I'm working on Powershell scripts to take a selection of AD principal names, pull full DNs for them, and take action on the accounts in question.
The active parts are all working fine now, but I've run into an unfortunate problem - several of the AD objects have names that start with $, IE $DUPLICATE-c1870
This means that when I output them to a variable, then read that variable in later, it tries to interpret the variable. For the time being I've bodged a fix by manually defining
$duplicate='$duplicate'
But that A: depends on that being the only such name and B: offends my sense of elegance.
I'm fairly new to powershell, so it's entirely possible I'm missing something obvious, but I can't find a way to either add the single quotes to the string (because it's pulled from a variable itself) or to the insertion step.
Relevant section of code follows:
# Import AD Module
import-module ActiveDirectory
# Define fake variable for edge cases
$duplicate='$duplicate'
# Import the data from CSV file and assign it to variable
$Imported_csv = Import-Csv -Path
"C:\scripts\ADremediation\threecomputers.csv" -delimiter ';'
$Imported_csv | ForEach-Object{
# Retrieve DN of User.
$1=$_.PrincipalName
Write-output $1 |timestamp
$UserDN = (Get-adcomputer -Identity $1).distinguishedName
Echo $userDN
( Get-ADComputer -Identity ('{0}' -f $1) ).distinguishedName
try using the format operator, not sure it will help, but it might
Related
I am trying to find a method to map IDs of multiple users to their associated email addresses in Active Directory (AD), and subsequently append the outputs into a txt file, ultimately generating a single file with a list of email addresses. Via the following command leveraging PowerShell AD Tools, I can output the email address of a certain user:
$user= testID
Get-ADUser $user -server ml -Properties * | Select-Object mail
Now I'm trying to adapt this to work across multiple users, although the method I've come across does not append or concatenate each result to the txt file. Each new output when the loop iterates overwrites the contents of the existing text file.
$multiple_users = "testID1", "testID2", "testID3"
foreach ($multiple_user in $multiple_users){
Get-ADUser $multiple_user -server ml -Properties * | Select-Object mail > ID_to_email.txt
}
Any direction or insight, is much appreciated!
Thank you
Building on Abraham Zinala helpful comment:
The immediate fix is to replace > with >> inside your foreach loop:
Redirection > is in effect an alias for Out-File therefore replaces the target file in every iteration, which is not what you want.
By contrast, >> is in effect an alias for Out-File -Append and therefore appends to the target file.
However, using >> inside a loop is best avoided, because it is:
inefficient, because the target file must be opened and closed in every iteration.
inconvenient, in that you must ensure that the target file doesn't exist yet or is empty before the loop, so as not to accidentally append to preexisting content.
Therefore, it is preferable to use a pipeline with a single Out-File call / > operation that receives the output from all iterations in a streaming fashion:
Note:
A foreach statement cannot directly be used in a pipeline and therefore with a redirection, which is why the similar ForEach-Object cmdlet is used below, to which the $multiple_users array is piped, causing its elements to be processed one by one, as reflected in the automatic $_ variable.
Alternatively, you can wrap a statement such as foreach or while in & { ... } or . { ... } to allow it to participate in a pipeline; e.g.:& { foreach ($i in 1..2) { $i } } > out.txt
The solution below applies analogously to use of the Set-Content cmdlet (which is more efficient than > / Out-File if you know the objects to write to the file to be strings already): use a single Set-Content call at the end of the pipeline (instead of calling Add-Content in every loop iteration).
$multiple_users |
ForEach-Object {
Get-ADUser $_ -server ml -Properties mail |
Select-Object mail
} > ID_to_email.txt # Write ALL output to ID_to_email.txt
Instead of > ID_to_email.txt, you could use | Out-File ID_to_email.txt instead; explicit use of Out-File is required in the following cases:
to force interpretation of the target file path as a literal path, with -LiteralPath, notably if it contains [ and ] (perhaps surprisingly, > and Out-File with the (often positionally implied) -FilePath parameter treat paths as wildcard expressions - see this answer).
to control the character-encoding to use for the output file, via the -Encoding parameter.
I've got a text file that contains a list of user identities. I want to pass each member on that list to Get-csMeetingMigrationStatus and get back UserPrincipalName, Status and LastMessage. From there I want to output to gridview as an eyes on test for migration status.
I'd like to do this in one pipeline but can't work it out. I know that Get-csMeetingMigrationStatus does not take pipeline input for its parameter -identity so I have to use another means of passing that parameter to the function. I've done things like this before and am wondering if the fact that the list of users is an import from a text file rather than an array created from scratch is the cause.
