Powershell Archives - Pouyan Khabazi

Move Azure VM with Managed Disk to another Resource Group

At the moment of writing this blog it’s unfortunately not possible to move an Azure VM with Managed disk to another Resource Group or to another Description. However, Microsoft says on the Azure Portal that this will be possible in the near feature. For the time being, I have chosen to write a small PowerShell script that will do the move fully automated for you. At the moment the only way to move an Azure VM with Managed Disk to another resource group is redeploying the VM. To achieve this you need to perform the following steps (some from the portal and some from PowerShell) manually:

Shutdown VM
Collect the required information like Networking, VM size, Storage etc.
Create a Snapshot
Create or use an existing Azure Storage Account to copy the Snapshot to
Remove the VM
Create a new Azure VM in the new Resource Group with the collected information and Snapshot disk from the Azure Blob
The Azure VM will start automatically, check if the VM functions as it should and remove the Snapshot and Azure Storage Account.

As you can see there are about 7 steps needed to move an Azure VM with a Managed Disk. The script that I have written will do all the steps automatically with only 3 variables that you need to define while running the script. Continue reading “Move Azure VM with Managed Disk to another Resource Group”

Import thumbnailphoto in AD from jpg

The script below will import Jpg file as a thumbnail photo in Active Directory

$username = "p01001"
$jpgfile = "C:\PICTURE.jpg"
 

$dom = [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::GetCurrentDomain()
$root = $dom.GetDirectoryEntry()
$search = [System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher]$root
$search.Filter = "(&amp;(objectclass=user)(objectcategory=person)(samAccountName=$username))"
$result = $search.FindOne()
 
if ($result -ne $null) {
 $user = $result.GetDirectoryEntry()
 [byte[]]$jpg = Get-Content $jpgfile -encoding byte
 $user.put("thumbnailPhoto",  $jpg )
 $user.setinfo()
 Write-Host $user.displayname "updated"
}celse {
  Write-Host $user "Does not exist"
}

$username = "p01001"

$jpgfile = "C:\PICTURE.jpg"

$dom = [System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Domain]::GetCurrentDomain()

$root = $dom.GetDirectoryEntry()

$search = [System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher]$root

$search.Filter = "(&(objectclass=user)(objectcategory=person)(samAccountName=$username))"

$result = $search.FindOne()

if ($result -ne $null) {

$user = $result.GetDirectoryEntry()

[byte[]]$jpg = Get-Content $jpgfile -encoding byte

$user.put("thumbnailPhoto", $jpg )

$user.setinfo()

Write-Host $user.displayname "updated"

}celse {

Write-Host $user "Does not exist"

}

~Pouyan

Creating and using Password Hashes and Secure Strings with Powershell

This is how you can generate a Secure String with powershell and use it in your scripts

secureString = Read-Host -AsSecureString
ConvertFrom-SecureString $secureString | out-file c:\temp\encrypted.txt
$newString = gc C:\temp\encrypted.txt | ConvertTo-SecureString

secureString = Read-Host -AsSecureString

ConvertFrom-SecureString $secureString | out-file c:\temp\encrypted.txt

$newString = gc C:\temp\encrypted.txt | ConvertTo-SecureString

Load the Secure string from file and use it in your script:

$securePassword = Get-Content c:\temp\encrypted.txt | ConvertTo-SecureString

1	$securePassword = Get-Content c:\temp\encrypted.txt \| ConvertTo-SecureString

How to uninstall with msiexec using product id guid

You can find the product code by perusing the registry from this base key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall . Press F3 and search for your product name. (If it’s a 32-bit installer on a 64-bit machine, it might be under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall instead).

Finally, you can find the product code also by using PowerShell:

get-wmiobject Win32_Product | Format-Table IdentifyingNumber, Name

1	get-wmiobject Win32_Product \| Format-Table IdentifyingNumber, Name

when you found the Guid ID you can use msiexec to uninstall the application

msiexec /x {A4BFF20C-A21E-4720-88E5-79D5A5AEB2E8}

1	msiexec /x {A4BFF20C-A21E-4720-88E5-79D5A5AEB2E8}

PowerShell – How to find details of Operating System

There were several instances where I had to find details of the operating system using PowerShell. Here, I am providing several PowerShell snippets that return various details of the Operating System.

Name of the Operating System

(Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).Name

1	(Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).Name

Is Operating System 32-bit or 64-bit

(Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).OSArchitecture

1	(Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).OSArchitecture

Name of the Machine

(Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).CSName

1	(Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).CSName

There are many more properties of the Operating System that are exposed. To obtain more details, run the following

Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem | Get-Member

1	Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem \| Get-Member

PowerShell – Get Disconnected Mailbox in Exchange Server

If you delete a AD user account it will automatically disconnect the connected mailbox from the AD account and add it to the Disconnected Mailbox list.

