How to map Network Printers with PowerShell and CSV - windows

I want to deploy our Network Printers that are shared from a Print-Server to Windows 10 PCs, on per-machine basis.
Currently we do this with a Kix-Script and ini file, but I want to move this to PowerShell and deploy it as a Startup/Login Script with Group Policy. The deployment must be with PowerShell not purely GPO, with a script we are more flexible to deploy to singular machines.
I've written a PS Script and using a CSV File containing the PCs and Printers to map, but it seams completely wrong. Is there a better way to deploy the printers?
Here are my CSV, 'True' is to set Printer as Default:
#TYPE Selected.System.Management.ManagementObject.Data.DataRow
Name
PC0001
\\SV0002\PR0001, True
\\SV0002\PR00002
Name
PC0002
\\SV0002\PR0001, True
\\SV0002\PR00002​
and the PS-Script:
Get–WMIObject Win32_Printer | where{$_.Network -eq ‘true‘} | foreach{$_.delete()}
$Printers=IMPORT-CSV \\server\$env:username\printers.csv
FOREACH ($Printer in $Printers) {
Invoke-Expression 'rundll32 printui.dll PrintUIEntry /in /q /n $($Printer.Name)'
}​
I edited the csv File, and it looks like this now:
Client;1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;10;11;12;13;14;15;Default
PC0001;\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0002;;;;;;;;;;;;;;pr_01
PC0002;\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0002;\\SV0001\PR0003;;;;;;;;;;;;;pr_03
We did that with Excel, so it's easier to edit, and save it as csv.
Also where is located, we changed it to \Server\Netlogon\Subfolder\Printers.csv so that also the the Variable is changed to:
$Printers=IMPORT-CSV \\server\Netlogon\Subfolder\printers.csv
But now I think the whole script is wrong?

Using a CSV like this:
name,printers,defaultprinter
PC0001,\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0002,PR0002
PC0002,\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0003,PR0003
PC0003,\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0004,PR0004
The code would be:
$csv = "\\server\Netlogon\Subfolder\printers.csv"
$Computers = Import-Csv $csv
foreach ($Computer in $Computers){
If ($Computer.name -eq $env:computername) {
$Printers = ($Computer.printers).split(";")
foreach ($Printer in $Printers) {Add-Printer $Printer -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue}
(New-Object -ComObject WScript.Network).SetDefaultPrinter("$($Computer.defaultprinter)")
}
}

The way we do (did) it here at work was by invoking some VBScript from within the PowerShell script.
Print server and Printer are obtained via AD cmdlets.
$net = New-Object -Com WScript.Network
$net.AddWindowsPrinterConnection("\\" + $PRINT_SERVER + "\" + $PRINTER)

Starting from Windows 8 :
# Add the printer
Add-Printer -ConnectionName ("\\" + $printServer + "\" + $printerName) -Name $printerName
# Get the printer
$printer = Get-WmiObject -Query "Select * From Win32_Printer Where ShareName = '$printerName'"
# Set printer as default
$printer.SetDefaultPrinter()

I solved the Problem with the Script of James C., many thanks to him, it was a big help!.
The only wrong Thing was that between Add-Printer and $Printer, it had to be -ConnectionName. After that Little Edit in the script, everything was fine.
So we made a GP_Printers, where we putted under Computer Configuration/Windows Settings/Scripts/Startup this Script as printermapping.ps1
Also we putted into Shutdown a PowerShell Script where all Printer Connection are deleted.
Here are all the scripts.
CSV:
name,printers,defaultprinter
PC0001,\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0002,PR0002
PC0002,\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0003,PR0003
PC0003,\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0004,PR0004
Printer Mappings with PowerShell depending on CSV:
$csv = "\\server\Netlogon\Subfolder\printers.csv"
$Computers = Import-Csv $csv
foreach ($Computer in $Computers){
If ($Computer.name -eq $env:computername) {
$Printers = ($Computer.printers).split(";")
foreach ($Printer in $Printers) {Add-Printer-ConnectionName $Printer -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue}
(New-Object -ComObject WScript.Network).SetDefaultPrinter("$($Computer.defaultprinter)")
}
}
And the Printer Disconnection:
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Printer | where{$_.Network -eq ‘true‘}| foreach{$_.delete()}
I hope this could be helpfoul for others.
Again many thanks to James C.
WBZ-ITS

