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Viewing the RootDSE

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

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.