I need to check some settings for all users on Windows clients in the network. All users have roaming profiles.
I have written a Powershell script that loads an offline copy of a users' NTuser.dat and reads out the specific keys. Then the file is unloaded and the next one is loaded into the registry.
The problem is that after about 10 users no new files are loaded. When the script is launched again the users still don't load. New users are only after I close the Powershell prompt and open a new one. The script always stalls after about 10 users.
$userlist = ls "C:\Temp calls\profiles"
foreach ($user in $userlist){
$username = $user.name
#$username = "ciproda"
reg load "hklm\$username" "C:\Temp calls\profiles\$username\NTUSER.DAT" | Out-Null
...
Here I check the keys
...
[gc]::collect()
start-sleep -s 3
reg unload "hklm\$username"
}
In your section 'Here I check the keys', are you mounting the hive as a PS drive using something like:
new-Psdrive -name <blah> -PSProvider Registry -root <blih>
cd <blah>:
# Some Set-ItemProperty and Get-ItemProperty calls here referring to
# your PSDrive and using PowerShell variables
Remove-PSDrive <blah>
If you still have references to some of your PSDrive variables before calling REG UNLOAD, that call might fail. Try to remove all variables that would still refer to your PSDrive through Remove-Variable.
Related
I have some problems getting EventLog and save data. I am able to get my EventLogs but not logs from network computers.
Here is the code I am running:
$logFileName = "Application"
$path = $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path +"\Output\"
$path = $PSScriptRoot+"\Output\"
new-item $path -ItemType directory
$array = ("System", "Security")
$file = $PSScriptRoot +"\computers.txt"
$users = ForEach ($machine in $(Get-Content $file)) {
$pathMachine = $path+$machine
new-item $pathMachine -ItemType directory
ForEach ($logFileName in $array){
# do not edit
$logFileName
$exportFileName = (get-date -f yyyyMMdd) + "_" + $logFileName + ".evt"
$logFile = Get-WmiObject Win32_NTEventlogFile -ComputerName $machine | Where-Object {$_.logfilename -eq $logFileName}
$logFile
$exportFileName
$pathMachine
$temp = $pathMachine + "\"+ $exportFileName
$temp
$fff = $logFile.BackupEventLog($temp)
}
}
This could e considered a duplicate of this.
Reading event log remotely with Get-EventLog in Powershell
# swapped from this command
get-eventlog -LogName System -computername <ServerName>
# to this
invoke-command {get-eventlog -LogName System} -ComputerName <ServerName>
Don't struggle with writing this from scratch. Well, unless it's a learning exercise. There are pre-built script for you to leverage as is and or tweak as needed.
Running commands on Remote host require using the Invoke cmdlet, and or an established PSRemoting session to that host.
Get Remote Event Logs With Powershell
Gather the remote event log information for one or more systems using wmi, alternate credentials, and multiple runspaces. Function supports custom timeout parameters in case of wmi problems and returns Event Log information for the specified number of past hours.
Download: Get-RemoteEventLogs.ps1
The script is too long (it's 100+ lines) to post here, but here in the Synopsis of it.
Function Get-RemoteEventLogs
{
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Retrieves event logs via WMI in multiple runspaces.
.DESCRIPTION
Retrieves event logs via WMI and, if needed, alternate credentials. This function utilizes multiple runspaces.
.PARAMETER ComputerName
Specifies the target computer or comptuers for data query.
.PARAMETER Hours
Gather event logs from the last number of hourse specified here.
.PARAMETER ThrottleLimit
Specifies the maximum number of systems to inventory simultaneously
.PARAMETER Timeout
Specifies the maximum time in second command can run in background before terminating this thread.
.PARAMETER ShowProgress
Show progress bar information
.EXAMPLE
PS > (Get-RemoteEventLogs).EventLogs
Description
-----------
Lists all of the event logs found on the localhost in the last 24 hours.
.NOTES
Author: Zachary Loeber
Site: http://www.the-little-things.net/
Requires: Powershell 2.0
Version History
1.0.0 - 08/28/2013
- Initial release
#>
Or this one.