Mailbox will be listed until retention period of 30 days(unless otherwise set)

Get-MailboxStatistics -server &lt;servername&gt; | where { $_.DisconnectDate -ne $null } | select DisplayName,MailboxGuid,Database,DisconnectDate

1	Get-MailboxStatistics -server <servername> \| where { $_.DisconnectDate -ne $null } \| select DisplayName,MailboxGuid,Database,DisconnectDate

Gets the list of Disconnected mailbox in the specified Exchange 2007 Server

Get-MailboxStatistics  | where { $_.DisconnectDate -ne $null } | select DisplayName,MailboxGuid,Database,DisconnectDate

1	Get-MailboxStatistics \| where { $_.DisconnectDate -ne $null } \| select DisplayName,MailboxGuid,Database,DisconnectDate

Create FTP user (Powershell GUI)

Here is a small PowerShell script that I have written today, this is a GUI interface script that will help you create a FTP user with folder and will configure the permissions fore IIS:

[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName(“System.Windows.Forms”)

##########################################################
##							##
##		--	SIGNATURE --			##
##							##
$Company =	'PKM-Technology'			##
$PoweredBye =	'Pouyan Khabazi'			##
$Date =		'30-05-2013'				##
$Version =	'V1'					##
##							##
##							##
##########################################################
[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('System.Windows.Forms')
[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('System.Drawing')

$FieldBackGround = [System.Drawing.Color]::'Transparent'
$objForm = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
	$objForm.Text = $Company + ' Create FTP User ' + $Version + ' | (' + $PoweredBye + ')'
	$objForm.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(400,400)
	$objForm.MinimizeBox = $false
	$objForm.MaximizeBox = $false
	$objForm.ControlBox = $false
	$objForm.StartPosition = 'CenterScreen'
	$objForm.FormBorderStyle = 'FixedDialog'
	$objForm.KeyPreview = $True
	$objForm.AllowTransparency = $true
##Styling
$Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font('Times New Roman','9')

$LabelUserName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
	$LabelUserName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,150) 
	$LabelUserName.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(80,20)
	$LabelUserName.BackColor = $FieldBackGround
	$LabelUserName.Text = 'User name: '
	$objForm.Controls.Add($LabelUserName)
$TextboxUserName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
	$TextboxUserName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,150) 
	$TextboxUserName.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(200,25)
	$TextboxUserName.Text = ''
	$objForm.Controls.Add($TextboxUserName)

$LabelFullName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
	$LabelFullName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,180) 
	$LabelFullName.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(80,20)
	$LabelFullName.BackColor = $FieldBackGround
	$LabelFullName.Text = 'Full name: '
	$objForm.Controls.Add($LabelFullName)
$TextboxFullName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
	$TextboxFullName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,180) 
	$TextboxFullName.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(200,25)
	$TextboxFullName.Text = ''
	$objForm.Controls.Add($TextboxFullName)

$LabelPassword = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label
	$LabelPassword.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,210) 
	$LabelPassword.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(80,20)
	$LabelPassword.BackColor = $FieldBackGround
	$LabelPassword.Text = 'Password: '
	$objForm.Controls.Add($LabelPassword)
$TextboxPassword = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox
	$TextboxPassword.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,210) 
	$TextboxPassword.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(200,25)
	$TextboxPassword.Text = ''
    $TextboxPassword.PasswordChar = '*'
	$objForm.Controls.Add($TextboxPassword)

$ButtonCreate = New-Object Windows.Forms.Button
	$ButtonCreate.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,320) 
	$ButtonCreate.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,25) 
	$ButtonCreate.text = 'Create user'
	$ButtonCreate.add_click({
        $userName = $TextboxUserName.Text
        $fullName = $TextboxFullName.Text
        $password = $TextboxPassword.Text
        $ftpFolder = "C:inetpubftproot" + $userName

        $Computer = [ADSI]"WinNT://$Env:COMPUTERNAME,Computer"
        #Local user if user exict
        $x = $Computer.psbase.Children | Where-Object {$_.psbase.schemaclassname -eq "user"} | select Name
         foreach ($user in $x) {
          if ($user.Name -eq $userName){
            #Write-Host User $user.name already exists
            $d = [Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show('User ' + $userName + ' already exists, please select another username!', [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::OK)
            Return
          }
        }
        # Local user account creation:
        $TestUser = $Computer.Create("User", $userName)
        $TestUser.SetPassword($password)
        $TestUser.SetInfo()
        $TestUser.FullName = $fullName
        $TestUser.SetInfo()
        $TestUser.UserFlags = 64 + 65536 # ADS_UF_PASSWD_CANT_CHANGE + ADS_UF_DONT_EXPIRE_PASSWD
        $TestUser.SetInfo()
        # Add user to local group
        $group = [ADSI]"WinNT://./FTP_USERS,group"
        $group.Add("WinNT://$userName,user")
        # Create the FTP folder
        New-Item -ItemType directory -Path $ftpFolder -Force
        # Set permission on the folder
        $inherit = [system.security.accesscontrol.InheritanceFlags]"ContainerInherit, ObjectInherit"
        $propagation = [system.security.accesscontrol.PropagationFlags]"None"
        $acl = Get-Acl $ftpFolder
        $accessrule = New-Object system.security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule($userName, "Modify", $inherit, $propagation, "Allow")
        $acl.AddAccessRule($accessrule)
        Set-Acl -AclObject $acl $ftpFolder

