Restore Deleted Computer Objects from the Active Directory Recycle Bin

This post explains how we can use PowerShell to restore deleted computer objects from the Active Directory recycle bin.

I usually try to manipulate Active Directory using ADSI, because it doesn’t rely on the Active Directory PowerShell cmdlets.  However in this instance time wasn’t on my side, so I installed Remote Server Administration Tools by opening a PowerShell console as my administrator account and running:

Add-WindowsCapability -Name Rsat.ActiveDirectory.DS-LDS.Tools~~~~0.0.1.0 -Online

I then quickly wrote the following script, which takes an array of machines to restore from the Active Directory recycle bin:

$computersToRestore=@("Computer1",
"Computer2",
"Computer3")

cls

foreach($computerToRestore in $computersToRestore) {
    write-host "Finding $computerToRestore"

    #find the most recent in deleted objects, hence we sort by WhenChanged descending and select the first one
    $computer = Get-ADObject -LDAPFilter "(&(objectClass=Computer)(msDS-LastKnownRDN=$computerToRestore*))" -IncludeDeletedObjects -Properties *| Sort-Object -Property WhenChanged -Descending | Select-Object -First 1

    if ($computer -ne $null) {
        if ($computer.IsDeleted) {
            #if we've found the computer in the recycle bin

            write-host "Found (in recycle bin): $computerToRestore"
            write-host "When Deleted?:" $computer.WhenChanged
            write-host "Restoring: $computerToRestore"
            Restore-ADObject -Identity $computer
        } else {
            #this implies the computer has been found, but not in the recycle bin.  Hence may already have been restored or was never deleted.

            write-host "Found (NOT in recycle bin): $computerToRestore"
        }
    } else {
        #couldn't find computer in AD or in AD recycle bin

        write-host "NOT Found $computerToRestore"
    }
    write-host "***"

}