PowerShell To Get Event Log of local or Remote Computers in .csv file
This script is handy when you want to extract the eventlog from remote or local machine. It has multiple filters which will help to filter the data. You can filter by logname,event type, source etc. This also have facility to get the data based on date range. You can change th
Download : eventLogFromRemoteSystem.ps1
Again, too big to post here because the length is like the other one.
I am working on some assumptions but maybe this will help.
When I Ran your Code I got
Get-Content : Cannot find path 'C:\computers.txt' because it does not exist.
I had to make the C:\computers.txt file, then I ran your code again and got this error.
Get-Content : Cannot find path 'C:\Output\computers.txt' because it does not exist.
I made that file in that location, then I ran your code again and I got the event log file. Maybe try creating these two missing files with a command like
Get-WmiObject Win32_NTEventlogFile -ComputerName $machine
mkdir C:\Output\$machine
$env:computername | Out-File -FilePath c:\Output\Computers.txt
You may also want to setup a Network share and output to that location so you can access the event logs from a single computer. Once the share is setup and the permissions just drop the unc path in.
I am new to powershell and all sorts of scripting and have been landed with the following task.
I need to create a file on a remote server based on the filename picked up on the local server using the invoke-command.
WinRM is configured and running on the remote server.
What i need to happen is the following
On Server1 a trigger file is placed folder. Powershell on Server1 passes the filename onto powershell on Server2. Powershell on Server2 then creates a file based on the name.
My heads been melted trolling through forms looking for inspiration, any help would be greatly appreciated
Many thanks
Paul
I think if you're new to scripting, something that will add a lot of extra complexity is storing and handling credentials for Invoke-Command. It would be easier if you could make a shared folder on Server2 and just have one PowerShell script writing to that.
Either way, a fairly simple approach is a scheduled task on Server1 which runs a PowerShell script, with its own service user account, every 5 minutes.
Script does something like:
# Check the folder where the trigger file is
# assumes there will only ever be 1 file there, or nothing there.
$triggerFile = Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath "c:\triggerfile\folder\path"
# if there was something found
if ($triggerFile)
{
# do whatever your calculation is for the new filename "based on"
# the trigger filename, and store the result. Here, just cutting
# off the first character as an example.
$newFileName = $triggerFile.Name.Substring(1)
# if you can avoid Invoke-Command, directly make the new file on Server2
New-Item -ItemType File -Path '\\server2\share\' -Name $newFileName
# end here
# if you can't avoid Invoke-Command, you need to have
# pre-saved credentials, e.g. https://www.jaapbrasser.com/quickly-and-securely-storing-your-credentials-powershell/
$Credential = Import-CliXml -LiteralPath "${env:\userprofile}\server2-creds.xml"
# and you need a script to run on Server2 to make the file
# and it needs to reference the new filename from *this* side ("$using:")
$scriptBlock = {
New-Item -ItemType File -Path 'c:\destination' -Name $using:newFileName
}
# and then invoke the scriptblock on server2 with the credentials
Invoke-Command -Computername 'Server2' -Credential $Credential $scriptBlock
# end here
# either way, remove the original trigger file afterwards, ready for next run
Remove-Item -LiteralPath $triggerFile -Force
}
(Untested)
EDITED: Here is my code now. The install file does copy to the remote host. However, the WMI portion does not install the .exe file, and no errors are returned. Perhaps this is a syntax error with WMI? Is there a way to just run the installer silently with PsExec? Thanks again for all the help sorry for the confusion:
#declare params
param (
[string]$finalCountdownPath = "",
[string]$slashes = "\\",
[string]$pathOnRemoteHost = "c:\temp\",
[string]$targetJavaComputer = "",
[string]$compname = "",
[string]$tempPathTarget = "\C$\temp\"
)
# user enters target host/computer
$targetJavaComputer = Read-Host "Enter the name of the computer on which you wish to install Java:"
[string]$compname = $slashes + $targetJavaComputer
[string]$finalCountdownPath = $compname + $tempPathTarget
#[string]$tempPathTarget2 =
#[string]$finalCountdownPath2 = $compname + $
# say copy install media to remote host
echo "Copying install file and running installer silently please wait..."
