Listing all DCs for an AD Domain

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FAQs Q. How can I list all domain controllers (DCs) for an Active Directory (AD) domain? Q. What is a good, free virtual CD/DVD drive package? Q. How can I use a script to determine the site name of a domain controller (DC)? Q. How can I verify whether a domain controller (DC) is in a certain site? Q. What tools are available to help me check the health of my ISA Server 2004 installation?

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==== FAQs ==== by John Savill, FAQ Editor, jsavill@windowsitpro.com

Q. How can I list all domain controllers (DCs) for an Active Directory (AD) domain?

A. The following script, which you can download at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=27E15:610453 , accepts a domain as its parameter, then lists all DCs in that domain. Some lines wrap because of space constraints.

Const ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREE = 2 If Wscript.Arguments.Count < 1 Then Wscript.Echo "Arguments <domain name> required. For example:" & vbCrLf _ & "cscript listdcs.vbs dc=savilltech,dc=com" Wscript.Quit(0) End If

strDomainName = Wscript.Arguments(0)

Set objConnection = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") Set objCommand = CreateObject("ADODB.Command") objConnection.Provider = "ADsDSOObject" objConnection.Open "Active Directory Provider" Set objCOmmand.ActiveConnection = objConnection objCommand.CommandText = _ "Select distinguishedName from " & _ "'LDAP://cn=Configuration," & strDomainName & "' " _ & "where objectClass='nTDSDSA'" objCommand.Properties("Page Size") = 1000 objCommand.Properties("Searchscope") = ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREE Set objRecordSet = objCommand.Execute objRecordSet.MoveFirst Do Until objRecordSet.EOF DCDN = objRecordSet.Fields("distinguishedName").Value DomainController = Mid(DCDN,21,InStr(Mid(DCDN,21),",")-1) Wscript.Echo "Domain Controller: " & DomainController objRecordSet.MoveNext Loop

This sample execution produced the following output when I ran it on my system:

D:\Temp>cscript listdcs.vbs dc=savilltech,dc=com

Domain Controller: SAVDALDC01 Domain Controller: SAVDALDC02 Domain Controller: SAVLONDC01 Domain Controller: SAVDALLABDC01

-------------------- Q. What is a good, free virtual CD/DVD drive package?

A. SlySoft's Virtual CloneDrive is a very good and intuitive virtual CD/DVD solution that you can download at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=27E19:610453 . It lets you mount CD/DVD images (e.g., ISO files) by double-clicking the image file or via a context menu on the virtual drive, as the figure at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=27E0F:610453 shows.

-------------------- Q. How can I use a script to determine the site name of a domain controller (DC)?

A. The following script, which you can download at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=27E14:610453 , takes as its parameter the name of a domain controller (DC) and returns its site name.

If Wscript.Arguments.Count < 1 Then Wscript.Echo "Arguments <domain controller name> required. For example:" & vbCrLf _ & "cscript checkdcsite.vbs savdaldc01" Wscript.Quit(0) End If strDcName = Wscript.Arguments(0) Set objADSysInfo = CreateObject("ADSystemInfo") strDcSiteName = objADSysInfo.GetDCSiteName(strDcName) WScript.Echo "DC Site Name: " & strDcSiteName

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Q. How can I verify whether a domain controller (DC) is in a certain site?

A. The following script, which you can download at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=27E17:610453 , determines whether a DC is in the site in question. You must input the name of the DC and the site whose membership you're checking. If the DC is in the site, the script returns TRUE with an error level of 0; otherwise, it returns FALSE and an error level of 1.

if Wscript.Arguments.Count < 2 Then Wscript.Echo "Arguments <domain controller name> <site name> " & _ "required. For example:" & vbCrLf _ & "cscript checkdcsite.vbs savdaldc01 dallas" Wscript.Quit(0) End If strDcName = Wscript.Arguments(0) strSiteName = Wscript.Arguments(1) Set objADSysInfo = CreateObject("ADSystemInfo") strDcSiteName = objADSysInfo.GetDCSiteName(strDcName) if UCase(strDcSiteName) <> UCase(strSiteName) then Wscript.Echo "FALSE" Wscript.Quit(1) else Wscript.Echo "TRUE" end if

Here's a sample execution and output of the script:

D:\Temp>cscript checkdcinsite.vbs savdaldc01 london FALSE D:\Temp>echo %errorlevel% 1 D:\Temp>cscript checkdcinsite.vbs savdaldc01 dallas TRUE D:\Temp>echo %errorlevel% 0 --------------------

Q. What tools are available to help me check the health of my ISA Server 2004 installation?

A. Microsoft has released the Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004 Best Practices Analyzer Tool, which you can download at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=27E06:610453 . You can run the tool to perform a full check of the ISA Server installation and make recommendations about steps to take. After you run a "Start a new Best Practices scan," you can view a report of the problems that need to be resolved, as the figure at http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=27E16:610453 shows. When you select any of the problems areas, the tool presents information about how to resolve the problem.

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