What would be the best way to use powershell to script this scenario? We have a few machines that we need to rename, disable bitlocker for one reboot, reboot? Its not many and I want to improve my powershell chops. This is what I have so far:
$OldName = Read-Host 'What is the hostname of the machine you want to rename?'
$NewName = Read-Host 'What would you like to rename the machine to?'
Read-Host -Prompt "This will reboot the remote machine! Press any key to continue or CTRL+C to quit"
$cred = get-credential
Rename-Computer -ComputerName "$OldName" -NewName "$NewName" -DomainCredential $cred -Restart
I wasn't sure if I could pipe to suspend bitlocker 1 reboot, or whats the best command for a remote machine. I know you can use a .csv list for a bunch of machines, but this is not that many.
manage-bde -protectors -disable c:
is a batch command but works inside a powershell script as well. After one reboot, BL will re-enable automatically.
Related
I am trying to get a list of installed programs on another computer in our domain, which requires my domain admin credentials.
$Name = Read-Host -Prompt 'Enter Computer Name'
Start-Process powershell -Credential "company\adminusername"
Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $Name -Class Win32Reg_AddRemovePrograms | Select DisplayName, Version | Sort-Object Name
I don't know if this is correct or not. But it tells me my username and password is incorrect. Which is false. I must be doing something wrong here.
When I write scripts. I literally just want to double click on them, and let them fly. I'm trying to avoid running a script just to open another script as admin.
To hold your credentials:
$cred = Get-Credential
Then use the $cred variable when you need to.
Ended up finding a great solution here that not only allows me to get credentials but store them permanently for importing later for use in other scripts as well, with option to encrypt the credential file if needed:
https://www.jaapbrasser.com/quickly-and-securely-storing-your-credentials-powershell/
So all I want to do is create a shortcut script that when clicked will restart the network adapter. The issue is that it needs to be ran on an account with basically no privileges so I need to have it run elevated and as a different user (admin account).
I cant quite figure out the right way to do this and its driving me nuts. This is what I have so far:
$username = "Domain\User"
$password = "Password"
$credentials = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList #($username,(ConvertTo-SecureString -String $password -AsPlainText -Force))
start-process powershell -Credential ($credentials) -ArgumentList '-ExecutionPolicy unrestricted -noprofile -verb runas -inputformat text -command "{restart-netadapter -InterfaceDescription "Dell Wireless 1538 802.11 a/g/n Adapter" -Confirm:$false}"'
It will open a new powershell window but the command fails to run. It works fine on its own in an elevated powershell prompt. I found out at one point that even though I was calling the powershell using an admin account it wasn't an elevated powershell so I added the -verb runas but it still isn't working.
This really shouldn't be that hard, but I am not a powershell guru by any means. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!
In my opinion, the best way to do this is to create a scheduled task that runs the script as a privileged account. Get rid of the embedded credentials altogether.
The limited account then only needs to be able to start the task.
Since the code to restart the adapter is a one-liner, you don't need even need to put it in a script file, so you don't need to worry about execution policy or anything.
This is the code that I used to get mine to work, I can't take credit for writing it because I found it from Here
# Get the ID and security principal of the current user account
$myWindowsID=[System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()
$myWindowsPrincipal=new-object System.Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal($myWindowsID)
# Get the security principal for the Administrator role
$adminRole=[System.Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]::Administrator
# Check to see if we are currently running "as Administrator"
if ($myWindowsPrincipal.IsInRole($adminRole))
{
# We are running "as Administrator" - so change the title and background color to indicate this
$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = $myInvocation.MyCommand.Definition + "(Elevated)"
$Host.UI.RawUI.BackgroundColor = "DarkBlue"
clear-host
}
else
{
# We are not running "as Administrator" - so relaunch as administrator
# Create a new process object that starts PowerShell
$newProcess = new-object System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo "PowerShell";
# Specify the current script path and name as a parameter
$newProcess.Arguments = $myInvocation.MyCommand.Definition;
# Indicate that the process should be elevated
$newProcess.Verb = "runas";
# Start the new process
[System.Diagnostics.Process]::Start($newProcess);
# Exit from the current, unelevated, process
exit
}
# Run your code that needs to be elevated here
Write-Host -NoNewLine "Press any key to continue..."
$null = $Host.UI.RawUI.ReadKey("NoEcho,IncludeKeyDown")
But this checks to see if it is elevated and then elevates it if it isn't.
I am trying to connect to remote computers with Active Directory and see if a single program is installed. I have tried a couple tutorials I found on the Internet, but with no success:
http://windowsitpro.com/powershell/what-applications-are-installed-computers-your-network
http://community.spiceworks.com/scripts/show/2170-get-a-list-of-installed-software-from-a-remote-computer-fast-as-lightning
I cannot get them to work properly, and they are not exactly what I am looking for.
An example of what I want to do: say I have 3 computers on my network:
123-abc
123-bcd
123-cde
and I want to see if the executable C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\Firefox.exe exists. Can someone please explain how I can go about this in PowerShell?
