dsquery pipe to dsmove

i am running the following dsquery on a DC in my domain.

dsquery computer cn=computers,dc=na,dc=zzz,dc=com -name xxxtest*|dsmove
-newparent "ou=usa,ou=il,ou=southside,ou=computers,dc=na,dc=z zz,dc=com"

As you can see i am trying to pipe the results of the dsquery to a dsmove
command.
It's not working. The dsquery command works fine on its own. It finds and
returns the expected results. But when I try to pipe the dsquery to a
dsmove, it says that the computer object cannot be found.

What am I doing wrong here. Thanks in advance for any help.

dfl: WS2003
ffl: W2000

The proper context for dsmove is

dsmove.exe "CN=%1,OU=aaa,DC=AA,DC=BB,DC=com" -newparent
OU=bbb,DC=AA,dc=BB,dc=com

On Tue, 6 Sep 2005 07:58:35 -0700, "dpav" <dpav@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>i am running the following dsquery on a DC in my domain.
>
>dsquery computer cn=computers,dc=na,dc=zzz,dc=com -name xxxtest*|dsmove
>-newparent "ou=usa,ou=il,ou=southside,ou=computers,dc=na,dc=z zz,dc=com"
>
>As you can see i am trying to pipe the results of the dsquery to a dsmove
>command.
>It's not working. The dsquery command works fine on its own. It finds and
>returns the expected results. But when I try to pipe the dsquery to a
>dsmove, it says that the computer object cannot be found.
>
>What am I doing wrong here. Thanks in advance for any help.
>
>dfl: WS2003
>ffl: W2000

Add a space before the redirection:

dsquery computer cn=computers,dc=na,dc=zzz,dc=com -name xxxtest* |dsmove
-newparent "ou=usa,ou=il,ou=southside,ou=computers,dc=na,dc=z zz,dc=com"

Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com

in the cmd string you posted, you are stating the current location of the
object you want to move and then stating the new location. i thought the
purpose of the pipe function was to take the results from a dsquery and
automatically apply them to the dsmove. i thought with the pipe function you
don't need to state the current location of the object.

"rwh@rodharrison.com" wrote:

> The proper context for dsmove is
>
> dsmove.exe "CN=%1,OU=aaa,DC=AA,DC=BB,DC=com" -newparent
> OU=bbb,DC=AA,dc=BB,dc=com
>
>

thanks for your help folks.

i finally figured out the problem. my listing of the OU tree was backwards
in the dsmove -newparent switch. i guess i was confused because this is the
first time i've done a pipe between DSxxx commands. i thought something was
wrong with the pipe function, but that was not the case. it's quite awesome
when it works! A very powerful set of tools that I am sure that I will use a
lot.

here's where i was going wrong:
#original cmd
dsquery computer cn=computers,dc=na,dc=zzz,dc=com -name xxxtest*|dsmove
-newparent "ou=usa,ou=il,ou=southside,ou=computers,dc=na,dc=z zz,dc=com"

#corrected cmd
dsquery computer cn=computers,dc=na,dc=zzz,dc=com -name xxxtest*|dsmove
-newparent ou=computers,ou=soutside,ou=il,ou=usa,dc=na,dc=zzz ,dc=com

notice the reversal of the OU structure after the -newparent switch in the
corrected cmd.

In order to not make this same mistake again in the future I need to
remember that the OU structure in a cmd starts at the lowest level and works
it's way up to the domain name (DC=...)
in other words:
OU=grandchild,OU=child,OU=parent,DC=zzz,DC=com

So with this command I'm able to tailor a specific query of the directory
for objects (via dsquery) and then move the results of the query to a
location i specify (via dsmove).

In this instance all of our computers are in the computers container. i
want to move those computer objects from the computers container to an OU
based on physical locations. Thus all of the computer objects named *STL*
should go to the computers OU in the St. Louis OU. Rather than do it by
hand, I can automate it with this cmd.

Hope this helps someone.

-dave

I'm a bit confused, hope you can clarify.
If the aforementioned script is run, it will move a single machine
matching the specified query.
But if there are several machines in the container, my findings are,
that the script chokes, returns an error, and moves nothing.

you say, that you would use the command to move scores of machines
into specific OU's (which coincidentally is what i'm looking for)
using the command. But would it then be contained in a script with a
looping structure, or how would it be done??

Regards

fwe:
you are exactly right. i am searching for the same answer that you are.
i was able to make the script run for only one machine. i need it to run
for scores of machines. i have been reading how to loop this sort of script
and if/when i figure it out, i will post the instructions. please do the
same on your end.

OK, i went with a different approach. scripted the thing to death.

i'm pasting the script below, then you can modify to fit your needs.

Then you can either run the script at need, or set up a scheduled
task.

On Error Resume Next

Const ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREE = 2

Set objConnection = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
Set objCommand = CreateObject("ADODB.Command")
objConnection.Provider = "ADsDSOObject"
objConnection.Open "Active Directory Provider"
Set objCommand.ActiveConnection = objConnection

objCommand.Properties("Page Size") = 1000
objCommand.Properties("Searchscope") = ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREE

objCommand.CommandText = _
"SELECT ADsPath FROM
'LDAP://cn=computers,dc=undervisning,dc=local' WHERE
objectCategory='computer' " & _
"AND name = 'hg*'"
Set objRecordSet = objCommand.Execute

objRecordSet.MoveFirst
Do Until objRecordSet.EOF
strADsPath = objRecordSet.Fields("ADsPath").Value
Set objOU =
GetObject("LDAP://OU=computere,OU=HG,OU=skoler,dc=undervisning,dc=lo cal")
intReturn = objOU.MoveHere(strADsPath, vbNullString)
objRecordSet.MoveNext
Loop

---

the rest of you can have at it all you want.... scriptning VB is not
even a fourth language.. ;-)

your scripting chops are solid. nice job. this whole process has made me
realize that i need to focus on learning VBScript for the next few months.
I'll be spending lots of time in the script center on technet.
i ended up doing a cut and paste job in excel so that each line in excel was
a dsmove command. It worked for me and got the job done but i felt like a
technological wimp. Must learn scripting.

[jake_friz]

I know almost nothing about vbscript but I love my .bat files. Here's what I came up with:

--start--

@echo off
:again
dsquery computer -limit 1 cn=computers,DC=vprodemo | dsmove -new parent ou=validation,dc=vprodemo
if errorlevel 0 goto again

--end--

this moves the computer accounts one at a time. Once they are all moved dsmove fails and the .bat ends.