Tag: cmd

Microsoft: SysInternals Suite PS Exec Command Usage

by Samuel Mitchell, posted in Microsoft, Uncategorized, windows, Windows server

I was given a task to install a agent on computers and servers using command line as during my research I discovered this tool calls PSExec from the SysInternals Suite tools.

You may ask what is PSExec? According to Microsoft, it launches interactive command-prompts on remote systems and remote-enabling tools like IpConfig that otherwise do not have the ability to show information about remote systems. In other words, PSExec tool allows the execution of commands on a system remotely as if it is on the direct system console.

There are a number of features that I love about the PSExec tool which are as follows:

  1. It can run the command as another user remotely on the local system using user interaction
  2. It allows the execution of the command on multiple computers from a list in a text file

I was given the task to install the SAP Single Sign On add-in and it was difficult because it required that it is run under a network user locally in an interactive mode.

The PSExec tool gave me the power to overcome this difficulty.

Here is the syntax of the command and the parameters I used:

psexec.exe @[file-name.txt] -u [domain\username] -p -i -h [\\server\path\batch-files.bat]

explaining each switch:

@   execute the command on each computer in the file. Each computer must be in a new line

-u   username

-p  prompt for password

-i  run command in interactive mode

-h run the command with account elevated privilege

This command will execute the script on each computer return the result as it is completed.

Please ensure it is executed on a computer that is running since it cannot be execute without the computer being on.

Configuring AWS CLI using Python and pip on Windows

by Samuel Mitchell, posted in AWS, Uncategorized, windows

This article was created to document the steps to configure and utilize the AWS CLI on a Windows machine.

There are multiple ways of installing the AWS CLI but I choose the method of using the Python with pip3 since I already have the tool install on my Windows 10 machine.

  1. After you install the python on your windows system from python.org

2.  You will run the following command to ensure it is working from the command prompt

python –version

3. You will then use the python utility pip3 and check if it is installed using the following command:

pip3 –version

4. Once the version is displayed without any errors, you can proceed to installing the AWS CLI using pip3. You will do this by using the command below:

pip3 install awscli

5. After the installation is complete. proceed to test that the AWS CLI is working:

where aws

Once the folder path of the AWS CLI is shown, then you have successfully installed the CLI.

Now the next step is to configure it for use with your AWS service. This can be done by running the following aws command:

aws configure

It will prompt you for the AWS Access key ID, Secret Access Key,  default Region and default output format. This allows you to connect to the AWS without authenticating each time. I would recommend that you setup an IAM user account to authenticate with the AWS CLI and limit the access to only the features that will be accessed using this method.

For further details, please consult the AWS CLI documentation here.

Useful Windows PowerShell (PS) command

by Samuel Mitchell, posted in Microsoft, Windows server

This blog is an opportunity to record all the PS commands I used in my day-to-day management of my environment.

Get-Help [*command*]

The get-help is a useful command used to get details of the command executed.

Get-Command [*command*]

List the A record of the server

Get-DnsServerRecord -Name [Hostname]-RRType [A]

Add an server name with the IP address to the DNS server. This command should be ran from the DNS server remotely or locally.

Add-DnsServerRecordA -Name [HostName] -IPAddress [IP] -ZoneName [domain-name] -AllowUpdate

Shutdown the server

Stop-Computer -ComputerName [Servername] -Force

Restart the server

Restart-Computer -ComputerName [Servername] -Force

Start a remote PowerShell session on server

Enter-PSSession [Servername]

Exit the existing PowerShell remote session

Exit-PSSession

A Similiar command to ping and trace route in Powershell

Test-NetConnection [-traceroute] [destination-name or address]

A command to execute PS commands on a remote host

Invoke-Command -ComputerName -ScriptBlock { [Powershell command goes here] }

List all the services on a computer

Get-Service

List all the Windows share (SMB) session on a computer

Get-SmbSession

Get the AD User information filtered by Name or login

Get-ADUser -Identity [CID] -Filter ‘Name -like “Firstname*”‘

Set the AD User information

Set-ADUser -Identity [CID] -ParameterField “Value”

Unlock User Account

Unlock-ADAccount -Identity [CID]

Disable User Account

Disable-ADAccount Identity [CID]

Enable User Account

Enable-ADAccount Identity [CID]

Reset User Account Password

Set-ADAccountPassword -Identity [CID] -Reset -NewPassword (ConvertTo-SecureString -ASPlainText “MyPassword” -Force)

Set the user account password settings

Set-ADUser -ChangePasswordAtLogon $true -CannotChangePassword $true -AccountExpirationDate “mm/dd/yyyy” -PasswordNeverExpires $true

Search AD for User Account that has expired password

Search-ADAccount -UsersOnly -PasswordExpired | FT SamAccountName, Name, LastLogonDate

Search AD for Locked Out Accounts

Search-ADAccount -UsersOnly -LockedOut | FT SamAccountName, Name, LastLogonDate

Search AD for Expiring Accounts within 60 days

Search-ADAccount -usersonly -AccountExpiring -TimeSpan 60.00:00 | FT SamAccountName,Name,AccountExpirationDate

Search AD for Inactive Accounts

Search-ADAccount -UsersOnly -AccountInactive | FT SamAccountName, Name, LastLogonDate

Search AD for Disabled Accounts

Search-ADAccount -UsersOnly -AccountDisabled | FT SamAccountName, Name

Search AD for Expired Accounts

Search-ADAccount -UsersOnly -AccountExpired | FT SamAccountName, Name, AccountExpirationDate

Search AD for Accounts password set to never expire

Search-ADAccount -UsersOnly -PasswordNeverExpires | FT SamAccountName, Name, AccountExpirationDate,LastLogonDate

Retrieve AD Group Information based on Filter

Get-ADGroup -Filter ‘Name -like “[string]*”‘ -Properties canonicalName | FT canonicalname

Retrieve members for a specific AD Group

Get-ADGroupMember -Identity ‘[groupname]’ | FT SamAccountName, Name

Retrieve the properties of an object

Verb-Object -properties *

Add Members to an AD Group

Add-ADGroupMember -Identity ‘GroupName’ -Members [UserName]

Create an New OU

New-ADOrganizationUnit -Name [OU-Name] -Path “[DC=Domain,DC=com]”

Create a user in the New OU

New-ADUser -Name “Firstname Lastname” -SamAccountName [CID] -Path “OU=,DC=,D=com”

Create a New AD Group

New-ADGroup -Name “GroupName” -SamAccountName [GroupName] -GroupCategory [Security/Distribution] -GroupScope [DomainLocal/Global/Universal] -Path “OU=,DC=domain,DC=com”

Create a managed service account

New-ADServiceAccount -Name [AccountName] -RestrictToSingleComputer

Add-ADComputerServiceAccount -Identity [COMPNAME] -ServiceAccount [AccName]

Test-ADServiceAccount -Identity [AccName]

Get Windows Security event of lockout accounts from PDC

Get-ADDomainController -Filter “OperationMasterRoles -like ‘*PDCEmulator*'” | FT Hostname, OperationMasterRoles, Site, OperatingSystem

Get-WinEvent -ComputerName [PDCEmulaor] -FilterHashtable @{LogName=’Security’;Id=4740} -ErrorAction Stop

Show the Default Domain Password Policy

Get-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy

Change the Default Domain Password Policy

Get-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy | Set-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy -LockoutDuration -LockoutThreshold -MaxPasswordAge -MinPasswordAge -MinPasswordLength -ComplexityEnabled [$true/$false] -PasswordHistoryCount -LockoutObservationWindow