Rename method of the Win32_ComputerSystem class

The Rename method renames a computer.

This topic uses Managed Object Format (MOF) syntax. For more information about using this method, see Calling a Method.

Syntax

uint32 Rename(
  [in] string Name,
  [in] string Password,
  [in] string UserName
);

Parameters

Name [in]

New computer name. The value of this parameter cannot include control characters, leading or trailing spaces, or any of the following characters: / \\ [ ].

Password [in]

Password to use when connecting to the domain controller if the UserName parameter specifies an account name. Otherwise, this parameter must be NULL. See the Remarks section of this topic for more information about Password and UserName parameters.

UserName [in]

String that specifies the account name to use when connecting to the domain controller. The string must be null-terminated, and must specify a domain NetBIOS name and user account for example, "DOMAINNAME\username" or "someone@domainname.com", which is a user principal name (UPN). If the UserName parameter is NULL, WMI uses the context of the caller. See the Remarks section of this topic for more information about Password and UserName parameters.

Return value

Returns a 0 (zero) if successful. A nonzero return value indicates an error. If successful, a reboot is required. For additional error codes, see WMI Error Constants or WbemErrorEnum. For general HRESULT values, see System Error Codes.

Success (0)

Other (1 4294967295)

Remarks

You can use the Rename method to rename a computer if you are a member of the local administrator group. However, you cannot use the method remotely for domain computers.

If the Password and UserName parameters are specified, the connection to WMI must use the RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_PKT_PRIVACY (wbemAuthenticationLevelPktPrivacy for script and Visual Basic (VB)) authentication level.

To connect to a remote computer and specify credentials, use the locator object connection, which is IWbemLocator for C++, and SWbemLocator for script and VB. Do not use the moniker connection.

To connect to a local computer, you cannot specify a password or an authentication authority, such as Kerberos. You can only specify the password and authority in connections to remote computers.

If the authentication level is too low when a Password and UserName are specified, then WMI returns the WBEM_E_ENCRYPTED_CONNECTION_REQUIRED error for C/C++, and wbemErrEncryptedConnectionRequired for script and VB.

For more information, see SWbemLocator_ConnectServer,IWbemLocator::ConnectServer, and Constructing a Moniker String.

Examples

The following script shows you how to rename a local computer.

Name = "name"
Password = "password"
Username = "username"

Set objWMIService = GetObject("Winmgmts:root\cimv2")

' Call always gets only one Win32_ComputerSystem object.
For Each objComputer in _
    objWMIService.InstancesOf("Win32_ComputerSystem")

        Return = objComputer.rename(Name,Password,Username)
        If Return <> 0 Then
           WScript.Echo "Rename failed. Error = " & Err.Number
        Else
           WScript.Echo "Rename succeeded." & _
               " Reboot for new name to go into effect"
        End If

Next

The following C++ code sample renames a computer system.

int set_computer_name(const string &newname/*, const string &username, const string &password*/)
{
 HRESULT hres;


// Step 1: --------------------------------------------------
 // Initialize COM. ------------------------------------------


hres = CoInitializeEx(0, COINIT_MULTITHREADED); 
 if (FAILED(hres))
 {
 cout << "Failed to initialize COM library. Error code = 0x" 
 << hex << hres << endl;
 return 1; // Program has failed.
 }


// Step 2: --------------------------------------------------
 // Set general COM security levels --------------------------
 // Note: If you are using Windows 2000, you need to specify -
 // the default authentication credentials for a user by using
 // a SOLE_AUTHENTICATION_LIST structure in the pAuthList ----
 // parameter of CoInitializeSecurity ------------------------


hres = CoInitializeSecurity(
 NULL, 
 -1, // COM authentication
 NULL, // Authentication services
 NULL, // Reserved
 RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_DEFAULT, // Default authentication 
 RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_IMPERSONATE, // Default Impersonation 
 NULL, // Authentication info
 EOAC_NONE, // Additional capabilities 
 NULL // Reserved
 );




 if (FAILED(hres))
 {
 cout << "Failed to initialize security. Error code = 0x" 
 << hex << hres << endl;
 CoUninitialize();
 return 1; // Program has failed.
 }

 // Step 3: ---------------------------------------------------
 // Obtain the initial locator to WMI -------------------------


IWbemLocator *pLoc = NULL;


hres = CoCreateInstance(
 CLSID_WbemLocator, 
 0, 
 CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER, 
 IID_IWbemLocator, (LPVOID *) &pLoc);

 if (FAILED(hres))
 {
 cout << "Failed to create IWbemLocator object."
 << " Err code = 0x"
 << hex << hres << endl;
 CoUninitialize();
 return 1; // Program has failed.
 }


// Step 4: -----------------------------------------------------
 // Connect to WMI through the IWbemLocator::ConnectServer method


IWbemServices *pSvc = NULL;

 // Connect to the root\cimv2 namespace with
 // the current user and obtain pointer pSvc
 // to make IWbemServices calls.
 hres = pLoc->ConnectServer(
 _bstr_t(L"ROOT\\CIMV2"), // Object path of WMI namespace
 NULL, // User name. NULL = current user
 NULL, // User password. NULL = current
 0, // Locale. NULL indicates current
 NULL, // Security flags.
 0, // Authority (e.g. Kerberos)
 0, // Context object 
 &pSvc // pointer to IWbemServices proxy
 );

 if (FAILED(hres))
 {
 cout << "Could not connect. Error code = 0x" 
 << hex << hres << endl;
 pLoc->Release(); 
 CoUninitialize();
 return 1; // Program has failed.
 }


