Viewing the RootDSE

Viewing the RootDSE

This topic explains how to use the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell to view the rootDSE of a domain. By viewing the attributes of the rootDSE, you can view the basic information about a forest, domain, or domain controller without having to hard-code the naming context in a search query.

Example

The following example demonstrates how to view the rootDSE of the Fabrikam.com domain:
Get-ADRootDSE

Additional information

In addition to the standard Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) attributes, you can retrieve the following extended properties of the Get-ADRootDSE cmdlet by using the -Properties parameter:

• ConfigurationNamingContext
  
• CurrentTime
  
• DefaultNamingContext
  
• DnsHostName
  
• DomainControllerFunctionality
  
• DomainFunctionality
  
• DsServiceName
  
• ForestFunctionality
  
• HighestCommittedUSN
  
• IsGlobalCatalogReady
  
• IsSynchronized
  
• LdapServiceName
  
• NamingContexts
  
• RootDomainNamingContext
  
• SchemaNamingContext
  
• ServerName
  
• SubschemaSubentry
  
• SupportedCapabilities
  
• SupportedControl
  
• SupportedLDAPPolicies
  
• SupportedLDAPVersion
  
• SupportedRootDSEOperations
  
• SupportedSASLMechanisms
  

For a full explanation of the parameters that you can pass to Get-ADRootDSE, at the Active Directory module command prompt, type Get-Help Get-ADRootDSE –detailed, and then press ENTER.