Mac OS X: Active Directory - Naming considerations when binding

Products Affected

Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, Mac OS X Server 10.4, Mac OS X Server 10.5, Mac OS X Server 10.6, OS X Lion, OS X Mountain Lion, OS X Server (Mountain Lion), Microsoft Active Directory

Symptoms

When binding a Mac OS X client to Active Directory, it is important to ensure that the computer names used in the binding process are less than 16 characters and use valid characters for Active Directory computer account names. Entering a longer computer name or invalid characters may cause client binding to Active Directory to not work, or cause Mac OS X to bind to Active Directory with a truncated computer name. 

Resolution

To ensure that the computer binds as expected:

  • Use computer names that are less than 16 characters in length, and which only contain alphanumeric (A–Z, a–z), numbers (0–9), - (dash) and/or _ (underscore) characters when binding with System Preferences, Directory Utility, or dsconfigad.

Note: Although the underscore character is valid in hostnames, it is not a valid component in a DNS domain name.  If the Active Directory domain being bound to contains an underscore in the domain name, binding and services will not function as expected.

Additional Information

For more information about the length and character set requirements for use with Active Directory, see this Microsoft article.

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