I've made some correction and improvements to the script, and found also some Problem that Comes if you use it on a GPO, the changes are following:
CSV:
name,printers,defaultprinter
PC0001,\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0002,PR0002
PC0002,\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0003,PR0003
PC0003,\\SV0001\PR0001;\\SV0001\PR0004,PR0004
The Connection Script:
$csv = "\\server\Netlogon\Subfolder\printers.csv"
$Computers = Import-Csv $csv
foreach ($Computer in $Computers){
If ($Computer.name -eq $env:computername) {
$Printers = ($Computer.printers).split(";")
foreach ($Printer in $Printers) {Add-Printer-ConnectionName $Printer -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue}
(New-Object -ComObject WScript.Network).SetDefaultPrinter("$($Computer.defaultprinter)")
}
}
And also a disconnect Script when logging off:
#$a = Get-WMIObject -query "Select * From Win32_Printer Where Name = 'Microsoft Print to PDF'"
#$a.SetDefaultPrinter()
$TargetPrinter = "Microsoft Print to PDF"
$ErrorActionPreference = “SilentlyContinue”
$LocalPrinter = GWMI -class Win32_Printer | Where {$_.Name -eq $TargetPrinter}
$LocalPrinter.SetDefaultPrinter()
$ErrorActionPreference = “Stop”
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Printer | where{$_.Network -eq ‘true‘}| foreach{$_.delete()}
To disconnect the default printer must be changed, otherwise it won't be disconnected.
After all Script was made, we putted them in a GPO under User Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Scripts and there on Logon and Logoff.
You may have some troubles that the GPOs won't run, so here some usefull troubleshooting guides that i found:
The Scripts aren't working as Machine Policies under Startup and Shutdown, they have to be in the User Configuration as mentioned above.
Also you have to configure the Policie that deley the Script of 5 minutes. These are under Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Group Policy\Configure Logon Script Delay aktivate them and set the delay to 0 minutes, otherwise any Script will be deleyed to 5 minutes after logon.
Also a problem could be, if you are running the GPO on Windows 8/10 System, and you made them on a WIndows 7 PC. Create GPOs allways on the Server 2008/R2 or 2012R2 for this kind of system.
It could be helpfoul also if you configure the Logon/Logoff GPO as follows: As Scriptname "powershell.exe" (without quotes) and as Script Parameters -F "\SERVER\FREIGABE\meinskript.ps1" (with quotes.
I hope this could help someone else.
Thanks to who hleped me.
WBZ-ITS

Related

Powershell/cmd to search content of all c$ hidden shares

Using "net view" I can view all the pcs on the network and browse their hidden shares \PC_NAME\c$ . But I can't find an easy way to search every pc on the network at once.
Is there a way using cmd/powershell to search for .pst .ost files on every machine in the network?
I want to use powershell or command prompt to automate it every few weeks.
You can use something like this:
$credentials = Get-Credential UsernameWithAccess
$servers = #("server1","server2")
foreach ($sever in $servers){
$shares = Get-WmiObject Win32_share -computer netdb -Credential $credentials
foreach ($path in $shares.name){
$content = Get-ChildItem -Recurse -path \\netdb\$path
$List = $content | where {$_.extension -eq ".dll"}
$List | format-table name
}
}
Make sure you change UsernamewithAccess with your user and servernames in second line, and extention from .dll to what you need to search for.

