PowerTip: Use PowerShell to Set Primary and Secondary DNS Server Addresses

avatar of the-scripting-guysThe Scripting Guys8

Summary: Use Windows PowerShell to set the primary and secondary DNS server addresses for a client.

Hey, Scripting Guy! Question I recently changed the IP address scheme for an entire subnet. How can I use Windows PowerShell to set the
           primary and secondary DNS server addresses for the client workstations?

Hey, Scripting Guy! Answer Use the Set-DNSClientServerAddress cmdlet, and specify the primary and the secondary DNS servers as
           an array, for example:

Set-DNSClientServerAddress –interfaceIndex 12 –ServerAddresses (“10.0.0.1”,”10.0.0.2”)

Comments (8)

  1. Victor Ashiedu says:
    December 17, 2018 at 6:41 am

    Great tip, thanks

  2. tommymaynard says:
    December 17, 2018 at 6:41 am

    @ris
    You can’t do that because you’re creating local variables and expecting the remote computer to know something about them. If you’re using PS 3.0 or greater (on your local computer), then use the Using scope modifier.

    $NIC_PrimaryDNS = "2.2.2.2"
    $NIC_SecondaryDNS = "3.3.3.3"
    Invoke-command -ComputerName $Server -cred $cred -ScriptBlock {Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias corp -ServerAddresses("$Using:NIC_PrimaryDNS","$Using:NIC_SecondaryDNS")}

    If you’re using 2.0, then you’ll have to use parameters to pass in your local variables.

    $NIC_PrimaryDNS = "2.2.2.2"
    $NIC_SecondaryDNS = "3.3.3.3"
    Invoke-command -ComputerName $Server -cred $cred -ScriptBlock {Param($NIC1,$NIC2) Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias corp -ServerAddresses("$NIC1,"$NIC2")} -ArgumentList $NIC_PrimaryDNS,$NIC_SecondaryDNS

  3. Edward van Biljon says:
    December 17, 2018 at 6:41 am

    thanks

  4. Nikolaj says:
    August 31, 2014 at 8:03 am

    Neat trick!
    But could you please write some requirements. I know that Set-DNSClientServerAddress is not available on Windows 7. 🙂

    Thanks!

  5. ris says:
    August 31, 2014 at 9:15 am

    why cant I do this ?
    #$NIC_PrimaryDNS = "2.2.2.2"
    #$NIC_SecondaryDNS = "3.3.3.3"
    Invoke-command -ComputerName $Server -cred $cred -ScriptBlock {Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias corp -ServerAddresses("$NIC_PrimaryDNS","$NIC_SecondaryDNS")}

  6. Rob says:
    September 8, 2014 at 1:21 pm

    Does it work with PowerShell 4.0 in Windows 7? I got an error ("The term ‘Set-DnsClientServerAddress’ is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program").

  7. Micah (The Powershell Ninja) says:
    September 9, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    @Rob

    In this case, version is irrelevant. Windows 8/Server 2012 and higher come with additional modules of advanced functions to help manage the OS. They are not integrated Powershell Cmdlets.

    You can use WMI to so the same thing. If you know your Interface Index, you could use this:
    $NetworkAdapterConfig = Get-WMIObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration -Filter {Index = 12}
    $NetworkAdapterConfig.DNSServerSearchOrder = “10.0.0.1”,”10.0.0.2”

    This is Version 2 safe and should work on any Windows OS (XP or above). Please note that this uses WMI and is not networking friendly. I would sugest running this inside of a PSSession of some kind if you are setting this remotely.

  8. alex says:
    October 8, 2014 at 1:48 pm

    Thanks Guys, that’s a great post!

    https://www.ukofficialservices.co.uk/marriage_certificates/replacement-marriage-certificate.asp

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