microsoft.ad.computer module – Manage Active Directory computer objects

Note

This module is part of the microsoft.ad collection (version 1.2.0).

You might already have this collection installed if you are using the ansible package. It is not included in ansible-core. To check whether it is installed, run ansible-galaxy collection list.

To install it, use: ansible-galaxy collection install microsoft.ad. You need further requirements to be able to use this module, see Requirements for details.

To use it in a playbook, specify: microsoft.ad.computer.

Synopsis

  • Manages Active Directory computer objects and their attributes.

Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

  • ActiveDirectory PowerShell module

Parameters

Parameter

Comments

attributes

dictionary

The attributes to either add, remove, or set on the AD object.

The value of each attribute option should be a dictionary where the key is the LDAP attribute, e.g. firstName, comment and the value is the value, or list of values, to set for that attribute.

The attribute value(s) can either be the raw string, integer, or bool value to add, remove, or set on the attribute in question.

The value can also be a dictionary with the type key set to bytes, date_time, security_descriptor, or raw and the value for this entry under the value key.

The bytes type has a value that is a base64 encoded string of the raw bytes to set.

The date_time type has a value that is the ISO 8601 DateTime string of the DateTime to set. The DateTime will be set as the Microsoft FILETIME integer value which is the number of 100 nanoseconds since 1601-01-01 in UTC.

The security_descriptor type has a value that is the Security Descriptor SDDL string used for the nTSecurityDescriptor attribute.

The raw type is the int, string, or boolean value to set.

String attribute values are compared using a case sensitive match on the AD object being managed.

See LDAP attributes help for more information.

Default: {}

add

dictionary

A dictionary of all the attributes and their value(s) to add to the AD object being managed if they are not already present.

This is used for attributes that can contain multiple values, if the attribute only allows a single value, use set instead.

Default: {}

remove

dictionary

A dictionary of all the attributes and their value(s) to remove from the AD object being managed if they are present.

This is used for attributes that can contain multiple values, if the attribute only allows a single value, use set instead.

Default: {}

set

dictionary

A dictionary of all attributes and their value(s) to set on the AD object being managed.

This will replace any existing values if they do not match the ones being requested.

The order of attribute values are not checked only, only that the values requested are the only values on the object attribute.

Set this to null or an empty list to clear any values for the attribute.

Default: {}

delegates

aliases: principals_allowed_to_delegate

dictionary

The principal objects that the current AD object can trust for delegation to either add, remove or set.

The values for each sub option must be specified as a distinguished name CN=shenetworks,CN=Users,DC=ansible,DC=test

This is the value set on the msDS-AllowedToActOnBehalfOfOtherIdentity LDAP attribute.

This is a highly sensitive attribute as it allows the principals specified to impersonate any account when authenticating with the AD computer object being managed.

To clear all principals, use set with an empty list.

See Setting list option values for more information on how to add/remove/set list options.

add

list / elements=string

The AD objects by their DistinguishedName to add as a principal allowed to delegate.

Any existing principals not specified by add will be untouched unless specified by remove or not in set.

remove

list / elements=string

The AD objects by their DistinguishedName to remove as a principal allowed to delegate.

Any existing pricipals not specified by remove will be untouched unless set is defined.

set

list / elements=string

The AD objects by their DistinguishedName to set as the only principals allowed to delegate.

This will remove any existing principals if not specified in this list.

Specify an empty list to remove all principals allowed to delegate.

description

string

The description of the AD object to set.

This is the value set on the description LDAP attribute.

display_name

string

The display name of the AD object to set.

This is the value of the displayName LDAP attribute.

dns_hostname

string

Specifies the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the computer.

This is the value set on the dNSHostName LDAP attribute.

domain_password

string

The password for domain_username.

domain_server

string

Specified the Active Directory Domain Services instance to connect to.

Can be in the form of an FQDN or NetBIOS name.

If not specified then the value is based on the default domain of the computer running PowerShell.

domain_username

string

The username to use when interacting with AD.

If this is not set then the user that is used for authentication will be the connection user.