# create temp dir if does not exist, if exist copy install media
# if does not exist create dir, copy dummy file, copy install media
# either case will execute install of .exe via WMII
#[string]$finalCountdownPath = $compname + $tempPathTarget;
if ((Test-Path -Path $finalCountdownPath) )
{
copy c:\hdatools\java\jre-7u60-windows-i586.exe $finalCountdownPath
([WMICLASS]"\\$targetJavaComputer\ROOT\CIMV2:win32_process").Create("cmd.exe /c c:\temp\java\jre-7u60-windows-i586.exe /s /v`" /qn")
}
else {
New-Item -Path $finalCountdownPath -type directory -Force
copy c:\hdatools\dummy.txt $finalCountdownPath
copy "c:\hdatools\java\jre-7u60-windows-i586.exe" $finalCountdownPath
([WMICLASS]"\\$targetJavaComputer\ROOT\CIMV2:win32_process").Create("cmd.exe /c c:\temp\java\jre-7u60-windows-i586.exe /s /v`" /qn")
}
I was trying to get $Job = Invoke-Command -Session $Session -Scriptblock $Script to allow me to copy files on a different server, because I needed to off load it from the server it was running from. I was using the PowerShell Copy-Item to do it. But the running PowerShell script waits until the file is done copying to return.
I want it to take as little resources as possible on the server that the powershell is running to spawn off the process on another server to copy the file. I tried to user various other schemes out there, but they didn't work or the way I needed them to work. (Seemed kind of kludgey or too complex to me.) Maybe some of them could have worked? But I found a solution that I like that works best for me, which is pretty easy. (Except for some of the back end configuration that may be needed if it is is not already setup.)
Background:
I am running a SQLServer Job which invokes Powershell to run a script which backups databases, copies backup files, and deletes older backup files, with parameters passed into it. Our server is configured to allow PowerShell to run and under the pre-setup User account with SQL Server Admin and dbo privileges in an Active Directory account to allow it to see various places on our Network as well.
But we don't want it to take the resources away from the main server. The PowerShell script that was to be run would backup the database Log file and then use the another server to asynchronously copy the file itself and not make the SQL Server Job/PowerShell wait for it. We wanted it to happen right after the backup.
Here is my new way, using WMI, using Windows Integrate Security:
$ComputerName = "kithhelpdesk"
([Wmiclass]'Win32_Process').GetMethodParameters('Create')
Invoke-WmiMethod -ComputerName RemoteServerToRunOn -Path win32_process -Name create -ArgumentList 'powershell.exe -Command "Copy-Item -Path \\YourShareSource\SQLBackup\YourDatabase_2018-08-07_11-45.log.bak -Destination \\YourShareDestination\YourDatabase_2018-08-07_11-45.log.bak"'
Here is my new way using passed in Credentials, and building arg list variable:
$Username = "YouDomain\YourDomainUser"
$Password = "P#ssw0rd27"
$ComputerName = "RemoteServerToRunOn"
$FromFile = "\\YourShareSource\SQLBackup\YourDatabase_2018-08-07_11-45.log.bak"
$ToFile = "\\YourShareDestination\SQLBackup\YourDatabase_2018-08-07_11-45.log.bak"
$ArgumentList = 'powershell.exe -Command "Copy-Item -Path ' + $FromFile + ' -Destination ' + $ToFile + '"'
$SecurePassWord = ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText $Password -Force
$Cred = New-Object -TypeName "System.Management.Automation.PSCredential" -ArgumentList $Username, $SecurePassWord
([Wmiclass]'Win32_Process').GetMethodParameters('Create')
Invoke-WmiMethod -ComputerName $ComputerName -Path win32_process -Name create -ArgumentList $ArgumentList -Credential $Cred
We think that this above one is the preferred one to use.