/*cout << "Connected to ROOT\\CIMV2 WMI namespace" << endl;*/




 // Step 5: --------------------------------------------------
 // Set security levels on the proxy -------------------------


hres = CoSetProxyBlanket(
 pSvc, // Indicates the proxy to set
 RPC_C_AUTHN_WINNT, // RPC_C_AUTHN_xxx
 RPC_C_AUTHZ_NONE, // RPC_C_AUTHZ_xxx
 NULL, // Server principal name 
 RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_CALL, // RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_xxx 
 RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_IMPERSONATE, // RPC_C_IMP_LEVEL_xxx
 NULL, // client identity
 EOAC_NONE // proxy capabilities 
 );


if (FAILED(hres))
 {
 cout << "Could not set proxy blanket. Error code = 0x" 
 << hex << hres << endl;
 pSvc->Release();
 pLoc->Release(); 
 CoUninitialize();
 return 1; // Program has failed.
 }


// Step 6: --------------------------------------------------
 // Use the IWbemServices pointer to make requests of WMI ----


// For example, get the name of the operating system
 IEnumWbemClassObject* pEnumerator = NULL;
 hres = pSvc->ExecQuery(
 bstr_t("WQL"), 
 bstr_t("SELECT * FROM Win32_ComputerSystem"),
 WBEM_FLAG_FORWARD_ONLY | WBEM_FLAG_RETURN_IMMEDIATELY, 
 NULL,
 &pEnumerator);

 if (FAILED(hres))
 {
 cout << "Query for operating system name failed."
 << " Error code = 0x" 
 << hex << hres << endl;
 pSvc->Release();
 pLoc->Release();
 CoUninitialize();
 return 1; // Program has failed.
 }


// Step 7: -------------------------------------------------
 // Get the data from the query in step 6 -------------------

 IWbemClassObject *pclsObj;
 ULONG uReturn = 0;

 while (pEnumerator)
 {
 HRESULT hr = pEnumerator->Next(WBEM_INFINITE, 1, 
 &pclsObj, &uReturn);


if(0 == uReturn)
 {
 break;
 }


// set up to call the Win32_ComputerSystem::Rename method
 BSTR MethodName = SysAllocString(L"Rename");
 BSTR ClassName = SysAllocString(L"Win32_ComputerSystem");


IWbemClassObject* pClass = NULL;
 hres = pSvc->GetObject(ClassName, 0, NULL, &pClass, NULL);


IWbemClassObject* pInParamsDefinition = NULL;
 hres = pClass->GetMethod(MethodName, 0, 
 &pInParamsDefinition, NULL);


IWbemClassObject* pClassInstance = NULL;
 hres = pInParamsDefinition->SpawnInstance(0, &pClassInstance);


// Create the values for the in parameters
 wstring val;
 BSTR NewName;
 val.assign(newname.begin(), newname.end());
 NewName = SysAllocString(val.c_str());


VARIANT varName;
 varName.vt = VT_BSTR;
 varName.bstrVal = NewName;


// Store the value for the in parameters
 hres = pClassInstance->Put(L"Name", 0,
 &varName, 0);
 wprintf(L"Set computer name to %s\n", V_BSTR(&varName));


VARIANT var;
 CIMTYPE pType;
 LONG pFlavor;
 pclsObj->Get(L"__PATH",0,&var,&pType,&pFlavor);


// Execute Method
 IWbemClassObject* pOutParams = NULL;
 hres = pSvc->ExecMethod(var.bstrVal, MethodName, 0,
 NULL, pClassInstance, &pOutParams, NULL);


if (FAILED(hres))
 {
 cout << "Could not execute method. Error code = 0x" 
 << hex << hres << endl;
 VariantClear(&varName);
 SysFreeString(ClassName);
 SysFreeString(MethodName);
 SysFreeString(NewName);
 pClass->Release();
 pInParamsDefinition->Release();
 pOutParams->Release();
 return 1; // Program has failed.
 }


// To see what the method returned,
 // use the following code. The return value will
 // be in &varReturnValue
 VARIANT varReturnValue;
 hres = pOutParams->Get(_bstr_t(L"ReturnValue"), 0, 
 &varReturnValue, NULL, 0);




 // Clean up
 //--------------------------
 VariantClear(&varName);
 VariantClear(&varReturnValue);
 SysFreeString(ClassName);
 SysFreeString(MethodName);
 SysFreeString(NewName);
 pClass->Release();
 pInParamsDefinition->Release();
 pOutParams->Release();
 return 0;


}


// Cleanup
 // ========

 pSvc->Release();
 pLoc->Release();
 pEnumerator->Release();
 pclsObj->Release();
 CoUninitialize();


return 0; // Program successfully completed.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows Vista
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2008
Namespace	Root\CIMV2
MOF	CIMWin32.mof
DLL	CIMWin32.dll

See also

Win32_ComputerSystem

WMI Tasks: Accounts and Domains