Why is TeamViewer still using the NETBIOS name to generate the computer alias?

echapa

I can manually update the alias to a longer one manually or through the API, so it doesn't look like there's a character limit in the database for the alias. It's simply that the clients are using the NETBIOS name (which is limited/truncated to 15 characters) to generate the "alias" of the computer upon installation, instead of using their full name that can be obtained from the hostname. Windows no longer warns about computer names longer than 15 characters, so why is TeamViewer still using the NETBIOS name?

echapa

This leads to several issues that I don't have the time to elaborate, but I find it very concerning that even this very simple task is not being done automatically by the TeamViewer clients after the computer name is changed locally.

JenW

Hi @echapa,

Thank you for posting in our Community! 🙌

As general information, when you are deploying TeamViewer, the computer name is used by default.

However, before the deployment, you can configure the way the machines will be named. In our Knowledge Hub, we created a Mass deployment on Windows - Overview which describes step-by-step the process.

Concerning the device name parameter, you can directly go to step 5: 👉 Assignment options and check all the possibilities you have to rename them in the section --alias [<name>]. You can use for example:

--alias %ComputerName%-%UserName%"

On the other hand, after the first deployment, it is possible to update the entries to include, for example, the actual username for the person that is logged in, as you mentioned, either manually or with our API.

Indeed, advanced users can go beyond what we offer and use the TeamViewer API. We have an example script that makes it possible to rename the device with the username. To obtain more information, please contact our Support Team by opening a ticket: 📝 Submit a ticket

❗ Please be aware that for the API, we don't offer any support, we just provide the documentation.

In any case, we are happy to forward your request internally without promising you anything.

We hope these tips can help you out and let us know if you need further assistance 🍀

Best,

Jen