Ansible will be unable to use the connection user unless auth is Kerberos with credential delegation or CredSSP, or become is used on the task.

enabled

boolean

yes will enable the group.

no will disable the group.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

identity

string

The identity of the AD object used to find the AD object to manage.

Must be specified if name is not set, when trying to rename the object with a new name, or when trying to move the object into a different path.

The identity can be in the form of a GUID representing the objectGUID value, the userPrincipalName, sAMAccountName, objectSid, or distinguishedName.

If omitted, the AD object to managed is selected by the distinguishedName using the format CN={{ name }},{{ path }}. If path is not defined, the defaultNamingContext is used instead.

kerberos_encryption_types

dictionary

Specifies the Kerberos encryption types supported the AD computer account.

This is the value set on the msDS-SupportedEncryptionTypes LDAP attribute.

Avoid using rc4 or des as they are older an insecure encryption protocols.

To clear all encryption types, use set with an empty list.

See Setting list option values for more information on how to add/remove/set list options.

add

list / elements=string

The encryption types to add to the existing set.

Any existing encryption types not specified by add will be untouched unless specified by remove or not in set.

Choices:

  • "aes128"

  • "aes256"

  • "des"

  • "rc4"

remove

list / elements=string

The encryption types to remove from the existing set.

Any existing encryption types not specified by remove will be untouched unless set is defined.

Choices:

  • "aes128"

  • "aes256"

  • "des"

  • "rc4"

set

list / elements=string

The encryption types to set as the only encryption types allowed by the AD computer.

This will remove any existing encryption types if not specified in this list.

Specify an empty list to remove all encryption types.

Choices:

  • "aes128"

  • "aes256"

  • "des"

  • "rc4"

location

string

Sets the location of the computer account.

This is the value set on the location LDAP attribute.

managed_by

string

The user or group that manages the object.

The value can be in the form of a distinguishedName, objectGUID, objectSid, or sAMAccountName).

This is the value set on the managedBy LDAP attribute.

name

string

The name of the AD object to manage.

If identity is specified, and the name of the object it found does not match this value, the object will be renamed.

This must be set when state=present or if identity is not set.

This is not always going to be the same as the sAMAccountName for user objects. It is strictly the name of the object in the path specified. Use identity to select an object to manage by sAMAccountName.

path

string

The path of the OU or the container where the new object should exist in.

If no path is specified, the default is the defaultNamingContext of domain for most objects.

The modules microsoft.ad.computer, microsoft.ad.user, and microsoft.ad.group have their own default path that is configured on the Active Directory domain controller.

protect_from_deletion

boolean

Marks the object as protected from accidental deletion.

This applies a deny access right from deleting the object normally and the protection needs to be removed before the object can be deleted through the GUI or any other tool outside Ansible.

Using state=absent will still delete the AD object even if it is marked as protected from deletion.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

sam_account_name

string

The sAMAccountName value to set for the group.

If omitted, the name value is used when creating a new group.

It has a maximum of 256 characters, 15 is advised for older operating systems compatibility.

If ommitted the value is the same as name$ when the computer is created.

Note that all computer sAMAccountName values need to end with a $.

If $ is omitted, it will be added to the end.

spn

aliases: spns

dictionary

Specifies the service principal name(s) for the account to add, remove or set.

This is the value set on the servicePrincipalName LDAP attribute.

To clear all service principal names, use set with an empty list.

See Setting list option values for more information on how to add/remove/set list options.

add

list / elements=string

The SPNs to add to servicePrincipalName.

remove

list / elements=string

The SPNs to remove from servicePrincipalName.

set

list / elements=string

The SPNs to set as the only values in servicePrincipalName.

This will clear out any existing SPNs if not in the specified list.

Set to an empty list to clear all SPNs on the AD object.

state

string

Set to present to ensure the AD object exists.

Set to absent to remove the AD object if it exists.

The option name must be set when state=present.

Using absent will recursively remove the AD object and any child objects if it’s a container. It will also remove the AD object even if the object is marked as protected from accidental deletion.

