Get the computer's security identifier (SID) remotely

We've been asked several times about getting the security identifier (SID) from remote machines on the network.

This is somewhat complex for people using scripting as the information is (annoyingly) not available using WMI unless you read the Win32_LocalAccounts class and string parse some of the SIDs from the user accounts.

This isn't ideal especially on a domain controller where the queries can be somewhat slow for this class.

We've therefore decided to add both the machine security identifier and the domain security identifier (the SID assigned to the computer by it's domain) to our server audit and documentation tool, and have used the low level Win32 APIs to obtain this information rather than using the less reliable string parsing method.





For more information why not download the free trial?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, Windows 10 and Windows 11: Date and time "Some settings are managed by your organization".

Image
When you're using the new "Modern" date and time settings in Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, Windows 10 and Windows 11 you may find that you can't set the correct date and time and the value "Some settings are managed by your organization". - While you're here - Why not check out our Windows Server Documentation and Audit Tool? The simplest way around this is to go back to the proper control panel using Start, Run, "Control.exe" and searching for "Set the date".  Within here you can set the date and time manually as required If you try and click the Change time zone button you may again get access denied... To resolve this open an elevated command prompt by right clicking the command prompt and selecting Run as Administrator  From there run the command rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL timedate.cpl This will open the Data and Time control panel app elevated as an Administrator.
Read more

TFTPD32 or TFTPD64 reports Bind error 10013 An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.

Image
When you start the trivial FTP (TFTP) server application TFTPD32 or TDTPD64 you may see the following error Bind error 10013 An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions. This can be because another application is using this port. The easiest way to check if (and which) application is using the port is as administrator run an elevated command prompt and enter netstat -anb > ports.txt Then open ports.txt in Notepad and search for :69, you'll quickly be able to see the process using the required port - While you're here - Why not check out our Windows Server Documentation and Audit Tool?
Read more

Windows Server 2019 desktop icons such as My Computer, Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file.

Image
In Windows Server 2019 you may notice that the desktop icons such as My Computer are missing, however when you goto Personalization > Themes > Desktop icon settings You see the error Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item. The quickest way to resolve this is to ignore the modern UI and desk.cpl ,5 From here you can easily add the My Computer icon - While you're here - Why not check out our Windows Server Documentation and Audit Tool?
Read more