In enterprise environments, keeping track of the operating system versions deployed across domain-joined machines is a fundamental IT hygiene and security requirement. Whether you are preparing for patch management, compliance auditing, hardware refresh planning, or end-of-life remediation, knowing exactly how many machines run each Windows version is essential.

This lab tutorial walks you through multiple methods to generate a Windows OS Version Count Inventory Report using your Windows Server 2022 domain controller — from built-in PowerShell cmdlets to Active Directory queries and CSV exports.

Parameter	Value
Server OS	Windows Server 2022
IP Address	192.168.91.129
DNS Domain	vmorecloud.com
FQDN	server.vmorecloud.com
Role	Active Directory Domain Controller
Tools Used	PowerShell, Active Directory Module, RSAT

Prerequisites

1. Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)

Your Windows Server 2022 must be configured as an Active Directory Domain Controller with computers joined to the vmorecloud.com domain.

2. PowerShell Active Directory Module

The Active Directory PowerShell module must be installed. It is part of the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). Verify with the command below:

# Check if AD module is available
Get-Module -Name ActiveDirectory -ListAvailable

If not installed, run the following on Windows Server 2022:

# Install RSAT Active Directory Tools
Install-WindowsFeature -Name RSAT-AD-PowerShell

Permissions Required

Domain Admin or equivalent account
Read access to Active Directory computer objects
PowerShell running as Administrator

Note All commands in this tutorial should be executed on the Domain Controller (server.vmorecloud.com) or a machine with the AD PowerShell module and appropriate permissions.

Method 1: Quick Count with Get-ADComputer

The fastest way to get an OS version count is to query Active Directory directly using Get-ADComputer and group the results by OperatingSystem.

Step 1 — Open PowerShell as Administrator

On your domain controller server.vmorecloud.com, right-click the Start Menu and select Windows PowerShell (Admin) or Terminal (Admin).

Step 2 — Import the Active Directory Module

Import-Module ActiveDirectory

Step 3 — Run the Basic OS Count Query

# Get all domain computers and group by OS
Get-ADComputer -Filter * `
    -Properties OperatingSystem, OperatingSystemVersion `
    | Group-Object -Property OperatingSystem `
    | Select-Object Count, Name `
    | Sort-Object Count -Descending

How To Get Windows Operating System Version Count Inventory Report From Domain Computers 11

Expected Output

Count Name
----- ----
    2 Windows Server 2025 Datacenter Evaluation
    1 Windows 11 Enterprise Evaluation

Tip — Spot Outdated OS Versions Any Windows 7, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2008 machines appearing in this output should be flagged for immediate remediation as they are end-of-life and no longer receive security updates.

Method 2: Detailed Inventory with Version Numbers

This method gives you granular detail including the exact build number alongside the OS name, which is critical for patch compliance.

# Detailed OS inventory including build version
Get-ADComputer -Filter * -Properties `
    Name,
    OperatingSystem,
    OperatingSystemVersion,
    OperatingSystemServicePack,LastLogonDate,
    IPv4Address `
| Select-Object `
    Name,
    OperatingSystem,
    OperatingSystemVersion,
    LastLogonDate,
    IPv4Address `
| Sort-Object OperatingSystem, OperatingSystemVersion `
| Format-Table -AutoSize

Count Name
----- ----
    2 Windows Server 2025 Datacenter Evaluation
    1 Windows 11 Enterprise Evaluation

Method 3: Export to CSV for Reporting

Exporting to CSV allows you to open the data in Excel or import it into reporting tools for management dashboards.

Export Full Inventory to CSV

================================

Windows OS Inventory Report

Domain: vmorecloud.com

================================

Report paths

$ReportPath = “C:\Reports”
$CsvFile = “$ReportPath\OS_Inventory_Report.csv”
$SummaryPath = “$ReportPath\OS_Count_Summary.csv”
$HtmlFile = “$ReportPath\OS_Inventory_Report.html”

Create Reports folder if missing

if (!(Test-Path $ReportPath)) {
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $ReportPath | Out-Null
}

================================

Collect Computer Information

================================

$Computers = Get-ADComputer -Filter * -Properties OperatingSystem, OperatingSystemVersion,
LastLogonDate, IPv4Address, Description

================================

Detailed CSV Export

================================

$Computers | Select-Object @{N='ComputerName';E={$_.Name}},
@{N=’OperatingSystem’;E={$_.OperatingSystem}}, @{N='Version';E={$_.OperatingSystemVersion}},
@{N=’LastLogon’;E={$_.LastLogonDate}}, @{N='IPAddress';E={$_.IPv4Address}},
@{N=’Description’;E={$_.Description}} |
Sort-Object OperatingSystem, ComputerName |
Export-Csv -Path $CsvFile -NoTypeInformation

Write-Host “Detailed report exported to: $CsvFile” -ForegroundColor Green

================================

OS Summary Count

================================

$Summary = $Computers |
Group-Object OperatingSystem |
Select-Object @{N='OS';E={$_.Name}},
@{N=’Count’;E={$_.Count}}

Total computers

$Total = ($Summary | Measure-Object Count -Sum).Sum

Calculate percentage

$Summary = $Summary | ForEach-Object {
[PSCustomObject]@{
OS = $_.OS
Count = $_.Count
Percent = “{0:P1}” -f ($_.Count / $Total)
}
}

