How do I find out which computer is the domain controller in Windows programmatically?

Question

I am looking for a way to determine what the Name/IP Address of the domain controller is for a given domain that a client computer is connected to.

At our company we have a lot of small little networks that we use for testing and most of them have their own little domains. As an example, one of the domains is named "TESTLAB". I have an Windows XP workstation that is a member of the TESTLAB domain and I am trying to figure out the name of the domain controller so that I can go and look to see what users have been defined for the domain. In our lab there is a mix of Windows Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003 (and in reality probably a couple of NT 4 Servers) so it would be nice to find a solution that would work for both.

Looking on the Internet, it looks like there are various utilities, such as Windows Power Shell or nltest, but these all require that you download and install other utilities. I was hoping to find a way to find the domain controller without having to install anything additional.

EDIT If I wanted to write a program to find the domain controller or the users in the current domain, how would I go about doing that?

Since I spent a little time writing a solution for this, I thought I'd make it into a programming question and re-open. — tvanfosson, Dec 09 '08 at 20:34

score 256 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 09 '08 at 20:55

256

With the most simple programming language: DOS batch

echo %LOGONSERVER%

answered Dec 09 '08 at 20:55

MZywitza

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Probably not what Dorky had in mind, back then, but still, probably what most of the thread's readers are looking for. eh... it WAS what Dorky was looking for. Hah! – andersoyvind Dec 07 '11 at 14:46
3

This won't work if you're looking for a DC in another Domain in which the machine doesn't belong. – Brett Veenstra Nov 13 '12 at 13:21
@DorkyEngineer how about marking this as your selected answer? – ErikE Jan 04 '13 at 02:44

score 20 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 01 '15 at 10:53

20

In cmd on Windows, type the following commande:

nltest /dclist:{domainname}

It lists all domain controllers in particular domain

edited Oct 01 '15 at 10:53

Luca Detomi

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answered Oct 01 '15 at 10:16

Lado Morela

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3

and `nltest /dclist:` lists all the controllers on any domain my laptop is connected to (Windows 7) – GMasucci Aug 16 '16 at 15:35

score 14 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 09 '08 at 20:30

In C#/.NET 3.5 you could write a little program to do:

using (PrincipalContext context = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain))
{
    string controller = context.ConnectedServer;
    Console.WriteLine( "Domain Controller:" + controller );
}

This will list all the users in the current domain:

using (PrincipalContext context = new PrincipalContext(ContextType.Domain))
{
    using (UserPrincipal searchPrincipal = new UserPrincipal(context))
    {
       using (PrincipalSearcher searcher = new PrincipalSearcher(searchPrincipal))
       {
           foreach (UserPrincipal principal in searcher.FindAll())
           {
               Console.WriteLine( principal.SamAccountName);
           }
       }
    }
}

score 10 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 23 '15 at 21:55

10

From command line query the logonserver env variable.

C:> SET L

LOGONSERVER='\'\DCNAME

answered Feb 23 '15 at 21:55

Sri

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ErikE · Answer 5 · 2013-05-29T20:40:27.680

7

Run gpresult at a Windows command prompt. You'll get an abundance of information about the current domain, current user, user & computer security groups, group policy names, Active Directory Distinguished Name, and so on.

edited May 29 '13 at 20:40

answered Jan 04 '13 at 02:46

ErikE

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I had to use the argument "/R" to get the report. – Josiah Sep 22 '15 at 21:06
1

You should try `gpresult /Z`!! – ErikE Sep 22 '15 at 21:23
What is the advantage of /Z? For the purpose of determining the DC in use, they seem to be comparable. – Josiah Sep 23 '15 at 22:43
1

People might like to be directed to the option because of the wealth of information available. But you're right, for JUST the DC in use, other options are more succinct. – ErikE Sep 23 '15 at 22:45

score 6 · Answer 6 · edited Jan 08 '21 at 09:23

6

in Powershell: $env:logonserver

edited Jan 08 '21 at 09:23

evandrix

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answered Mar 06 '18 at 09:30

Wim

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score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 13 '12 at 13:30

To retrieve the information when the DomainController exists in a Domain in which your machine doesn't belong, you need something more.

  DirectoryContext domainContext =  new DirectoryContext(DirectoryContextType.Domain, "targetDomainName", "validUserInDomain", "validUserPassword");

  var domain = System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain.GetDomain(domainContext);
  var controller = domain.FindDomainController();

How do I find out which computer is the domain controller in Windows programmatically?

7 Answers7

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