Powershell: Convert String to Scriptblock

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Thomas Maurer

If you use PowerShell remoting in some scripts you will se you cannot use a string to send it with the Invoke-Command cmdlet.

So you can simple convert a String to a Scriptblock

 $scriptBlock = [Scriptblock]::Create($string)

Now here an example

$remoteCommand =
@"
Import-Module ActiveDirectory
New-ADOrganizationalUnit -name
"@

$scriptBlock = [Scriptblock]::Create($remoteCommand)

Invoke-Command -ComputerName AD01 -ScriptBlock $scriptBlock

Basically you could create a function for that.

function ConvertTo-Scriptblock  {
<#
 Function to Convert a String into a Script Block
#>
	Param(
        [Parameter(
            Mandatory = $true,
            ParameterSetName = '',
            ValueFromPipeline = $true)]
            [string]$string
        )
       $scriptBlock = [scriptblock]::Create($string)
       return $scriptBlock
}

PowerShell: Ping IP range

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Thomas Maurer

Some you need to know which IP in a specific range is already in use. With Windows PowerShell there is a simple way to ping a IP range.

You can use the .Net class System.Net.Networkinformation.Ping to do this.


$ping = New-Object System.Net.Networkinformation.Ping
1..254 | % { $ping.send(“192.168.100.$_”) | select address, status }

Commands for Windows Server Core & Hyper-V Core Server

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Thomas Maurer

For some KTSI projects I have been working a lot with Windows Server Core or Hyper-V Server. Now I had to do a lot of automation, so I made this little connection of commands. If you configure the server manually you can do the most important things with the sconfig utility.

Networking

Set Hostname

netdom renamecomputer %COMPUTERNAME% /NewName:<NewComputerName>

Join Domain

netdom join %COMPUTERNAME% /domain:<DomainName> /userd:<UserName> /passwordd:*

Remove Domain

netdom remove

Rename Network Interface

netsh interface set interface name=”old name” newname=”new name”

Configure IP Address

netsh interface ipv4 set address name=”<Interface Name>” source=static address=<IPAddress> mask=<SubnetMask> gateway=<DefaultGateway>

Configure DNS Servers

netsh interface ipv4 add dnsserver name=”<Interface Name>” address=<DNS Server IP> index=1

Disable Firewall (not recommended)

netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off

Remoting

Enable PowerShell Remoting

Enable-PSRemoting

Enable Remotedesktop

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=”remote desktop” new enable=yes

Enable Remote Administration

advfirewall firewall set rule group=”Remote Administration” new enable=yes

Enable Remote Firewall Administration

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=”Windows Firewall Remote Management” new enable=yes

Enable ICMP (Ping)

netsh firewall set icmpsetting 8

Enable Remote Disk Management

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=”Remote Volume Management” new enable=yes

Licensing

Enter License key

slmgr.vbs -ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Activate Windows

slmgr.vbs -ato

Windows Update

Enable automatic updates

cscript C:'Windows'System32'Scregedit.wsf /au 4

Disable automatic updates

cscript C:'Windows'System32'Scregedit.wsf /au 1

Roles & Features

Get availibale features & roles

Dism /online /get-features /format:table

Enable feature & roles

Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:<featurename>

Basics

Change Administrator password

net user administrator *

Restart Computer

shutdown /r /t 0

Logoff

logoff

More information about Server Core: TechNet

Change Office 365 password expiration policy

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Thomas Maurer

office365

The default password expiration policy of Office 365 is set to 90 days. That means that users have to change their password every 90 days. I think basicly this is a good and secure policy but maybe your company has other security policy or for some other reason you have to deactivate this. We can change this setting through PowerShell with the MicrosoftOnline PowerShell Module.

First connect to Office 365 via PowerShell more on this here

Now you can use the following cmdlet

Set-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName user@contoso.com –PasswordNeverExpires $true

Quick note on PowerShell 3.0

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Thomas Maurer

Powershell

Today I had some time to test some of the new Windows PowerShell 3.0 feature and changes. And after playing a while with the Windows PowerShell 3.0 CTP I have to say Microsoft did besides the big new features, like workflows, a lot of small but really important improvements.

First I will show you two very small but very cool things which make working with PowerShell a lot easier.

New help view, which I really like. Here quick PowerShell 2.0 versus PowerShell 3.0:

Second I would like you to show how they simplified PowerShell for daily use. Here Get-Childitem for an example:

In PowerShell 2.0:

Get-Childitem | Where {$_.name -eq "Desktop"}

In PowerShell 3.0 you can do this now much friendlier:

Get-Childitem | where name -eq Desktop

Windows Management Framework 3.0 Community Technology Preview

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Thomas Maurer

Powershell

Some days ago the Microsoft Powershell Team released the Community Technology Preview of the Windows Management Framework 3.0 which includes Windows PowerShell v3. You can download the the CTP1 here and it requires Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1.

You can use very easy both PowerShell versions sie by site.

powershell.exe -Version 3.0

powershell.exe -Version 2.0

But the Windows Management Framework 3.0 CTP1 does not only includes PowerShell 3, it also contains new versions of WMI, WinRM and the new Windows PowerShell Webservice.

Windows PowerShell 3.0

Workflows
Workflows that run long-running activities (in sequence or in parallel) to perform complex, larger management tasks, such as multi-machine application provisioning. Using the Windows Workflow Foundation at the command line, Windows PowerShell workflows are repeatable, parallelizable, interruptible, and recoverable.
Robust Sessions
Robust sessions that automatically recover from network failures and interruptions and allow you to disconnect from the session, shut down the computer, and reconnect from a different computer without interrupting the task.
Scheduled Jobs
Scheduled jobs that run regularly or in response to an event.
Delegated Administration
Commands that can be executed with a delegated set of credentials so users with limited permissions can run critical jobs
Simplified Language Syntax
Simplified language syntax that make commands and scripts look a lot less like code and a lot more like natural language.
Cmdlet Discovery
Improved cmdlet discovery and automatic module loading that make it easier to find and run any of the cmdlets installed on your computer.
Show-Command
Show-Command, a cmdlet and ISE Add-On that helps users find the right cmdlet, view its parameters in a dialog box, and run it.

WMI

A new provider development model
This new model brings down the cost of provider development and removes the dependency on COM.
A new MI Client API to perform standard CIM operations.
The API can be used to interact with any standard WsMan + CIMOM implementation, allowing management applications on Windows to manage non-Windows computers.
The ability to write Windows PowerShell cmdlets in native code
The new WMI Provider APIs supports an extended Windows PowerShell semantics API allowing you to provide rich Windows PowerShell semantics. e.g., Verbose, Error, Warning, WhatIf, Confirm, Progress

WinRM

Connections are more robust
Session disconnect and reconnect, with or without client session reconstruction, allows long-running tasks to continue even when the session in which they were started is closed and the client computer is shut down. This feature also allows administrators to reconnect from different computers to check the status of remote running tasks and get results.
Connections are more resilient
In Windows PowerShell 3.0 CTP1, connections can survive short-term network failures; the client-server connection is not severed at the first sign of trouble. If network problems persist, the client is safely disconnected and can reconnect by using the Connect-PSSession or Receive-PSSession cmdlets.

Windows PowerShell Web Service

Windows PowerShell Web Service enables an administrator to expose a set of PowerShell cmdlets as a RESTful web endpoint accessible via the Open Data Protocol (OData). This provides remote access to invoke cmdlets from both Windows and non-Windows clients.

You can get more Information about the Windows Management Framework 3.0 Community Technology Preview on the Windows PowerShell Team Blog.