInput

Position?

named

position

Value Attributes

Name Value PSMAML Attribute

Required?

true

required

Variable Length?

false

variableLength

Input Type

Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADDomainController

A domain controller object is received by the Identity parameter.

Return Type

Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADDomainController

Returns one or more domain controller objects.

When you use the Discover parameter to get a domain controller, the cmdlet returns a default set of property values for each domain controller.
When you use the Identity or Filter parameters to get a domain controller, this cmdlet returns all of the properties of the domain controller.
To view all of the properties for an ADDomainController object, use the following command and replace <domaincontroller> with a domain controller identifier such as a DNS host name.
Get-ADDomainController <domaincontroller>| Get-Member

Notes

  • The Name and HostName properties of the ADDomainController objects returned by the cmdlet are set according to the following rule:
    - If the Discover parameter is used, HostName is the Fully Qualified Domain Name of the Domain Controller, and the Name is the NetBIOS name of the Domain Controller. With the Discover parameter, the cmdlet will perform a second DCLocator call, to populate the Name property. This property will not be set, to the NetBIOS name of the Domain Controller, if the WINS service is unavailable.
    - If the Identity or the Filter parameter is used, HostName is the DNSHostName attribute of the Domain Controller object, and the Name is the Name (RDN) attribute of the Domain Controller object. With the Identity or the Filter parameter, the HostName property will not be set, if the DNSHostName attribute of the Domain Controller object is null.

    This cmdlet does not work with AD LDS.
    This cmdlet does not work when targeting a snapshot using the Server parameter.

Examples

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Discover -Site "Default-First-Site-Name"

Get one available DC in a given site using Discovery.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Discover -Site "Default-First-Site-Name" -ForceDiscover

Force discover/find one available DC in a given site.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Discover -Service "GlobalCatalog"

Get a global catalog in the current forest using Discovery.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Discover -Service 2

Get a global catalog in the current forest using Discovery.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 5 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Discover

Get one available DC in the current domain using Discovery.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Discover -Domain "fabrikam.com"

Get one available DC in a given domain using Discovery.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 7 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Discover -Domain "corp.contoso.com" -Service "PrimaryDC","TimeService"

Get the PDC using Discovery and make sure that is advertising as a time server.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 8 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Identity "PDC-01"

Get a domain controller using its NetBIOS name.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 9 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController "PDC-01"

Get a domain controller using its NetBIOS name.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 10 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Identity "TK5-CORP-DC-10.fabrikam.com" -Server "fabrikam.com" -Credential "corp\administrator"

Get a domain controller using its DNS host name, in a given domain (specified in Server parameter) and specifying administrator credentials.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 11 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Identity "168.54.62.57"

Get a domain controller using its IP address.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 12 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Filter  { isGlobalCatalog -eq $true -and Site -eq "Default-First-Site-Name" }

Get all global catalogs in a given site.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 13 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController -Server "research.fabrikam.com" -Filter { isGlobalCatalog -eq $true -and isReadOnly -eq $true }

Get all ROGCs in the child domain to which the client is connected.

-------------------------- EXAMPLE 14 --------------------------

Command Prompt: C:\PS>

Get-ADDomainController

Gets the domain controller in the user's current session. This is the domain controller used as a default Server in the context of an AD Provider. Using this cmdlet in this way will let you know which Server is being used by default.

See Also

Reference

Add-ADDomainControllerPasswordReplicationPolicy
Get-ADDomainControllerPasswordReplicationPolicy
Remove-ADDomainControllerPasswordReplicationPolicy

Other Resources

Online version: