Is it possible to use adjoin to set the Pre-Windows 2000 computer name to a different name than the DNS host name but ensure the name for the corresponding Computer object uses the DNS host name?

This configuration is possible using adjoin. In this specific scenario developers create machines with host names longer than 15 characters and would like user a shorter name for the Pre-Windows 2000 name while keeping the Computer object name the same as the DNS host name.

In DNS these machines use the longer host name.

When performing administrative tasks such as adding computers to computer roles, it is much less work to find these machines if they have their names be the same as the DNS host name.

This can be accomplished by using an adjoin command similar to the one below which includes the -n, -N and -l parameters:

adjoin -u <Domain-Admin> -n fifteencharacter.ocean.net -N fifteen -l -z <Zone-Name> <Domain>


 

Using a similar command without the -l parameter will not yield the expected configuration, the shorter name will be used for both the Pre-Windows 2000 computer name and the name of the corresponding Computer object.

adjoin -u <Domain-Admin> -n fifteencharacter.ocean.net -N fifteen -z <Zone-Name> <Domain>

Without the parameters listed above, the adjoin command will truncate the Pre-Windows 2000 name. More information on that can be found in KB-1650