Get list of installed software of remote computer

Is it possible to get a list of installed software of a remote computer ?
I know to do this for a local computer with use of Powershell. Is it possible with Powershell to get installed software of a remote computer and save this list on the remote computer ?
This I use for local computers:
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Select-Object -Property Name
Thanks in advance,
Best regards,
This uses Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey to check the SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall registry key on remote computers.
https://github.com/gangstanthony/PowerShell/blob/master/Get-InstalledApps.ps1
*edit: pasting code for reference
function Get-InstalledApps {
param (
[Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
[string[]]$ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME,
[string]$NameRegex = ''
)
foreach ($comp in $ComputerName) {
$keys = '','\Wow6432Node'
foreach ($key in $keys) {
try {
$reg = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenRemoteBaseKey('LocalMachine', $comp)
$apps = $reg.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE$key\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall").GetSubKeyNames()
} catch {
continue
}
foreach ($app in $apps) {
$program = $reg.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE$key\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\$app")
$name = $program.GetValue('DisplayName')
if ($name -and $name -match $NameRegex) {
[pscustomobject]#{
ComputerName = $comp
DisplayName = $name
DisplayVersion = $program.GetValue('DisplayVersion')
Publisher = $program.GetValue('Publisher')
InstallDate = $program.GetValue('InstallDate')
UninstallString = $program.GetValue('UninstallString')
Bits = $(if ($key -eq '\Wow6432Node') {'64'} else {'32'})
Path = $program.name
}
}
}
}
}
}
There are multiple ways how to get the list of installed software on a remote computer:
Running WMI query on ROOT\CIMV2 namespace:
Start WMI Explorer or any other tool which can run WMI queries.
Run WMI query "SELECT * FROM Win32_Product"
Using wmic command-line interface:
Press WIN+R
Type "wmic", press Enter
In wmic command prompt type "/node:RemoteComputerName product"
Using Powershell script:
Thru WMI object: Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product -Computer RemoteComputerName
thru Registry: Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher, InstallDate | Format-Table –AutoSize
thru Get-RemoteProgram cmdlet: Get-RemoteProgram -ComputerName RemoteComputerName
Source: https://www.action1.com/kb/list_of_installed_software_on_remote_computer.html
Here is an article detailing how to query the list of installed programs locally and remotely.
Also, it will interest you to know the reason why the Get-WmiObject cmdlet is working anymore. It has been superseded with the CimInstance cmdlet.
https://techdirectarchive.com/2020/12/22/how-to-get-a-list-of-the-installed-program-using-powershell-in-windows-10/
When working with the CimInstance cmdlet and you encounter this error "WinRM cannot complete the operation, verify that the specified computer name is valid, that the computer is accessible over the network, and that a firewall exception for the WinRM service is enabled", I have described the steps to have it resolved in this link: WinRM cannot complete the operation, verify that the specified computer name is valid, that the computer is accessible over the network, and that a firewall exception for the WinRM service is enabled.
https://techdirectarchive.com/2023/02/03/winrm-cannot-complete-the-operation-verify-that-the-specified-computer-name-is-valid-that-the-computer-is-accessible-over-the-network/
No one seems to know about get-package in powershell 5.1. You'll have to use invoke-command to run it on a remote computer.
get-package | more
Name Version Source ProviderName
---- ------- ------ ------------
7-Zip 21.07 (x64) 21.07 Programs
Wolfram Extras 11.0 (5570611) 11.0.0 Programs
ArcGIS Desktop Background G... 10.8.12790 Programs
# and so on...

Powershell, How to get date of last Windows update install or at least checked for an update?

