Modifying Computer Objects with Active Directory - Identifying a Computer Role

Problem

You want to identify the role that a particular computer serves in an Active Directory domain. 

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

1. Open the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in.
   
2. Right-click on the domain node and select Find.
   
3. In the Find drop-down box, select Computers and click Find Now.
   
   The role of each computer will be displayed in the Machine Role column in the Search Results window.

Using a command-line interface

  > wmic computersystem get domainrole

For a domain controller that holds the PDC Emulator FSMO role, this will return the following output:

  DomainRole
  5

For a DC that doesn’t hold the PDCe FSMO, this command will return a value of 4.

Using VBScript

  ' The following code will return the domain role of the
  ' local computer.
  strComputer = "."
  Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
      & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!" _
      & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
  Set colComputers = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
      ("Select DomainRole from Win32_ComputerSystem")
  For Each objComputer in colComputers
      Select Case objComputer.DomainRole
          Case 0
              strComputerRole = "Standalone Workstation"
          Case 1
              strComputerRole = "Member Workstation"
          Case 2
              strComputerRole = "Standalone Server"
          Case 3
              strComputerRole = "Member Server"
          Case 4
              strComputerRole = "Backup Domain Controller"
          Case 5
              strComputerRole = "Primary Domain Controller"
      End Select
      Wscript.Echo strComputerRole
  Next

Discussion

Using a command-line interface

WMIC is the command-line component of the Windows Management Instrumentation that uses aliases to enable you to easily access WMI namespaces from the command line. To run wmic against a remote computer, specify the /node:"<ComputerFQDN> " switch.

Using VBScript

Rather than relying on an if...else construct to produce output, this script uses Select Case. In situations where there are numerous possible outcomes for a conditional statement, Select Case can produce far more elegant code than using numerous if...else statements.

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