        $d = [Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show('User '+ $userName +' is created successfully! 
Do you want to close application?', 'Exit', [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::YesNo)
		if ($d -eq [Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::Yes){
			$objForm.Close()
		} else {}
    })
    $objForm.controls.add($ButtonCreate)

##CLOSE BUTTON
$CancelButton = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button
	$CancelButton.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(220,320)
	$CancelButton.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(75,25)
	$CancelButton.Text = 'Close'
	$CancelButton.Add_Click({
		$d = [Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show('Are you shore you want to close the application?', 'Exit', [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::YesNo)
		if ($d -eq [Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::Yes){
			$objForm.Close()
		} else {}	
	})
	$objForm.Controls.Add($CancelButton)

$objForm.Add_Shown({$objForm.Activate()})
[void] $objForm.ShowDialog()

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[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName(“System.Windows.Forms”)

##########################################################

## ##

## -- SIGNATURE -- ##

## ##

$Company = 'PKM-Technology' ##

$PoweredBye = 'Pouyan Khabazi' ##

$Date = '30-05-2013' ##

$Version = 'V1' ##

## ##

##########################################################

[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('System.Windows.Forms')

[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('System.Drawing')

$FieldBackGround = [System.Drawing.Color]::'Transparent'

$objForm = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form

$objForm.Text = $Company + ' Create FTP User ' + $Version + ' | (' + $PoweredBye + ')'

$objForm.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(400,400)

$objForm.MinimizeBox = $false

$objForm.MaximizeBox = $false

$objForm.ControlBox = $false

$objForm.StartPosition = 'CenterScreen'

$objForm.FormBorderStyle = 'FixedDialog'

$objForm.KeyPreview = $True

$objForm.AllowTransparency = $true

##Styling

$Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font('Times New Roman','9')

$LabelUserName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label

$LabelUserName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,150)

$LabelUserName.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(80,20)

$LabelUserName.BackColor = $FieldBackGround

$LabelUserName.Text = 'User name: '

$objForm.Controls.Add($LabelUserName)

$TextboxUserName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox

$TextboxUserName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,150)

$TextboxUserName.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(200,25)

$TextboxUserName.Text = ''

$objForm.Controls.Add($TextboxUserName)

$LabelFullName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label

$LabelFullName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,180)

$LabelFullName.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(80,20)

$LabelFullName.BackColor = $FieldBackGround

$LabelFullName.Text = 'Full name: '

$objForm.Controls.Add($LabelFullName)

$TextboxFullName = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox

$TextboxFullName.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,180)

$TextboxFullName.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(200,25)

$TextboxFullName.Text = ''

$objForm.Controls.Add($TextboxFullName)

$LabelPassword = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Label

$LabelPassword.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(20,210)

$LabelPassword.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(80,20)

$LabelPassword.BackColor = $FieldBackGround

$LabelPassword.Text = 'Password: '

$objForm.Controls.Add($LabelPassword)

$TextboxPassword = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TextBox

$TextboxPassword.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,210)

$TextboxPassword.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(200,25)

$TextboxPassword.Text = ''

$TextboxPassword.PasswordChar = '*'

$objForm.Controls.Add($TextboxPassword)

$ButtonCreate = New-Object Windows.Forms.Button

$ButtonCreate.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,320)

$ButtonCreate.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(100,25)

$ButtonCreate.text = 'Create user'

$ButtonCreate.add_click({

$userName = $TextboxUserName.Text

$fullName = $TextboxFullName.Text

$password = $TextboxPassword.Text

$ftpFolder = "C:inetpubftproot" + $userName

$Computer = [ADSI]"WinNT://$Env:COMPUTERNAME,Computer"

#Local user if user exict

$x = $Computer.psbase.Children | Where-Object {$_.psbase.schemaclassname -eq "user"} | select Name

foreach ($user in $x) {

if ($user.Name -eq $userName){

#Write-Host User $user.name already exists

$d = [Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show('User ' + $userName + ' already exists, please select another username!', [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::OK)

Return

}

# Local user account creation:

$TestUser = $Computer.Create("User", $userName)

$TestUser.SetPassword($password)

$TestUser.SetInfo()

