Create a New Computer Account

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

Membership in Account Operators , Domain Admins , or Enterprise Admins , or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477.

Creating a new computer account

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

To create a new computer account using the Windows interface

  1. To open Active Directory Users and Computers, click Start , click Control Panel , double-click Administrative Tools , and then double-click Active Directory Users and Computers .

    To open Active Directory Users and Computers in Windows Server® 2012, click Start , type dsa.msc .

  2. In the console tree, right-click Computers .

    Where?

    • Active Directory Users and Computers\ domain node \Computers

    Or, right-click the folder in which you want to add the computer.

  3. Point to New , and then click Computer .

  4. Type the computer name.

Additional considerations

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or Enterprise Admins group in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • By default, members of the Account Operators group can create computer accounts in the Computers container and in new organizational units (OUs).

  • By default, Authenticated Users in a domain are assigned the Add workstations to a domain user right, and they can create up to 10 computer accounts in the domain.

  • There are two additional ways to give a user or group permission to add a computer to the domain:

    • Use a Group Policy object to assign the Add Computer User permission

    • On the OU, assign the user or group the Create Computer Objects permission

  • If the computer using the account that you are creating is a pre–Windows 2000 computer, select the Assign this computer account as a pre–Windows 2000 computer check box.

  • You can also perform the task in this procedure by using the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell. To open the Active Directory module, click Start , click Administrative Tools , and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

    To open the Active Directory module in Windows Server 2012, open Server Manager , click Tools and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

    For more information, see Create a New Computer Account (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=138384). For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=102372).

Additional references

To create a new computer account using a command line

  1. To open a command prompt, click Start , click Run , type cmd , and then click OK .

    To open a command prompt in Windows Server 2012, click Start , type cmd , and then click OK .

  2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    dsadd computer <ComputerDN>
Parameter Description

<ComputerDN>

Specifies the distinguished name of the computer that you want to add. The distinguished name specifies the directory location.

To view the complete syntax for this command, and for information about entering user account information, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

dsadd computer /?

Additional considerations

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, Domain Admins group, or Enterprise Admins group in AD DS, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • By default, members of the Account Operators group can create computer accounts in the Computers container and in new OUs.

  • By default, Authenticated Users in a domain are assigned the Add workstations to a domain user right , and they can create up to 10 computer accounts in the domain.

  • There are two additional ways to give a user or group permission to add a computer to the domain:

    • Use a Group Policy object to assign the Add Computer User permission.

    • On the OU, assign the user or group the Create Computer Objects permission.

    • You can also perform the task in this procedure by using the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell. To open the Active Directory module, click Start , click Administrative Tools , and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

      To open the Active Directory module in Windows Server 2012, open Server Manager , click Tools and then click Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell .

      For more information, see Create a New Computer Account (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=138384). For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=102372).

Additional references