How to install GroupPolicy module for PowerShell? - powershell

I just started writing scripts in PowerShell.
The desired script is supposed to create a local GroupPolicyObject (GPO) which will be specified afterwards. Research showed that it could be done with the New-GPO command within the GroupPolicy module for PowerShell. I tried to install the mentioned module but unfortunately nothing I found worked. May I ask for help?
I am using Windows 7 and Powershell 5.1.14409.1005
Error I receive when running example from Microsoft page (New-GPO -Name TestGPO -Comment "This is a test GPO."):

It is actually extremely simple, but the organization of the modules and features has changed many times in the past ten years, Microsoft Docs don't document the up-to-date way anywhere and all articles found online are very old.
Anyway, to install the Powershell Module called GroupPolicy, you need to install the Windows Feature called GPMC (Group Policy Management Console) which includes the mentioned module.
Install-WindowsFeature GPMC
This feature was once a subfeature of the RSAT feature, which is the cause of confusion.

Step 1. Install RSAT from Microsoft site:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=7887
Step 2. Enable Group Policy from Windows Features.
Following link describes the steps in details:
https://www.powershellmagazine.com/2012/05/14/managing-group-policy-with-powershell

Have you installed the RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools) Group Policy component?

Related

PowerShell Core and AppX package management

I am using PowerShell 6.2 preview at the moment. In my script I am trying to do stuff with Windows 10 apps. To be able to use commands like Get-AppxPackage, I need to import Windows modules from previous PowerShell like so:
Import-Module C:\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\Appx\Appx.psd1 -SkipEditionCheck
Import-Module C:\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\dism\dism.psd1 -SkipEditionCheck
Does PowerShell core has its own modules to work with this? I found Get-Package for example, but that does not give me anything.
Since this is one of the top search results for PowerShell Core Get-AppxPackage, I'm going to take the information from the link provided in the comments and provide an answer, with example.
As LangsGalgEnRad pointed out in the comments, it's easiest just to do this from Windows PowerShell, but ultimately that's just-shy-of-deprecated at this point, with Microsoft stating that there are to be no more fixes or changes other than critical security issues. That said, it's still (afaik) universally available in Windows installations.
But for those of us who want to follow Microsoft's advice to use PowerShell Core, LangsGalgEnRad also points out in the comments the WindowsCompatibility module from Microsoft. Reading the blog post, this seems a bit safer than importing a Windows module (e.g. AppX) from PowerShell Core, since among other things ...
WindowsCompatibility is very careful to not overwrite native PowerShell core commands.
To install from PowerShell Gallery:
Install-Module WindowsCompatibility
Example usage for AppX:
Import-Module WindowsCompatibility
Import-WinModule AppX
Get-AppxPackage

Select-AzureRMSubscription not recognized

Trying to set up my VSTS windows build agent to accommodate for powershell steps within VSTS but having some problems. Initially it reported that the AzurePS system capability was not present, so I made sure to install the latest Azure modules via the powershell gallery. Now, the AzurePS capability is present but certain powershell commands do not seem to work.
This may not be related to VSTS at all but rather just a configuration issue with my specific powershell installation / configuration. The full error is as follows:
The term 'Select-AzureRMSubscription' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
This error can be seen both in the VSTS release logs of the particular definition I am trying to execute, as well as when attempting to run the Select-AzureRMSubscription command directly on the box itself.
According to This MS Docs for Get-AzSubscription it's located in the module Az.Accounts.
So I had to run:
Install-module Az -AllowClobber -Force
Import-module Az
to make the command avaliable to me.
For me, updating the AzureRM module did the trick:
Update-Module -Name AzureRM
Depending on your system, you may get some messages while installing
Powershell requires NuGet provider version '2.8.5.201' or newer to
interact with NuGet-based repositories. The NuGet provider must be
available in 'C:\Program Files\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies'
or
'C:\Users\<...>\AppData\Local\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies'.
You can also install the NuGet provider by running
Install-PackagePovider -Name NuGet -MinimumVersion 2.8.5.201 -Force'.
Do you want PowerShellGet to install and import the NuGet provider
now?
[Yes] {No] [Suspend]
Choose "Yes"
You are installling the modules form an untrusted repository. If you
trust this repository, change its installationPolicy value by running
the Set-PSRepository cmdlet. Are you sure you want to install the
modules from 'PSGallery'?
[Yes] [Yes to All] [No] [No to All] [Suspend]
Choose "Yes to all"
Up to three modules will be installed/updated and directly after that, the Select-AzureRmSubscription should work immediately.
Select-AzureRmSubscription b0cabaca-1234-1337-abcd-bebedada1337
# note: this subscription GUID is completely fictional.
# To get the correct one, query your subscriptions with
# Get-AzureRmSubscription
You have to make sure that certain Azure Powershell modules are installed for certain cmdlets to work. You can check which modules are available by running Get-Module -ListAvailable. Select-AzureRMSubscription requires AzureRM module.
You could just install Azure Powershell with its modules using webPI - I've never had problems using it and I've heard that installing PS modules using gallery could cause problems (see here).
You can run azure PowerShell with Azure PowerShell step/task.
Edit your build definition
Click Add build step
Select Deploy catalog > Add Azure PowerShell step/task
the OS in question is server 2012
To install PowerShell on windows server 2012, we should add the .NET Framework 3.5 feature and add the windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine feature.
About how to add features, refer to the link.
Then we can download PowerShell installation package, and install it.
Then we can use windows server 2012 PowerShell to login azure.
You need to use the Set-AzContext,
Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionName 'SubName' | Set-AzContext

