[Samba] Renaming a computer on a Samba domain

[Jason Somers]

Clients are NFP, and have about 100 workstations. Once or twice a year, 
they get grants for upwards of 10 new systems. These systems get 
distributed to those with the most need, and in turn, their systems get 
passed to whomever has computers less powerful than those.  System names 
reflect different departments and subdepartments, so if you move a 
computer anywhere, its name must change.

Make sense?

-Jason

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Jason Somers
Network Administrator
Red Barn Technology Group, Inc.
1235 Front Street - Suite 3
Binghamton, NY 13905
(607) 772-1888 x222



Gary Dale wrote:
> Jason Somers wrote:
>> We shift computers around a lot, and therefore need to rename several 
>> whenever we get new batches of systems in.
>>
>> Tried simply renaming a system while on the domain, but got an 
>> "access denied" error. I WAS able to disjoin the domain, remove the 
>> LDAP entry for the computer, log in as a local administrator, rename 
>> the computer, and rejoin the domain a different computer name.
>>
>> However, this is a HUGE pain. The number of reboots alone is a 
>> genuine time-killer. Doing it one several systems can waste an entire 
>> day. Does anyone have any suggestions?
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Jason
>>
> Can you be more specific about what you are doing and why?
>
> I surmise that you are renaming existing Windows boxes when you get in 
> new computers, but are the Windows boxes servers or desktops? And why 
> do you need to rename in the first place? What happens to the old boxes?
>
> The reason I ask is that there are possibly better solutions than 
> renaming computers. This is especially true if you are doing this 
> frequently.