Determine Client's Computer Name

Question

I am building an intranet site that will display different lists based on the computer name because different computers are in different areas, is there a way (within a controller or model) to determine the client's computer name?

I have tried system.environment.machinename but that only returns the name of the server, any other ideas?

score 54 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 20 '17 at 18:19

54

I got it working using the following:

string IP = Request.UserHostName;
string compName = CompNameHelper.DetermineCompName(IP);

code from compnamehelper:

public static string DetermineCompName(string IP)
{
    IPAddress myIP = IPAddress.Parse(IP);
    IPHostEntry GetIPHost = Dns.GetHostEntry(myIP);
    List<string> compName = GetIPHost.HostName.ToString().Split('.').ToList();
    return compName.First();
}

edited Nov 20 '17 at 18:19

Aaron Hudon

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answered Sep 18 '09 at 15:00

Jimmy

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Note that this will not give you the expected result if the client is behind a NAT, but chances are that it's not a problem since you're on an "intranet". – Niklas May 14 '10 at 10:37
It is working like a charm. But small change i had to make for getting the IP. string ip = HttpContext.Request.UserHostName.ToString(); rest are awesomely working.. +1 – Vinnie Aug 16 '13 at 20:48
Well, it may work only on local area network but it will not work on the internet. – Jamshaid K. Oct 07 '17 at 15:42
I just get this error "no such host is known" on the *Dns.GetHostEntry(myIP)*, is there any solution? – Farzad Karimi Jun 23 '20 at 08:20

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 16 '14 at 15:13

4

code in VB :

Dim myIP As IPAddress = IPAddress.Parse(Request.UserHostName)
    Dim GetIPHost As IPHostEntry = Dns.GetHostEntry(myIP)
    Dim compName As List(Of String) = GetIPHost.HostName.ToString.Split("").ToList

    return(compName.First)

answered Oct 16 '14 at 15:13

hosein kardoost

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score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 18 '09 at 13:45

3

No. The client's computer name is not available in any way on the server. This is the nature of the http request-response. You only can have its IP address.

A workarounds could be to retrieve machine on the client from Flash/Silverlight (I doubt JavaScript) and put in into cookie which is available on the server with each request. But there is a whole stack of issues with this approach.

answered Sep 18 '09 at 13:45

Dmytrii Nagirniak

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is there a method to lookup computer names with an ip? – Jimmy Sep 18 '09 at 13:50
You can get computer name from its IP by making a call to DNS server – Mahesh Velaga Sep 19 '09 at 14:17

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 18 '09 at 13:44

1

I think you are better off using one of these methods to tie a user to a location:

a cookie that is set once the user self-selects their location
having the user login to the site so that you can track them uniquely that way
remembering user by IP address

There is no way of ensuring remote hostnames are unique. The same issue occurs with IP because of proxies, dynamic IP, etc., but I think it will be a little more reliable. Also, you can do geolocation by IP address.

answered Sep 18 '09 at 13:44

D'Arcy Rittich

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I have a similar need to know if a user is on a "certain" PC or not...and I believe a cookie is probably the best way to go. – Chris Catignani Mar 29 '19 at 19:30

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 18 '09 at 13:51

1

Try this:

string name = Request.UserHostName;

answered Sep 18 '09 at 13:51

Matt Wrock

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Didn't work, returned name of web server. Same with System.Net. – Ken Mc Nov 16 '16 at 21:39

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 18 '09 at 13:44

The only way I know of to inspect the client is through the ServerVariables collection on the Request object (should be available for MVC code).

See https://web.archive.org/web/20210927201638/http://www.4guysfromrolla.com/webtech/092298-3.shtml for more information. REMOTE_HOST and REMOTE_ADDR look like candidates.

score -1 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 18 '09 at 13:52

Here's an IE-only solution. It works in IE8, with multiple security warnings.

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
   var ax = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Network");
   document.write(ax.UserName + '<br />'); //logged in account name
   document.write(ax.ComputerName + '<br />'); //Windows PC name
</script>

Determine Client's Computer Name

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