I needed to get this working asap so thought I'd just put it all in a foreach loop as below. I know the example below doesn't give me all I want regards output but even the sample below fails.
$UserDetails = Get-Content -path c:\test.txt
foreach ($ud in $UserDetails) {
Get-csMeetingMigrationStatus -identity $ud | Select-Object Userprincipalname, status, lastmessage
}
When I run the above the return for the first identity is the property headers for my connect-microsoftteams connection.
Subsequent iterations return a blank line. For each iteration of the foreach loop, if I copy and paste the command in the foreach statement into the terminal window and run it, the correct information for each user is displayed. I don't understand how that can be.
Ultimately I'd like to push all this down a single pipeline and output to gridview.
If anyone can assist with either problem above I'd appreciate it as I've tried sorting this for a good number of hours now and can't find a solution.
Thanks
Use the ForEach-Object cmdlet:
Get-Content -path c:\test.txt |ForEach-Object {
Get-CsMeetingMigrationStatus -identity $_ | Select-Object Userprincipalname, status, lastmessage
} |Out-GridView
Nesting the pipeline inside ForEach-Object means that we can supply another downstream cmdlet (in this case Out-GridView) with whatever output is produced by it (unlike with the foreach(){} loop statement)
I have a CSV file containing user aliases in first.last name format.
I am attempting to pull these aliases one-by-one and combine them with our domain, to create their email address.
Here is my code:
$CSV = Import-CSV "\\this\is\thepath\to\the\csv.csv"
$domain = "#domain.co.uk"
$CSV.Alias | ForEach-Object (
Write-Host ($CSV.Alias + $domain)
)
the output I need, is:
John.Doe#domain.co.uk Jane.Doe#domain.co.uk John.Smith#domain.co.uk
However, this is what's being output:
John.Doe Jane.Doe John.Smith #domain.co.uk
Try this:
$CSV = Import-CSV '\\this\is\thepath\to\the\csv.csv'
$domain = '#domain.co.uk'
$CSV.Alias | ForEach-Object {
Write-Host $_ + $domain
}
If I apply it to this input file:
Alias
John.Doe
Jane.Doe
John.Smith
I get this output.
John.Doe#domain.co.uk
Jane.Doe#domain.co.uk
John.Smith#domain.co.uk
All I did was to correct two bugs in your attempt, the two bugs that were pointed out in the comments to the question. Plus I made two cosmetic changes.
One cosmetic change was to use single quotes in a couple of places where you used double quotes. If you don't need the transformations that double quotes invoke, don't use them. Use single quotes instead. This is just defensive coding.
Another cosmetic change was to remove the parentheses surrounding the argument to Write-Host. It works without those parentheses. One might argue that the parentheses should be in there anyway, to make it easier to read. OK.
Can anyone explain to me the differences I'm seeing in either using a | to pipe one command to another or using $ to 'pipe' it a different way (sorry not sure if the use $ is actually considering piping).
So… this works:
Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited |
where { $_.RecipientTypeDetails.tostring() -eq "SharedMailbox" } |
Get-MailboxPermission
Which is great, however because I want to place another where command after the Get-MailboxPermission which doesn't work above I then tried to use this:
$Mailbox = Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited |
where { $_.RecipientTypeDetails.tostring() -eq "SharedMailbox" }
Get-MailboxStatistics -Identity $Mailbox |
where { $_.IsInherited.tostring() -eq "False" }
It causes me to get this error:
Cannot process argument transformation on parameter 'Identity'. Cannot convert the "System.Collections.ArrayList" value of type "System.Collections.ArrayList" to type "Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.GeneralMailboxOrMailUserIdParameter".
Surely using | or $ is the same in the sense that it pipes through the results to the next command or am I completely wrong?
I don't have an exchange shell here to test but I guess I can still explain the basics and point you in the right direction.
The pipe | is used to redirect output from one command to another command. $ in Powershell is the character which defines that the character sequence right behind it is either a variable (e.g. $Mailbox as an example for a normal variable or $_ as an example for a variable that holds data that has been piped through from a previous command) or an expression. An example for an expression one is $(4+5).
Or in a more frequently used example:
PS C:\Users\Administrator> $file = (get-childitem)[0]
PS C:\Users\Administrator> write-output "The fullname of $file is $($file.fullname)"
The fullname of .ssh is C:\Users\Administrator\.ssh
In that example it is actually necessary to use an expression, because variable detection inside a string doesn't recognize dots as separator between variable and a variable member (fullname is a member of $file).
