PowerShell: How to get Domain-Computers using PowerShell

Get-ADComputer

In a Microsoft Active Directory domain, it's important to know what computers are available and active. PowerShell makes it easy to get a list of computers in the domain by leveraging the Active Directory module.

'Get-ADComputer' is a PowerShell cmdlet used to retrieve information about Active Directory computer objects. This cmdlet is part of the Active Directory PowerShell module and requires administrative privileges to access and query Active Directory.

By default, 'Get-ADComputer' retrieves all computer objects in the current domain, but it can also search for specific computers using a variety of parameters, such as computer name, operating system, or last logon time. The results can be filtered and sorted to provide a customized view of the data.

For example, running 'Get-ADComputer -Filter {OperatingSystem -like "*Windows Server*"} | Select-Object Name, OperatingSystem' would retrieve all computer objects with a Windows Server operating system and display the name and operating system properties for each object in the output.

'Get-ADComputer' is a powerful tool for managing and administering Active Directory computer objects, and it can be used to automate tasks, such as software deployment, security auditing, and inventory management.

Example 1: Get a specific computer that shows all properties

PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -Identity "SRV1" -Properties *

Example 2: Get all computers with a name starting with a particular string

PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -Filter 'Name -like "User01*"' -Properties IPv4Address | FT Name,DNSHostName,IPv4Address -A

Example 3: Gets all computers that have changed their password in the specific time frame

PS C:\> $Date = [DateTime]::Today.AddDays(-1) 

PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -Filter 'PasswordLastSet -ge $Date' -Properties PasswordLastSet | FT Name,PasswordLastSet

Example 4: Get computer accounts in a specific location using an LDAPFilter

PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -LDAPFilter "(name=*laptop*)" -SearchBase "CN=Computers,DC= User01,DC=com" name

Example 5: Get all computer accounts using a filter

PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -Filter *

Example 6: Get all computers with a name starting with Computer01 or Computer02

PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -Filter 'Name -like "Computer01*" -or Name -like "Computer02*"' -Properties IPv4Address | FT Name,DNSHostName,IPv4Address -A

Example 7: Get all computers with a name starting with a string AND password last set before 30 days

PS C:\> $Date = [DateTime]::Today.AddDays(-30)

PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -Filter 'Name -like "Computer01*" -and PasswordLastSet -ge $Date' -Properties IPv4Address | FT Name,DNSHostName,IPv4Address -A

Example 8: Get all Windows Server Computers

PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -Filter 'operatingsystem -like "*server*" -and enabled -eq "true"' ` -Properties Name,Operatingsystem,OperatingSystemVersion,IPv4Address | Sort-Object -Property Operatingsystem | Select-Object -Property Name,Operatingsystem,OperatingSystemVersion,IPv4Address

Example 9: Get all Windows Client Computer

PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -Filter 'operatingsystem -notlike "*server*" -and enabled -eq "true"' ` -Properties Name,Operatingsystem,OperatingSystemVersion,IPv4Address | Sort-Object -Property Operatingsystem | Select-Object -Property Name,Operatingsystem,OperatingSystemVersion,IPv4Address