I am trying to find a way of retrieving the date/time of which the last windows update was either installed, or checked for.
So far I have found a function that allows to list recent Windows Updates, but it is far too much data and too bloated for such a simple function. Secondly I have tried to access the registry although I am having no luck in retriving the value I am after.
I am testing this on a Windows 10 Machine although the software will probably reside on Windows Server 2012 R2.
Here is an example of some of the code I have tried:
$key = “SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\Results\Install”
$keytype = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryHive]::LocalMachine
$RemoteBase = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenBaseKey($keytype,"My Machine")
$regKey = $RemoteBase.OpenSubKey($key)
$KeyValue = $regkey.GetValue(”LastSuccessTime”)
$System = (Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss")
Also, just trying the Get-ChildItem
$hello = Get-ChildItem -Path “hkcu:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\”
foreach ($a in $hello) {
$a
}
I've checked in regedit and this key does not exist. Going to the "Windows Update" path shows only App Updates and not Windows updates.
EDIT
I seem to be closer to my goal with this line:
Get-HotFix | Where {$_.InstallDate -gt 30}
However how to I only retrive those of which have been installed in the last 30 days? And this doesnt show many results, even using Select $_.InstallDate
an option :
gwmi win32_quickfixengineering |sort installedon -desc
Another alternative, using the com object Microsoft.Update.Session can be find here : https://p0w3rsh3ll.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/getting-windows-updates-installation-history/
in short :
$Session = New-Object -ComObject Microsoft.Update.Session
$Searcher = $Session.CreateUpdateSearcher()
$HistoryCount = $Searcher.GetTotalHistoryCount()
# http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa386532%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
$Searcher.QueryHistory(0,$HistoryCount) | ForEach-Object {$_}
Here you have how to know the date and time of the last Windows update in a single line of Powershell:
(New-Object -com "Microsoft.Update.AutoUpdate"). Results | fl
You also have the following script to check it massively in Windows Server:
$ servers = Get-ADComputer -Filter {(OperatingSystem-like "* windows * server *") -and (Enabled -eq "True")} -Properties OperatingSystem | Sort Name | select -Unique Name
foreach ($ server in $ servers) {
write-host $ server.Name
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $ server.Name -ScriptBlock {
(New-Object -com "Microsoft.Update.AutoUpdate"). Results}
}
Extracted from: https://www.sysadmit.com/2019/03/windows-update-ver-fecha-powershell.html
Get-HotFix |?{$_.InstalledOn -gt ((Get-Date).AddDays(-30))}
Using PowerShell, you can get the date of the las Windows update like this:
$lastWindowsUpdate = (Get-Hotfix | Sort-Object -Property InstalledOn -Descending | Select-Object -First 1).InstalledOn