You can also run a specific powershell that will do what you want it to do (even passing in parameters to it):
Invoke-WmiMethod -ComputerName RemoteServerToRunOn -Path win32_process -Name create -ArgumentList 'powershell.exe -file "C:\PS\Test1.ps1"'
This example could be changed to pass in parameters to the Test1.ps1 PowerShell script to make it more flexible and reusable. And you may also want to pass in a Credential like we used in a previous example above.
Help configuring WMI:
I got the main gist of this working from: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/invoke-wmimethod?view=powershell-5.1
But it may have also needed WMI configuration using:
https://helpcenter.gsx.com/hc/en-us/articles/202447926-How-to-Configure-Windows-Remote-PowerShell-Access-for-Non-Privileged-User-Accounts?flash_digest=bec1f6a29327161f08e1f2db77e64856b433cb5a
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/enable-psremoting?view=powershell-5.1
Powershell New-PSSession Access Denied - Administrator Account
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/invoke-wmimethod?view=powershell-5.1 (I used to get how to call Invoke-WmiMethod).
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/core-powershell/console/powershell.exe-command-line-help?view=powershell-6 (I used to get syntax of command line)
I didn't use this one, but could have: How to execute a command in a remote computer?
I don't know for sure if all of the steps in the web articles above are needed, I suspect not. But I thought I was going to be using the Invoke-Command PowerShell statement to copy the files on a remote server, but left my changes from the articles above that I did intact mostly I believe.
You will need a dedicated User setup in Active Directory, and to configure the user accounts that SQL Server and SQL Server Agent are running under to give the main calling PowerShell the privileges needed to access the network and other things to, and can be used to run the PowerShell on the remote server as well. And you may need to configure SQLServer to allow SQL Server Jobs or Stored Procedures to be able to call PowerShell scripts like I did. But this is outside the scope of this post. You Google other places on the internet to show you how to do that.
I know that I can set a runonce key in the Win7 registry globally, which will be executed no matter which user logs on the next time, using this registry key:
HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
I need to do an initialization only for a specific user, so I wonder if there is a way to programatically (using Powershell) set a runonce-entry that is only executed if one specific user logs on, also if this user is not an Administrator.
Do you know of a way to do this? Thanks.
I think this question and the other (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10908727/how-can-i-programatically-find-a-users-hkey-users-registry-key-using-powershell) are related:
Anyways, here is how you do it:
$User = New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount($env:UserName)
$sid = $User.Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier]).value
New-PSDrive HKU Registry HKEY_USERS
Get-Item "HKU:\${sid}"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKU:\${sid}\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce" -Name Command -Value "notepad.exe"
I wonder if there is a way to find a local user's registry key in HKEY_USERS if you know the login-name of that user on the local machine. I want to programmatically add stuff to a specific user's registry keys (Autorun for example), but I only know the username. How can I determine which of the cryptic users in HKEY_USERS actually belongs to a specific username?
$User = New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount($env:UserName)
$sid = $User.Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier]).value
The above snippet gives you the SID of the logged-in user. This when appended to the HKEY_USERS givs you the right path for that username.
New-PSDrive HKU Registry HKEY_USERS
Get-Item "HKU:\${sid}"
This answer is not complete, as HKEY_USERS does not contain all the users, just those that are currently active.
You'll need to load the registry hive for the user(s) you want to work with using
reg load hku\ThatUserName C:\Users\ThatUserName\NTUSER.DAT
See this SO answer for an example of how to load the registry hive for all the user(s).
You can then access the registry for that user with
Set-Location HKU:\ThatUserName
Or call New-PSDrive to give the user's registry it's own drive, like so:
New-PSDrive -Name HKThatUser -PSProvider Registry -Root HKU\ThatUserName
Set-Location HKThatUser:
Be sure to unload the registry, and do garbage collection to ensure the hive is released when done:
reg unload hku\ThatUserName
[gc]::collect()
See this post for more info
This does it for me
ls 'hklm:software/microsoft/windows nt/currentversion/profilelist' | ? {
$_.getvalue('profileimagepath') -match 'Steven'
} | % pschildname
Example