The simplest way, provided you have domain admin privileges and administrative shares are enabled and accessible on the target computers, would be this:
$computers = '123-abc', '123-bcd', '123-cde'
$path = 'C$\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\Firefox.exe'
$computers | % {
'{0}: {1}' -f $_, (Test-Path -LiteralPath "\\$_\$path")
}
There are a handful of ways to check for installed software. Some better suited than others. But if you're certain on the file path on each machine, the Test-Path CmdLet could be an easy approach.
Invoke-Command -ComputerName 123-abc -ScriptBlock {Test-Path 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\Firefox.exe'}
You could probably throw that into a loop with a custom object so you can work with it as well.
For example, your code could look like this.
$pass = "password";
$secpass = ConvertTo-SecureString $pass -AsPlainText -Force;
$creds = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential("domain\login", $secpass);
Invoke-Command -ComputerName 123-abc, 123-bcd, 123-cde -Credential $creds -ScriptBlock {
Test-Path "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\Firefox.exe"
};
There are multiple ways of running powershell commands on remote computers.
Many commands support string[] parameter -ComputerName to which you can pass multiple computer names
You can use the Enter-PSSession cmdlet to enter a Telnet-like session on the remote machine
And finally, you can use the Invoke-Command cmdlet to run a script block against multiple remote hosts.
I need to be able to launch a .cmd file that is on a remote machine, from within the directory that the file resides on that machine.
I've tried: invoke-command -ComputerName test123 -ScriptBlock { cmd /c c:/myfile.cmd } in powershell, which launches the .cmd, but then fails because it can't find the corresponding .cmds that this one launches (which all reside in the same directory).
Is there a way to launch this .cmd file, and have it's execution persist? i.e., even after the powershell window is closed, the .cmd will continue to run on the remote machine.
You need to change the working directory in the scriptblock. Add a Set-Location before calling the batch script:
Invoke-Command -ComputerName test123 -ScriptBlock {
Set-Location 'C:\'
& cmd /c ".\myfile.cmd"
}
If you need to create a detached process, you can do that for instance via WMI:
$hostname = 'test123'
$command = 'C:\path\to\script.cmd'
$workdir = 'C:\working\directory'
$p = [wmiclass]"\\$hostname\root\cimv2:Win32_Process"
$p.Create($command, $workdir)
Note that you need admin privileges on the remote host for this.
I use the following command to run setup_server.exe on remote Windows box:
powershell -command "$encpass=convertto-securestring -asplaintext RPASSWORD -force;$cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList RUSER,$encpass; invoke-command -computername RCOMPUTERNAME -scriptblock {setup_server.exe} -credential $cred;"
setup_server.exe's task is to create some configuration files and start my_server.exe (some daemon process), then it finishes. And I want my_server.exe to keep running after setup_server.exe is finished.
So when I do it via CMD on local box (i.e. just run setup_server.exe from CMD) it works, but when I do it via powershell on remote host it doesn't work. Namely the my_server.exe gets started, but right after setup_server.exe is closed the server also gets closed(killed).
So the question is following:
Which powershell flags/cmdlets should I use to make the described scenario to work as in local mode?
NOTE: I want synchronously get output of setup_server.exe, so running remote command with -AsJob flag, probably wouldn't work for me, though I even don't know if it will keep the server alive after setup_server.exe's end.
The way to keep the remote PowerShell session running after the command has finished is to use a PSSession e.g.:
$s = new-PSSession computername
Invoke-Command -session $s { ..script.. }
... do other stuff, remote powershell.exe continues to run
Remove-PSSession $s # when you're done with the remote session
Generally though exes should run independently from the app that launched them.
Why are you using Invoke-Command. If you want a persistent Session, use Enter-PSSession.
$s = New-PSSession -Computername "Computername";
Enter-PSSession -Session $s;
setup_server.exe
# Once you are finnished
Exit-PSSession
With 'Enter-PSSession' you are not just Invoking some Command on the Server, you are directly logged-in like you probably know from SSH.
If you want your powershell session to keep running because you are running an exe, try using the -InDisconnectedSession switch. From what I understand, it will run the executable on the remote machine in a session that isn't actually connected to your computer. In essence, your computer will not destroy the session, when it disconnects, allowing the exe to continue to run.
invoke-command -computername RCOMPUTERNAME -scriptblock {start-process setup_server.exe} -InDisconnectedSession
If you need to do this on multiple computers. Setup an array of all the computer names.
Note: I don't believe this works with sessions that are already created.
In order to keep a powershell code running on the session exit it should be a process. And the windows way to keep the process is running a .exe or a windows service.
To keep a Powershell shell open after executing a command, I use the -NoExit switch, e.g. this script starts a remote interactive PS session on servername with user administrator
C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -NoExit
-Command "Enter-PSSession -ComputerName servername -Credential administrator"
http://powershell-guru.com/powershell-tip-13-prevent-powershell-from-exiting-once-script-finished/