Choices:

  • "absent"

  • "present" ← (default)

trusted_for_delegation

boolean

Specifies whether an account is trusted for Kerberos delegation.

This is also known as unconstrained Kerberos delegation.

This sets the ADS_UF_TRUSTED_FOR_DELEGATION flag in the userAccountControl LDAP attribute.

Choices:

  • false

  • true

upn

string

Configures the User Principal Name (UPN) for the account.

The format is <username>@<domain>.

This is the value set on the userPrincipalName LDAP attribute.

Attributes

Attribute

Support

Description

check_mode

Support: full

Can run in check_mode and return changed status prediction without modifying target

diff_mode

Support: full

Will return details on what has changed (or possibly needs changing in check_mode), when in diff mode

platform

Platform: windows

Target OS/families that can be operated against

Notes

Note

  • See win_domain_computer migration for help on migrating from community.windows.win_domain_computer to this module.

  • Some LDAP attributes can have only a single value set while others can have multiple. Some attributes are also read only and cannot be changed. It is recommended to look at the schema metadata for an attribute where System-Only are read only values and Is-Single-Value are attributes with only 1 value.

  • Attempting to set multiple values to a Is-Single-Value attribute results in undefined behaviour.

  • If running on a server that is not a Domain Controller, credential delegation through CredSSP or Kerberos with delegation must be used or the domain_username, domain_password must be set.

See Also

See also

microsoft.ad.domain

The official documentation on the microsoft.ad.domain module.

microsoft.ad.domain_controller

The official documentation on the microsoft.ad.domain_controller module.

microsoft.ad.membership

The official documentation on the microsoft.ad.membership module.

microsoft.ad.object_info

The official documentation on the microsoft.ad.object_info module.

microsoft.ad.object

The official documentation on the microsoft.ad.object module.

microsoft.ad.offline_join

The official documentation on the microsoft.ad.offline_join module.

microsoft.ad.group

The official documentation on the microsoft.ad.group module.

Migration guide

This module replaces community.windows.win_domain_computer. See the migration guide for details.

community.windows.win_domain_computer

The official documentation on the community.windows.win_domain_computer module.

Examples

- name: Add linux computer to Active Directory OU using a windows machine
  microsoft.ad.computer:
    name: one_linux_server
    sam_account_name: linux_server$
    dns_hostname: one_linux_server.my_org.local
    path: OU=servers,DC=my_org,DC=local
    description: Example of linux server
    enabled: yes
    state: present

- name: Remove linux computer from Active Directory using a windows machine
  microsoft.ad.computer:
    name: one_linux_server
    state: absent

- name: Add SPNs to computer
  microsoft.ad.computer:
    name: TheComputer
    spn:
      add:
      - HOST/TheComputer
      - HOST/TheComputer.domain.test
      - HOST/TheComputer.domain.test:1234

- name: Remove SPNs on the computer
  microsoft.ad.computer:
    name: TheComputer
    spn:
      remove:
      - HOST/TheComputer
      - HOST/TheComputer.domain.test
      - HOST/TheComputer.domain.test:1234

- name: Set the principals the computer trusts for delegation from
  microsoft.ad.computer:
    name: TheComputer
    delegates:
      set:
      - CN=FileShare,OU=Computers,DC=domain,DC=test
      - CN=DC,OU=Domain Controllers,DC=domain,DC=test

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key

Description

distinguished_name

string

The distinguishedName of the AD object that was created, removed, or edited.

Returned: always

Sample: "CN=MyComputer,CN=Computers,DC=domain,DC=test"

object_guid

string

The objectGUID of the AD object that was created, removed, or edited.

If a new object was created in check mode, a GUID of 0s will be returned.

Returned: always

Sample: "d84a141f-2b99-4f08-9da0-ed2d26864ba1"

sid

string

The Security Identifier (SID) of the account managed.

If a new computer was created in check mode, the SID will be S-1-5-0000.

Returned: always

Sample: "S-1-5-21-4151808797-3430561092-2843464588-1104"

Authors

  • Jordan Borean (@jborean93)