$TestUser.FullName = $fullName

$TestUser.SetInfo()

$TestUser.UserFlags = 64 + 65536 # ADS_UF_PASSWD_CANT_CHANGE + ADS_UF_DONT_EXPIRE_PASSWD

$TestUser.SetInfo()

# Add user to local group

$group = [ADSI]"WinNT://./FTP_USERS,group"

$group.Add("WinNT://$userName,user")

# Create the FTP folder

New-Item -ItemType directory -Path $ftpFolder -Force

# Set permission on the folder

$inherit = [system.security.accesscontrol.InheritanceFlags]"ContainerInherit, ObjectInherit"

$propagation = [system.security.accesscontrol.PropagationFlags]"None"

$acl = Get-Acl $ftpFolder

$accessrule = New-Object system.security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule($userName, "Modify", $inherit, $propagation, "Allow")

$acl.AddAccessRule($accessrule)

Set-Acl -AclObject $acl $ftpFolder

$d = [Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show('User '+ $userName +' is created successfully!

Do you want to close application?', 'Exit', [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::YesNo)

if ($d -eq [Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::Yes){

$objForm.Close()

} else {}

})

$objForm.controls.add($ButtonCreate)

##CLOSE BUTTON

$CancelButton = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Button

$CancelButton.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(220,320)

$CancelButton.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(75,25)

$CancelButton.Text = 'Close'

$CancelButton.Add_Click({

$d = [Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show('Are you shore you want to close the application?', 'Exit', [Windows.Forms.MessageBoxButtons]::YesNo)

if ($d -eq [Windows.Forms.DialogResult]::Yes){

$objForm.Close()

} else {}

})

$objForm.Controls.Add($CancelButton)

$objForm.Add_Shown({$objForm.Activate()})

[void] $objForm.ShowDialog()

Well you can use the script to start the GUI both you can also convert this to a EXE file, to convert the script to a EXE you can download PS2EXE

Now you can run the coede below to confert the PS1 file to a EXE file

Start powershell in version 2 (if you are running version 3)

powershell.exe -version 2

1

powershell.exe -version 2

Browse to the folder where you unzipt the PS2EXE and run the code

cd c:PS2EXE ps2exe.ps1 -inputFile C:ScriptsFTPuser.PS1 -outputFile C:ScriptsFTPuser.exe -noConsole

1
2

cd c:PS2EXE
ps2exe.ps1 -inputFile C:ScriptsFTPuser.PS1 -outputFile C:ScriptsFTPuser.exe -noConsole

~pouyan

PowerShell – WmiObject and a corrupt repository

If repository is found to be inconsistent, for Vista and newer, run from elevated command prompt:

Winmgmt /salvagerepository

1	Winmgmt /salvagerepository

Note this command will take the content of the inconsistent repository and merge it into the rebuilt repository if it is readable

If the above doesn’t work, then run:

Winmgmt /resetrepository

1	Winmgmt /resetrepository

Note this will reset repository to the initial state when the OS was first installed

~pouyan

Using PowerShell as the Shell on Windows Server Core

With PowerShell becoming one of the most important tools in a Windows administrator’s tool bag as well as really becoming the best prompt to use on Windows Server Core, I thought it was about time I documented how to change the command prompt that opens when you log into Server Core with a PowerShell prompt.

To complete this requires two steps:

Enable/Install PowerShell on the Windows 2008 R2 Server Core computer
Update the HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinLogonShell registry key replacing cmd.exe with PowerShell.exe

To enable PowerShell run SCONFIG from the command prompt and then select menu options 4 then 2. This will require the computer to be rebooted

Once rebooted login and in the CMD prompt type PowerShell. At the PowerShell prompt type:

SET-ITEMPROPERTY &quot;HKLM: SOFTWAREMICROSOFTWINDOWS NTCURRENTVERSIONWINLOGON&quot; SHELL POWERSHELL.EXE

1	SET-ITEMPROPERTY "HKLM: SOFTWAREMICROSOFTWINDOWS NTCURRENTVERSIONWINLOGON" SHELL POWERSHELL.EXE

Having completed above log off and back on and a powershell prompt will open instead.

~Pouyan

Set Computer Name using PowerShell

Yesterday I faced a problem in which I need to change the computer name using PowerShell. First I was looking for some cmdlet which can do this job for me but there is not any builtin cmdlet for it.

This method is using WMI to do the task.

Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem

1	Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem

I am using Get-WMI to give me all the value of Win32_ComputerSystem.

You can see in the Output that the “Name” value contain our Computer name.

$computerName = Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem

1	$computerName = Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem

After putting the command in to the $computerName variable, you can use the rename method to rename the computer.

$computername.Rename($name)

1	$computername.Rename($name)

The Win32_ComputerSystem WMI class contain the method of .Rename() in which we need to provide a desired computer name in brackets.

~Pouyan