Category: Automation

Microsoft Windows PowerShell – Reboot Multiple Servers

April 15, 2019
AutomationMicrosoft Windows PowerShellScripting

You may use the following Microsoft Windows PowerShell script to reboot multiple Microsoft Windows hosts on a network.

<# .SYNOPSIS This script will query a list of hostnames then reboot each server. .DESCRIPTION This script will query a list of hostnames then reboot each server. .EXAMPLE Restart-Computer $SERVER .AUTHOR Written by Noel Enrique Alvarez on Friday, April 12, 2019. #>

#The file to be queried for the hostnames
$SERVERS = Get-Content “<<<INSERT PATH>>>”

#Reboot each host in the file
ForEach ($SERVER in $SERVERS)
{Restart-Computer $SERVER -Force}

#End of script

Microsoft Active Directory – Get Computer Object Organizational Unit

April 9, 2019
AutomationMicrosoft Active DirectoryMicrosoft Windows PowerShellScripting

You may use the following Windows PowerShell cmdlet to query Microsoft Active Directory (AD) for the hostname and organizational unit (OU) of a computer object.

Get-ADComputer -Filter ‘Name -EQ “HOSTNAME“‘ | Format-List -Property Name, DistinguishedName

Hardware – View Architecture of Host

April 9, 2019
AutomationMicrosoft Windows PowerShell

You may use the following command from the command prompt or Windows PowerShell to view the architecture, physical or virtual, of the local or remote host on a network. In the second command substitute the %computername% variable with the hostname of the host to be queried.

systeminfo | findstr /c:”Model:” /c:”Host Name”
systeminfo /s %computername% | findstr /c:”Model:” /c:”Host Name”

Microsoft Active Directory – View a List of Servers

April 9, 2019
AutomationMicrosoft Active DirectoryMicrosoft Windows PowerShellScripting

You may use the following Windows PowerShell cmdlet to get a list of all of the Windows Servers in your Microsoft Active Directory (AD) domain. In particular, it will provide the hostname of the server, operating system, and service pack then output the results to a CSV file.

Get-ADComputer -Filter ‘OperatingSystem -like “Windows Server*”‘ -Properties Name, OperatingSystem, OperatingSystemServicePack | Sort-Object -Property Name | Format-List -Property Name, OperatingSystem, OperatingSystemServicePack | Out-File -FilePath “<<>>.csv”

Microsoft Windows PowerShell – DHCP Logs

November 6, 2018
AutomationDynamic Host Configuration ProtocolMicrosoft Windows PowerShellNetworkScripting

You may use the following Microsoft Windows PowerShell cmdlet to view the last one hundred lines of a Microsoft Windows Server DHCP server log for a particular Internet Protocol (IP) address. This may be useful when you are troubleshooting DHCP errors in Microsoft Windows Server.

Get-Content DhcpSrvLog-Mon.log | Select -Last 100 | Select-String -Pattern “X.X.X.X” -encoding ASCII

Microsoft Windows PowerShell – Resolve-DnsName

November 1, 2018
AutomationDomain Name SystemMicrosoft Windows PowerShellMicrosoft Windows Server 2016Scripting

You may use the Resolve-DnsName Microsoft Windows PowerShell cmdlet to perform Domain Name System (DNS) query resolution for the domain name(s) you specify. Below you will find a few examples of this cmdlet.

To perform a standard query enter Resolve-DnsName domain.com.

To perform a query without the use of a local hosts file or DNS cache enter Resolve-DnsName domain.com -NoHostsFile.

To perform a query only using the DNS client cache enter Resolve-DnsName domain.com -CacheOnly. NOTE: In this example, the DNS client cache is cleared, first. Therefore, the error is expected.

To perform a query while specifying a particular DNS server enter Resolve-DnsName domain.com -Server X.X.X.X.

To perform a query for a specific DNS record enter Resolve-DnsName domain.com -Type XX.

To perform a query of multiple domains enter “domain.com“,”domain.com“,”domain.com” | Resolve-DnsName. 

To perform a query of domain names using a file enter Get-Content file | Resolve-DnsName. NOTE: I do not recommend placing the file in the C:\Windows\System32 directory. However, I used that directory in this example for simplicity.

Microsoft Windows PowerShell – Remote Server Service Status

November 1, 2018
AutomationMicrosoft Windows PowerShellMicrosoft Windows Server 2016ScriptingServices

The Microsoft Windows PowerShell script below will request the hostname of a server as well as the service to be queried then provide the status of the service.

<#
.SYNOPSIS
This script will request the hostname of a server, the name of the service, then provide it’s status.
.DESCRIPTION
This script will request the hostname of a server, the name of the service, then provide it’s status.
.EXAMPLE
N/A.
.AUTHOR
Written by Noel Enrique Alvarez on Thursday, November 11, 2018.
#>

#Request the hostname of the server
$HOSTNAME = Read-Host “What is the hostname of the server?”

#Request the name of the service
$SERVICE = Read-Host “What is the name of the service?”

#Provide the status of the service
Get-Service -Name $SERVICE -ComputerName $HOSTNAME

#End of script

Microsoft Windows PowerShell – Remote Server Uptime

November 1, 2018
AutomationMicrosoft Windows PowerShellMicrosoft Windows Server 2016Scripting

The Microsoft Windows PowerShell script below will request the hostname of a server then provide it’s uptime using Event ID 6005.

<#
.SYNOPSIS
This script will request the hostname of a server then provide it’s uptime.
.DESCRIPTION
This script will request the hostname of a server then provide it’s uptime.
.EXAMPLE
N/A.
.AUTHOR
Written by Noel Enrique Alvarez on Thursday, November 11, 2018.
#>

#Request the hostname of the server
$HOSTNAME = Read-Host “What is the hostname of the server?”

#Provide the uptime of the server
Get-EventLog -Logname System -ComputerName $HOSTNAME | Where-Object {$_.EventID -EQ 6005} | Select-Object -First 1

#End of script

Microsoft Active Directory – Get Computer Object Last Logon Time

October 5, 2018
AutomationMicrosoft Active DirectoryMicrosoft Windows Server 2016Scripting

You may use the following Microsoft PowerShell cmdlet to determine the last logon time for a Microsoft Active Directory (AD) computer object.

Get-ADComputer HOSTNAME -Properties LastLogonDate

VMware PowerCLI – View Snapshots

September 18, 2018
AutomationMicrosoft Windows PowerShellScriptingVirtualizationVMware PowerCLIVMware vCenter Server 6.0VMware vCenter Server 6.5VMware vSphere 6.0VMware vSphere 6.5

You may use the following VMware PowerCLI cmdlets to view all of the snapshots managed by vCenter Server or more specifically a cluster. These are sample commands and further information and documentation may be found here.

Get-VM | Get-Snapshot | Format-List
Get-VM | Get-Snapshot | Format-List VM, Name, SizeGB, Created, Description
Get-VM -Location “CLUSTER01” | Get-Snapshot | Format-List
Get-VM -Location “CLUSTER01”| Get-Snapshot | Format-List VM, Name, SizeGB, Created, Description