Rename-Computer

Renames the specified remote computer. The default is the local computer.

Type the NetBIOS name, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, or a fully qualified domain name of a remote computer. To specify the local computer, type the computer name, a dot (.), or "localhost".

This parameter does not rely on Windows PowerShell remoting. You can use the ComputerName parameter of Rename-Computer even if your computer is not configured to run remote commands.

Specifies a user account that has permission to connect to the domain. Explicit credentials are required to rename a computer that is joined to a domain.

Type a user name, such as "User01" or "Domain01\User01", or enter a PSCredential object, such as one generated by the Get-Credential cmdlet. If you type a user name, you will be prompted for a password.

To specify a user account that has permission to connect to the computer that is specified by the ComputerName parameter, use the LocalCredential parameter.

Suppresses the user confirmation prompt. Without this parameter, Rename-Computer prompts you to confirm the action.

Specifies a user account that has permission to connect to the computer specified by the ComputerName parameter. The default is the current user.

Type a user name, such as "User01" or "Domain01\User01", or enter a PSCredential object, such as one generated by the Get-Credential cmdlet. If you type a user name, you will be prompted for a password

To specify a user account that has permission to connect to the domain, use the DomainCredential parameter.

Specifies a new name for the computer. This parameter is required. The name cannot include control characters, leading or trailing spaces, or any of the following characters: / \\ [ ].

Returns the results of the command. Otherwise, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

Restarts the computer that was renamed. A restart is often required to make the change effective.

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Verbose, -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -OutBuffer, and -OutVariable. For more information, see  about_CommonParameters (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=113216).

This command renames the local computer to Server044 and then restarts it to make the change effective.

PS C:\>Rename-Computer -NewName Server044 -DomainCredential Domain01\Admin01 -Restart

This command renames the Srv01 computer to Server001 and then restarts it to make the change effective. It uses the LocalCredential parameter to supply the credentials of a user who has permission to connect to the local computer and the DomainCredential parameter to supply the credentials of a user who has permission to rename computers in the domain. It uses the Force parameter to suppress the confirmation prompt and the PassThru parameter to return the results of the command.

PS C:\>Rename-Computer -ComputerName Srv01 -NewName Server001 -LocalCredential Srv01\Admin01 -DomainCredential Domain01\Admin01 -Force -PassThru -Restart

This command renames multiple computers in the domain. It uses a CSV file to specify the values for the current and new names of each computer. The CSV file contains a series of name pairs in "OldName, NewName" format with one name pair on each line of the file.

The first command uses the Import-Csv cmdlet to import the ServerNames.csv file into the $a variable. It uses the Header parameter to specify the column header names of each of the two columns. This creates a collection of custom objects in $a, each of which has an OldName and NewName property.

The second command runs the Rename-Computer cmdlet on each object in the $a variable. It specifies the old name (the value of the OldName property) for the value of the ComputerName parameter and the new name (the value of the NewName property) for the value of the NewName parameter. The command specifies domain credentials and uses the Force and Restart parameters to suppress all user prompts and restart each computer after it is renamed.

PS C:\>$a = Import-Csv ServerNames.csv -Header OldName, NewNamePS C:\>Foreach ( $Server in $a ) { Rename-Computer -ComputerName $Server.OldName -NewName $Server.NewName -DomainCredential Domain01\Admin01 -Force -Restart }