While I am still trying to shake the end of this cold snap we are seeing in Canada that has lasted all of February, I have been updating computers as with a busy build week! If you ever see the sun like this, you really need to be inside testing a #WindowsInsider build! In between builds I have been watching updates via the MS Technology Forums and the MS Answer Forums, both a great place to find new items and help solve existing issues. If you haven't been active on either suggest that you get involved, there are lots of great discussions and if you are a #Windowsinsider like me, you will find new things that will help you out!
This is where my post of today comes in, I have previously posted when a machine gets renamed via the Settings-->About interface, the machine renames but in Azure AD there is no strong mechanism to update the object and until currently does NOT reflect the new machine name. In that blog I used PowerShell to update the object after the rename - that process works every time I have used it. Recently one of the users on the MS Answers Forums, GregMoore303 had this to say :
So instead of going through the PowerShell command prompt and renaming the machine, it seems he found a mechanism to have this done via clicking through a series of links, this could be a breakthrough that I am looking for! I set off to recreate the actions described in his post.
A machine that was updated to the Latest #WindowsInsider build, that was added to Azure AD as a stock 1809 image, and then renamed still showed incorrectly in Azure AD as the DESKTOP-LZ09P45 name. I went through the links as above and sure enough Azure AD updated the Device name in my Azure AD to be the correct object (with nothing more then going through the portal!) - it now shows up as MUR-XAD-1, the name I gave it.
He may be onto something here!
So to prove this method correctly works, I renamed the machine again to MUR-XAD-2 - and no matter what I try, rebooting, updating, going in the Azure AD portal, following the steps I did the first time, nothing will update the name! In my Azure AD portal it still shows MUR-XAD-1
Update March 4, 2019
It appears that after not quite 24 hours, the machine in question now has been updated and renamed in the devices tab in Azure AD - This is great!
I know that Microsoft is actively going through the motions to upgrade the Rename feature in Windows 10/Azure AD to properly rename Azure AD machines, as referenced here, and all I can possibly conclude is that this is part of that update that is being actively worked on. I suggest that anytime you do rename a computer, you check the device has properly updated in your Azure AD portal here, and if it hasn't updated, wait 24 hours (TBD) while the machine is online to properly update that machine in Azure AD prior to any new insiders build or if you wish to force it immediately go through the steps in my Blog post here to correctly rename it. Without the machine being properly rename, you run the risk that the upgrade process drops it from Azure AD, as #WindowsInsiders have experienced in testing 19H1.
If and when I get the process and timeframes of the new renaming service I will update my blog posts!
Keep Warm and I hope to see you here OnTheWinside.com thanks for reading
Murray @Murmanz