PowerShell DSC. Download and install software

Is it possible to download some software from internet, then install it on some of my servers using DSC? Chrome, for example? All DSC tutorials are pretty hard to understand (at least for me). I just want to see a simple example, similar to my use case, please.
You can also use DSC to install a package from the internet via a URL without Chocolatey. To do so, you need the exact name the product will be installed as and its ProductId value. The easiest way to get these is to install the software somewhere manually once first, then find these values via this PowerShell command:
Get-WmiObject Win32_Product | Format-Table IdentifyingNumber, Name, Version
Then you can install the software via DSC by using via the Package resource. Here's an example of doing so with the Local Administrator Password Solution tool from Microsoft:
Package 'LAPS' {
Name = 'Local Administrator Password Solution'
Path = 'https://download.microsoft.com/download/C/7/A/C7AAD914-A8A6-4904-88A1-29E657445D03/LAPS.x64.msi'
ProductId = 'EA8CB806-C109-4700-96B4-F1F268E5036C'
}
Yes it is possible to use DSC to do what you desire. Here is an example of using Chocolatey community resource to install Chrome https://github.com/PowerShellOrg/cChoco/blob/master/ExampleConfig.ps1

WebAdministration module not found

I have installed a WebServer 2008 R2 Core version and I'm trying to configure it to be remotely managed from another server in the domain I need to import the WebAdministration module According to the steps exposed in this article
http://www.iis.net/learn/install/installing-iis-7/install-and-configure-iis-on-server-core
using the Import-module WebAdministration it gives me the specified module 'WebAdministration' was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directoryAt line1 char 14. I executed the command Get-Module -ListAvailable and returned 4 module types
BestPractices, BitsTrabsfer, PSDiagnostics and ServeManager
I read the other threads about the issue none of them is consistent and proposes a good solution to that. BTW is there a way to let the server download the requested modules form microsoft repository if not found. Any consistent proposal to solve this will be appreciated
Is the IIS PowerShell Snap-In installed? If not, you can download the 32-Bit version or the 64-Bit version. After you run the MSI (using msiexec /i, since this is core), the snap-in should be registered and can be invoked via import-module or
& "$env:programfiles\IIS\PowerShellSnapin\iisConsole.psc1"
On Windows 7 I installed Web Platform Installer from
https://www.microsoft.com/web/downloads/
On the start menu search for "web" to make the app visible.
Then using Web Platform Installer ... Install IIS: Management Scripts and Tools
Make sure that the IIS is installed and configured properly

Creating application installers with PowerShell

Hi I'm wondering if it's possible to create application installers for MSI's. What I want it to do is when I run an MSI I want to be able to run it in it's own process so I can reference it via it's process ID so I can send various keys to it so it installs the way I want it too.
I can code in both C and Java but for the Sys Admins would be good if I could code it in Powershell for them. Also I've seen other installers that can detect when the next instance of the install screen appears so it immediately send the new command keys, well appears that way.
Any advice is welcomed.
MSI's traditionally allow for admins to provide an answer file or arguments using msiexec.
See this q/a on SuperUser or this SO Q/A for more info.
You can then use PowerShell to call the exe's by using the 3rd party Windows Installer PowerShell Module
.
[The Windows Installer PowerShell Module] Exposes Windows Installer functionality to PowerShell, providing means to query installed product and patch information and to query views on packages.
for example:
install-msiproduct .\example.msi -destination (join-path $env:ProgramFiles Example)
See this page for additional examples.
If you need to send keystrokes to the msi gui; you could look in to the Windows Automation Snapin for PowerShell. I have never used this personally.