Substitute icacls.exe with powershell - powershell

Question

I want to replace the following CMD command with a Powershell command:
Icacls.exe "%SystemDrive%\xxx" /grant *S-X-X-XX-XXX:(CI)(OI)(F) /t /c
I also know how to do this with Icacls, but I think there is a nicer way to do it with the PowerShell.
I would be happy if someone could help me in this regard. :-)
Thanks.

Answer 1

The built-in help files, provide you the guidance for this.
Set-Acl Changes the security descriptor of a specified item, such
as a file or a registry key.
# Get specifics for a module, cmdlet, or function
(Get-Command -Name Get-Acl).Parameters
(Get-Command -Name Get-Acl).Parameters.Keys
<#
# Results
Path
InputObject
LiteralPath
Audit
AllCentralAccessPolicies
Filter
Include
Exclude
...
#>
Get-help -Name Get-Acl -Examples
<#
# Results
Get-Acl C:\Windows
Get-Acl -Path "C:\Windows\k*.log" |
Format-List -Property PSPath, Sddl
Get-Acl -Path "C:/Windows/k*.log" -Audit |
ForEach-Object { $_.Audit.Count }
Get-Acl -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control" |
Format-List
Get-Acl -InputObject (Get-StorageSubsystem -Name S087)
#>
Get-help -Name Get-Acl -Full
Get-help -Name Get-Acl -Online
(Get-Command -Name Set-Acl).Parameters
(Get-Command -Name Set-Acl).Parameters.Keys
<#
# Results
Path
InputObject
LiteralPath
AclObject
CentralAccessPolicy
ClearCentralAccessPolicy
Passthru
Filter
Include
Exclude
...
#>
Get-help -Name Set-Acl -Examples
<#
# Results
$DogACL = Get-Acl -Path "C:\Dog.txt"
Set-Acl -Path "C:\Cat.txt" -AclObject $DogACL
Get-Acl -Path "C:\Dog.txt" |
Set-Acl -Path "C:\Cat.txt"
$NewAcl = Get-Acl File0.txt
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -Recurse -Include "*.txt" -Force |
Set-Acl -AclObject $NewAcl
#>
Get-help -Name Set-Acl -Full
Get-help -Name Set-Acl -Online
There are other modules via the Microsoft PowerShellGallery.com for you to leverage as well.
Find-Module -Name '*acl*', '*ntfs*' |
Format-Table -AutoSize
<#
# Results
Version Name Repository Description
------- ---- ---------- -----------
1.0.1 ACL-Permissions PSGallery A couple of ACL utilities, for repairing c...
1.30.1.28 ACLReportTools PSGallery Provides Cmdlets for reporting on Share ACLs.
1.7 ACLHelpers PSGallery Modules to help work with ACLs (Access Control Rights)
1.0.1.0 ACLCleanup PSGallery A set of tools to help you clean your files...
0.1.2 ACLTools PSGallery Module for managing NTFS Acls on files and folders
...
0.4 FileAclTools PSGallery Tools for quickly fixing file system ACLs
...
4.2.6 NTFSSecurity PSGallery Windows PowerShell Module for managing file ...
1.4.1 cNtfsAccessControl PSGallery The cNtfsAccessControl module contains DSC re...
1.0 NTFSPermissionMigration PSGallery This module is used as a wrapper to the popular ...
#>
So, for what you are showing
# Review current settings
Get-Acl -Path $env:SystemDrive |
Format-List -Force
<#
# Results
Path : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Windows\system32
Owner : NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller
Group : NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller
Access : CREATOR OWNER Allow 268435456
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Allow 268435456
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Allow Modify, Synchronize
BUILTIN\Administrators Allow 268435456
BUILTIN\Administrators Allow Modify, Synchronize
BUILTIN\Users Allow -1610612736
BUILTIN\Users Allow ReadAndExecute, Synchronize
NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller Allow 268435456
NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller Allow FullControl
APPLICATION PACKAGE AUTHORITY\ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES Allow ReadAndExecute, Synchronize
APPLICATION PACKAGE AUTHORITY\ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES Allow -1610612736
APPLICATION PACKAGE AUTHORITY\ALL RESTRICTED APPLICATION PACKAGES Allow ReadAndExecute, Synchronize
APPLICATION PACKAGE AUTHORITY\ALL RESTRICTED APPLICATION PACKAGES Allow -1610612736
Audit :
Sddl : O:S-1-5-80-956008885-34...
#>
Description
The Set-Acl cmdlet changes the security descriptor of a specified
item, such as a file or a registry key, to match the values in a
security descriptor that you supply.
To use Set-Acl, use the Path or InputObject parameter to identify the
item whose security descriptor you want to change. Then, use the
AclObject or SecurityDescriptor parameters to supply a security
descriptor that has the values you want to apply. Set-Acl applies the
security descriptor that is supplied. It uses the value of the
AclObject parameter as a model and changes the values in the item's
security descriptor to match the values in the AclObject parameter.
Parameters
-AclObject Specifies an ACL with the desired property values. Set-Acl changes the ACL of item specified by the Path or InputObject parameter
to match the values in the specified security object.
You can save the output of a Get-Acl command in a variable and then
use the AclObject parameter to pass the variable, or type a Get-Acl
command.
TABLE 1 Type: Object
Position: 1 Default value: None Accept
pipeline input: True (ByValue) Accept wildcard characters: False
So, you just do something like this... as per the above examples
$AclSettings = 'WhatEverSettingsYouWant'
Set-Acl -Path $env:SystemDrive -AclObject $AclSettings
A similar question on StackOverflow is here:
Setting Inheritance and Propagation flags with set-acl and
Powershell
Then there is this guidance:
Here's the MSDN page describing the flags and what is the result of
their various combinations.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229747(v=vs.100).aspx
InheritanceFlags.ContainerInherit | InheritanceFlags.ObjectInherit
PropagationFlags.None
Here's some succinct PowerShell code to apply new permissions to a
folder by modifying its existing ACL (Access Control List).
# Get the ACL for an existing folder
$existingAcl = Get-Acl -Path 'C:\DemoFolder'
# Set the permissions that you want to apply to the folder
$permissions = $env:username, 'Read,Modify', 'ContainerInherit,ObjectInherit', 'None', 'Allow'
# Create a new FileSystemAccessRule object
$rule = New-Object -TypeName System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule -ArgumentList $permissions
# Modify the existing ACL to include the new rule
$existingAcl.SetAccessRule($rule)
# Apply the modified access rule to the folder
$existingAcl | Set-Acl -Path 'C:\DemoFolder'
<#
Each of the values in the $permissions variable list pertain to the parameters of this constructor for the FileSystemAccessRule class.
#>