I’m trying to use the below script to rename a group of computers on our domain. I can’t figure out what the “$Server” variable contains.
Script from TN
PS C:\>$a = Import-Csv ServerNames.csv -Header OldName, NewName
PS C:\>Foreach [ $Server in $a ] {Rename-Computer -ComputerName $Server.OldName -NewName $Server.NewName -DomainCredential Domain01\Admin01 -Force -Restart}
$server will contain an object that has an OldName property and a NewName property - e.g., one line from the CSV file. It looks to me as if you’re using it correctly.
Thanks for your response Don! I understand now. $server is specifying what parameter to use on each Header in the csv file.
Mmm, well, let’s make sure the terminology is right ;).
Import-CSV produces a collection of objects. Each object represents one data row from the CSV. The objects have properties that correspond to the CSV’s header row.
$rows = Import-CSV something.csv
$rows will contain all the objects
foreach ($row in $rows) {
$row.myproperty
}
Goes through each object in $rows, placing one object at a time into $row. $row.myproperty accesses the value in the “MyProperty” column of the current CSV data row. In your example, those property values are being passed to the -ComputerName and -NewName parameters of the command you’re running. So, $server.oldname refers to “the OldName column of the current CSV data row.” $server represents a single object, and OldName has become a property of that object.
I’m a bit of a stickler for terminology, because things get confusing otherwise. Commands have parameters; objects have properties. Parameters are a way of feeding input to a command; properties contain values.
Thanks for your thorough explanation! greatly appreciated and completely understood. thou shall use correct terms for future ref 
For anyone interested in easily renaming multiple computers using a CSV file without having to understand or learn powershell it may be worthwhile giving Netdom Rename Computer GUI a try. Although it doesn’t use powershell, Netdom can still get the job done and we have made it even more simple with a graphical user interface. All you need to do is import your CSV file, input your domain credentials and click Rename.
Bonjour,
Quelqu’un serait-il au courant si il est possible de renommer des machines qui sont deja intégré au domaine , sans devoir les enlever du domaine…
J’ai toujours l’erreur “Accès refusé”
Voici le code :
function RenameDomaine ($tabArgument)
{
$adminlogin = "domaine\administrateur"
Read-Host -prompt "pwd admin du domaine " -AsSecureString |
ConvertFrom-SecureString | out-file Monpwdadmin.pwd
$adminpassword = Cat .\Monpwdadmin.pwd | ConvertTo-SecureString
$adminCredential = New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $adminlogin, $adminpassword
if ($adobjSalle -ne $null)
{
$confirmation = Read-Host "Etes-vous bien sur de vouloir renommer la salle $salle y/n ?"
if ($confirmation -eq 'y')
{
foreach ($arg in $tabArgument)
{
foreach($entry in $list)
{
if ($arg -eq 'all' -or ($arg -eq $($entry.IP)))
{
write-host "Traitement du poste: " $($entry.Nom) -foregroundcolor green
$result = Get-WmiObject Win32_PingStatus -filter "address='$($entry.IP)'"
if ($result.statuscode -eq 0)
{
$newname2 = $($entry.Nom2)
$newname = $($entry.Nom)
Invoke-Command -computername $($entry.IP) -credential $admincredential -Scriptblock {param($newname2);rename-computer -NewName ($newname2) -force -restart} -argumentlist $newname2,$admincredential -ErrorVariable error
if ($error -ne 0)
{
write-host "Rename echoue - voir detail sur log.txt" -foregroundcolor red
Add-Content -Path $event -Value "Rename KO -- $($entry.IP) $error "
}
else
{
write-host "Rename Ok" -foregroundcolor green
}
}
else
{
write-host "Operation annulee verifier la connexion reseau" -foregroundcolor red
}
}
}
}
}
}
else
{
Write-host " Operation annulee Verifier l'orthographe de la salle $salle" -foregroundcolor green
}
}