Check If a program is installed on multiple computers using Powershell

I'm having issue with a script I've written and would love some help.
Please note I'm very new to powershell.
I've written a script that uses a txt file that contains remote computers on a domain, I appears to be working to some degree but in the event of a machine being offline I get errors which then loop the script.
$machines
$pcname
Name = 'Machine'
Expression = { $_.PsComputerName }
}
ForEach ($System in $Machines)
{
#Pings machine's found in text file
if (!(test-Connection -ComputerName $System -BufferSize 16 -Count 1 -ea 0 -Quiet))
{
Write-Output "$System Offline"
}
Else
{
#Providing the machine is reachable
#Checks installed programs for products that contain Kaspersky in the name
gwmi win32_product -Filter {Name like "%Kaspersky%"} -ComputerName $Machines | Select-Object -Property $pcname,Name,Version
}
}
At present this runs and output's like so:
Machine Name Version
UKTEST01 Kaspersky Security Center Network Agent 10.1.249
UKTEST02 Kaspersky Endpoint Security 10 for Windows 10.2.1.23
But in the event of a machine not being reachable the following error is given:
gwmi : The RPC server is unavailable. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800706BA)
At C:\Scripts\Powershell\Kaspersky Endpoint Security 10\Script\New folder\Kaspersky Checker working v2.ps1:15 char:9
+ gwmi win32_product -Filter {Name like "%Kaspersky%"} -ComputerName $Mach ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [Get-WmiObject], COMException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : GetWMICOMException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetWmiObjectCommand
And then moves to the next machine in the list, and then repeats from the beginning again.
I'd like for this to simply show as:
UKTEST03 Offline
And stop once the last machine in the txt file is done.
Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.
This is the perfect time to use a Try/Catch/Finally block. The flow is this : Try the block of code here, if you encounter an error, suppress the message and do what is in the Catch block instead.
I've modified your code a bit, so simply copy this whole code block and drop it in, replacing your Else {scriptblock} in your original code.
Else
{
#Providing the machine is reachable
#Checks installed programs for products that contain Kaspersky in the name
Try {Get-WMIObject -Class win32_product -Filter {Name like "%Kaspersky%"} `
-ComputerName $Machines -ErrorAction STOP |
Select-Object -Property $pcname,Name,Version }
Catch {#If an error, do this instead
Write-Output "$system Offline }
}
}
Your completed answer
I've folded in the change you requested, to keep your script from running on every machine in $machines instead of $system, as you likely intended.
ForEach ($System in $Machines){
#Pings machine's found in text file
if (!(test-Connection -ComputerName $System -BufferSize 16 -Count 1 -ea 0 -Quiet))
{
Write-Output "$System Offline"
}
Else
{
#Providing the machine is reachable
#Checks installed programs for products that contain Kaspersky in the name
Try {Get-WMIObject -Class win32_product -Filter {Name like "%Kaspersky%"} `
-ComputerName $System -ErrorAction STOP |
Select-Object -Property $pcname,Name,Version }
Catch {#If an error, do this instead
Write-Output "$system Offline "}
#EndofElse
}
#EndofForEach
}
You could try this:
$machines=... # your machines' names
foreach ($machine in $machines)
{
trap{"$machine`: not reachable or not running WsMan";continue}
if(test-wsman -ComputerName $machine -ea stop){
gcim -Class CIM_Product -Filter 'Name like "%Kaspersky%"' |
select pscomputername,name,version
}
}
I'm using gcim because gwmi is deprecated.
Correction: the correct name is Kaspersky; I corrected it.

Network drives mapping from XP to 7

I am migrating multiple users from XP to 7 and they all have different mapped drives/locations on their current PC. After copying their all data from old PC to new PC, I am currently manually mapping their drives which consumes lot of time. Is there anyway of automating this process?
Is there any way of running a script on existing XP machine and running the same script on new Win 7 machine to map all the drives?
I am looking for a script or any other way of automating this process.
Thanks.
You could do this for all your users, it would at least tell you what they had.
you'd probably want one central folder, lets say Mappings, so try
net use > \servername\Mappings\%username%_map.txt
Or try something like this
http://www.visualbasicscript.com/List-mapped-drives-on-remote-machine-m28529.aspx
out of boredom i quickly wrote a powershell script to help you out.
Run this on your workstation:
(newpcs and oldpcs must be in correct order so oldpc1 is the old pc of the user of newpc1)
$oldpcs=#("oldpc1", "oldpc2", "oldpc3")
$newpcs = #("newpc1", "newpc2", "newpc3")
$mapping = #{}
for($i=0;$i -lt $oldpcs.Count; $i++){
$mapping.add($oldpcs[$i], $newpcs[$i])
}
foreach ($comp in $oldpcs){
$m = Get-WmiObject win32_systemnetworkconnections -ComputerName $comp
$m | %{
#i know this is not very elegant but whatever
$temp = $_.partcomponent -split "="
$temp = $temp -replace "`"", ""
$temp2= $temp[1] -split " "
$driveletter = $temp2[1] -replace "\(", ""
$driveletter = $driveletter -replace "\)", ""
$path = $temp2[0] -replace "\\\\", "\"
$f = "C:\path\to\folder\" + $mapping.$comp + ".txt"
Add-Content $f "$driveletter;$path"
}
}
Then get the file with corresponding computername to the new computer and run the following:
$txt = Get-Content "C:\path\to\file\$env:computername.txt"
$txt | % {
$temp = $_ -split ";"
net use $temp[0] $temp[1]
}
Remember that you have to run the mapping-script in the context of the user you want to map the drives for
Regards
P.S. Remotely mapping network drives is not possible afaik (i would love to be proven wrong)
You could create a logon script and map it to a user though

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