Change the DNS suffix of your computer

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To change the DNS suffix of your computer

  1. Open System in Control Panel.

  2. On the Computer Name tab, click Change.

  3. Click More.

  4. Under Primary DNS suffix of this computer, type the DNS suffix you want to use.

  5. If you want your computer to automatically update the DNS suffix if you become a member of a different Windows domain, select the Change primary DNS suffix when domain membership changes check box.

  6. Click OK to close the DNS Suffix and NetBIOS Computer Name dialog box.

  7. Click OK to close the System Properties dialog box.

    You will be prompted to restart your computer to apply your changes.

Notes

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • To open System, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.

  • To open System from a command line as an administrator, type:

    runas /user: computername \Administrator "rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL sysdm.cpl"

  • The default setting for the local primary DNS suffix is the same as the Active Directory domain name. Changing the DNS suffix will not affect your domain membership, but it could prevent other users from finding your computer on the network and authenticating your computer. If you make the primary DNS suffix of the computer different from the Active Directory domain name, contact your network administrator to ensure that the new computer name can be registered in DNS and that the Active Directory domain allows computers to have a primary DNS suffix that is different than the Active Directory DNS domain names.

  • A full computer name, which includes the computer name and the primary DNS suffix, can be as long as 255 bytes, including periods.

  • If you join your computer to an Active Directory domain and the Change primary DNS suffix when domain membership changes check box is selected, the DNS suffix is updated to show a new DNS suffix that matches the new Windows secure domain you are joining. For example, if you create a DNS suffix called MyDomain for membership in your current domain and join an Active Directory domain called example.microsoft.com, then the new DNS suffix, (example.microsoft.com), is displayed under Primary DNS suffix of this computer. This new DNS suffix replaces the previous name (MyDomain) you created for membership under your old domain.

    Microsoft recommends using the default value for the primary DNS suffix. For more information about DNS, see Related Topics.

  • If this computer belongs to a group with Group Policy enabled on the Primary DNS suffix of this computer, the string specified in Group Policy is used as the primary DNS suffix. The local setting is used only if Group Policy is disabled or unspecified. When the computer is joined to a domain that defines such a policy, you must restart the computer twice for the policy setting to take effect. After the computer is restarted the first time, the policy settings are copied to the computer from the domain. When the computer is restarted the second time, the policy settings take effect. For more information about Group Policy, see Related Topics.

Information about functional differences

  • Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

Rename a computer
Join a domain
Join a workgroup
System Properties Overview - Control Panel
DNS