This self-answered question addresses the following scenario:
How can I write a PowerShell script to check if a computer is a domain controller or not?
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3 Answers
Yes, if you need to check a list then that's fine, but if all you need is a list of DCs, then more efficient to get this directly.
$DomainName = 'MyDomain'
$DomDetail = Get-ADDomain -Identity $DomainName
$DCDetail = Get-ADDomainController -Server $DomDetail.PDCEmulator -Filter *
[pscustomobject]@{Name = $DomDetail.NetBIOSName;FQDN = $DomDetail.DNSRoot;PDC = $DomDetail.PDCEmulator;MemberDCs = $DCDetail}
Comments
The Win32_OperatingSystem WMI class property ProductType will tell you if the computer is a workstation, domain controller or server:
ProductType
Data type: uint32
Access type: Read-only
Additional system information.
Work Station (1)
Domain Controller (2)
Server (3)
PowerShell Script:
$productType = (Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem).ProductType
$cn = $env:COMPUTERNAME
switch ($productType)
{
1 {"'$cn' is a workstation."; break}
2 {"'$cn' is a domain controller."; break}
3 {"'$cn' is a server."; break}
}
Comments
The code below can be run on Windows PowerShell. It will take an input list of computers called computers.csv and loop around them to check if it is a domain controller or not and then output the result into check_for_domain_controller.csv
$listofcomputers = Import-CSV -Path "C:\computers_list.csv"
foreach ($computerobject in $listofcomputers)
{
$computername = $computerobject.Name
Get-DomainRole -Computername $computername |
Export-csv -Path "C:\check_for_domain_controller.csv" -Append -NoTypeInformation
}
Input (computers.csv)
Name
DC1
DC2
DC3
DC4
PC1
PC2
Output (check_for_domain_controller.csv)
"Computer","IPAddress","PCType","DomainRole"
"DC1","10.10.10.1","Desktop","Domain controller"
"DC2","110.10.10.2","Desktop","Domain controller"
"DC3","10.10.10.3","Desktop","Domain controller"
"DC4","10.10.10.4","Desktop","Domain controller"
"PC1","10.10.10.5","Desktop","Member server"
"PC2","10.10.10.6","Desktop","Member server"
5 Comments
mklement0
Thanks for sharing. Can you clarify where
Get-DomainRole comes from? It doesn't appear to be part of the ActiveDirectory module. Also, it's better to use a single pipeline that you can pipe to a single Export-Csv call, which is not only more efficient, but saves you from having to ensure that the target file doesn't already exist.=: (Import-CSV -Path "C:\computers_list.csv").Name | ForEach { Get-DomainRole -ComputerName $_ } | Export-csv -Path "C:\check_for_domain_controller.csv" -NoTypeInformation
Scepticalist
Where does Get-DomainRole come from? See below - there's easy ways to get current domain controller using the common ActiveDirectory module
Robert Karamagi
The Get-DomainRole is run on a Domain Controller specifically for computers that are joined to it's domain
mklement0
Thanks, but what I'm asking is where you get that command from? Given that it doesn't appear to be a standard cmdlet, does it come with a third-party module you installed, did you get it from a GitHub project or a Gist, or ...?
Robert Karamagi