If it's not clear to you why there is a point and what members are, you should probably look into object oriented programming a bit because Powershell is object oriented through and through.
In your 2nd example you just save everything that's returned by your Get-Mailbox command in the $Mailbox variable. The $Mailbox variable is available as long as you don't delete it or leave its scope (in this case, the powershell session). You can actually use the variable as input for multiple commands without losing its data.
When using the pipe, the data returned by your first command is only accessible for the command behind the pipe and after that it's gone.
That's probably the difference you're interested in.
As for your actual problem: Powershell tells you that it's not expecting to be handed a variable of type System.Collections.ArrayList, which is what Get-Mailbox returns. The technet help is unclear as to what Get-Mailbox specificly returns, but I strongly guess it's an ArrayList of Mailbox-Objects. You can check it like this:
$Mailbox.GetType()
$Mailbox[0].GetType() # gets the type of the first object in $Mailbox
To fix your code, you need to loop over what's been returned by Get-Mailbox. Try this:
$Mailboxes = Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | where { $_.RecipientTypeDetails.tostring() -eq "SharedMailbox" }
$Mailboxes | ForEach-Object { Get-MailboxStatistics -Identity $_ }
The ForEach-Object cmdlet loops over an array or a list and works on each item individually.
Your first example works so far because Powershell has been made smarter about piped data a few versions ago (See paragraph about 'Member Enumeration'). It's actually ForEach-ing over the passed in data.
Follow up links:
The $_ variable in powershell
Powershell is an object oriented language
Sorry to have to say this, but you're completely wrong. Pipelines and variables are two entirely different things.
The pipe (|) connects the output of one cmdlet to the input of another cmdlet. List output is processed one item at a time, i.e. the second cmdlet receives each list item separately.
If you collect a list of items in a variable ($mailbox) and call a cmdlet with that variable you're passing the list object instead of individual list items. That only works if the cmdlet parameter accepts array input.
The pipe operator | i used to flow the output of one command into the input of another command.
The dollar symbolc, $ is used to denote that the name following it is a variable, and has nothing to do with piping data between cmdlets. The where cmdlet create a $_ variable for use within its expression.
I am using ActiveRoles Management Shell under Windows XP , Powershell ver 2 for retreiving Group data from AD and exporting it to csv file.Everything works well apart from getting member list it is so long that the program is writing in excel cells under member column System.String[] each time.How can I make it write whole list there , is it possible ? I could actually have only the name of the member don't need whole connection path.Is there a possibility to get from group field member only name ?
get-QADGroup -SearchRoot 'ou=User,ou=Groups,ou=PL,dc=test,dc=com'| Select-Object -property name,sAMAccountName,description,groupType,member|Export-Csv -path Y:\csv\groups.csv
Ok, as Matt suggested you want an expression in your Select statement. I would use something like this:
#{l="Members";e={$_.Members -join ", "}}
Which when inserted into your one-liner looks like:
get-QADGroup -SearchRoot 'ou=User,ou=Groups,ou=PL,dc=test,dc=com'| Select-Object -property name,sAMAccountName,description,groupType,#{l='Members';e={$_.member -join ", "}}|Export-Csv -path Y:\csv\groups.csv -NoTypeInfo
I also added -NoTypeInfo to the export to skip the annoying lead line telling you it's a PSCustomObject or some such and actually just get your data (and headers).
I don't have access to the quest cmdlets so I will provide a solution based on cmdlets from the activedirectory
Get-ADUser -Filter * -SearchBase "OU=Employees,DC=Domain,DC=Local" -Properties memberof |
Select-Object name,#{Name="Groups";Expression={$_.MemberOf |
ForEach-Object{(Get-ADGroup -Identity $_).Name + ";"}}} |
Export-Csv C:\temp\TEST.CSV -Append
To make sense of this by line:
Should be self explanatory. Get all users in the OU defined. You would need to change this to suit your needs.
The select statement appears normal until you reach the calculated property Groups.
What continues from the previous line is cycling through every group that an individual user is a memberof and get the friendly name of the group (MemberOf returns DistinguishedName's). At the end of every group add a ";" as to not interfere with the CSV that will be made later.
Append to a csv file.
For brevity I didnt include all the extra properties that you included in your Select-Object statement. You would obviously need to add those back as the need fits.
Since you have the use the Quest cmdlets you could just change member in your select statement to the following:
#{Name="Groups";Expression={$_.member | ForEach-Object{"$_;"}}}
I cannot test if this will work. It is based on the assumption that member contains a simple name as supposed to a distinguishedname