Export summary CSV

$Summary |
Sort-Object Count -Descending |
Export-Csv -Path $SummaryPath -NoTypeInformation

Write-Host “Summary exported to: $SummaryPath” -ForegroundColor Green

================================

Generate HTML Dashboard

================================

$TableRows = $Summary | ForEach-Object {
“$($_.OS)$($_.Count)$($_.Percent)”
}

$Html = @”

Windows OS Inventory – vmorecloud.com

Windows OS Inventory Report

Domain: vmorecloud.com

Generated: $(Get-Date)

Total Computers: $Total $($TableRows -join “`n”)

Operating System	Count	Percentage

“@

$Html | Out-File -FilePath $HtmlFile -Encoding UTF8

Write-Host "HTML Report generated: $HtmlFile" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "`nAll reports saved in: $ReportPath" -ForegroundColor Cyan

How to Run the Script

Execute the script:

Output Files Created

The script will generate three reports:

📁 C:\Reports\OS_Inventory_Report.csv
➡ Detailed computer inventory

📁 C:\Reports\OS_Count_Summary.csv
➡ OS count summary

📁 C:\Reports\OS_Inventory_Report.html
➡ Professional dashboard report

Method 5: Using Active Directory Users & Computers (GUI)

For administrators who prefer a GUI approach, Active Directory Users and Computers provides a basic view, though PowerShell is recommended for accurate counts.

Steps

Open Server Manager on server.vmorecloud.com

Click Tools → Active Directory Users and Computers

In the left pane, navigate to your domain vmorecloud.com

Select the Computers container or relevant OU

Right-click any column header in the right pane → select OperatingSystem

You can now see the OS column — click the column header to sort by OS

To get counts, use Find/Filter:

Right-click on Computers → Find

In the Find box, select Computers and use the Advanced tab

Enter OperatingSystem as the field and filter as needed

i	Recommendation The GUI method is good for quick visual browsing but does not provide accurate counts or CSV export. Always use PowerShell (Methods 1-4) for inventory reporting and compliance documentation.

Method 6: Remote Query Using Invoke-Command

If you want to retrieve live OS data directly from each computer (rather than from AD attributes which may be stale), use PowerShell remoting.

Prerequisites for Remoting

WinRM must be enabled on target computers
Firewall must allow PowerShell remoting (port 5985)
Domain Admin credentials required

Enable WinRM via Group Policy (Recommended)

# Run on Domain Controller to enable WinRM domain-wide via GPO
# (Or use Group Policy: Computer Config > Windows Settings >
#  Security Settings > Windows Firewall > Allow WinRM)

# Enable WinRM locally first
Enable-PSRemoting -Force

Remote Live OS Query

# Get live OS info from all domain computers
$Computers = Get-ADComputer -Filter 'Enabled -eq $true' |
Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name

$Results = Invoke-Command -ComputerName $Computers `
    -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue `
    -ScriptBlock {
        $OS = Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
            OS           = $OS.Caption
            Build        = $OS.BuildNumber
            Architecture = $OS.OSArchitecture
            LastBoot     = $OS.LastBootUpTime
        }
    }

# Show count summary
$Results | Group-Object OS |
    Select-Object @{N='OS';E={$_.Name}}, Count |
    Sort-Object Count -Descending |
    Format-Table -AutoSize

Windows OS Build Number Reference

Use this reference table to decode the OperatingSystemVersion field returned by Active Directory queries.

Operating System	Build Number	Release Date	Support Status
Windows 11 23H2	10.0.22631	Oct 2023	Supported
Windows 11 22H2	10.0.22621	Sep 2022	Supported
Windows 11 21H2	10.0.22000	Oct 2021	Supported
Windows 10 22H2	10.0.19045	Oct 2022	Supported
Windows 10 21H2	10.0.19044	Nov 2021	Limited
Windows 10 1909	10.0.18363	Nov 2019	EOL
Windows Server 2022	10.0.20348	Aug 2021	Supported
Windows Server 2019	10.0.17763	Oct 2018	Supported
Windows Server 2016	10.0.14393	Oct 2016	Limited
Windows Server 2012 R2	6.3.9600	Nov 2013	EOL

Scheduling Automated Reports

Run the inventory script on a schedule using Windows Task Scheduler so your reports stay current without manual intervention.

Create a Scheduled Task via PowerShell

# Schedule weekly OS inventory report
$Action = New-ScheduledTaskAction `
    -Execute 'powershell.exe' `
    -Argument '-NonInteractive -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\Scripts\Get-OSInventory.ps1'

$Trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger `
    -Weekly -DaysOfWeek Monday -At '06:00AM'

$Settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet `
    -ExecutionTimeLimit (New-TimeSpan -Hours 1) `
    -MultipleInstances IgnoreNew

Register-ScheduledTask `
    -TaskName 'Weekly-OS-Inventory' `
    -Action $Action `
    -Trigger $Trigger `
    -Settings $Settings `
    -RunLevel Highest `
    -User 'vmorecloud\Administrator' `
    -Description 'Weekly Windows OS Inventory for vmorecloud.com'

Write-Host 'Scheduled task created successfully.' -ForegroundColor Green