PowerShell

Fast Track
Hacks for Non-Coders
—
Vikas Sukhija
PowerShell Fast Track
Hacks for Non-Coders

Vikas Sukhija
PowerShell Fast Track: Hacks for Non-Coders
Vikas Sukhija
Waterloo, ON, Canada

ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-7758-4 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-7759-1

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-7759-1

Copyright © 2022 by Vikas Sukhija

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Table of Contents
About the Author��������������������������������������������������������������������������������vii

About the Technical Reviewer�������������������������������������������������������������ix

Introduction�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xi

Chapter 1: PowerShell Basics���������������������������������������������������������������1

Variables and Printing�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������2
If/Else Switch��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������4
Conditional/Logical Operators�������������������������������������������������������������������������6
Logical Operators��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������7
Loops��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������8
For Loop and While Loop���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9
For Loop�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9
While Loop�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������12
Functions������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������14
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������16

Chapter 2: Date and Logs�������������������������������������������������������������������17

Date Manipulation�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������19
Creating Folders Based on a Date�����������������������������������������������������������������������21
Ready-Made Date and Log Functions�����������������������������������������������������������������22
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������32

iii
Table of Contents

Chapter 3: Input to Your Scripts���������������������������������������������������������33

Import-CSV����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������33
Importing from a Text File�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������35
Input from an Array���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������36
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������36

Chapter 4: Interactive Input����������������������������������������������������������������37

Read-host�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������37
Parameters���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������39
GUI Button�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������40
Prompt (Yes or No)����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������44
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������46

Chapter 5: Adding Snapins/ Modules�������������������������������������������������47

PowerShell Snapins��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������47
Modules��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������50
Cheat Module (vsadmin)�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������52
Encrypting a Password (vsadmin)�����������������������������������������������������������������59
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������64

Chapter 6: Sending Email�������������������������������������������������������������������65

Formatting a Message Body�������������������������������������������������������������������������������66
Sending HTML�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������67
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������69

Chapter 7: Error Reporting�����������������������������������������������������������������71

Reporting Errors Through Email��������������������������������������������������������������������������71
Logging Everything Including Errors�������������������������������������������������������������������74
Logging Errors to a Text File��������������������������������������������������������������������������������75
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������76

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 Table of Contents

Chapter 8: Reporting��������������������������������������������������������������������������77
CSV Report����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������77
Excel Reporting���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������80
HTML Reporting��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������85
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������90

Chapter 9: Miscellaneous Keywords��������������������������������������������������91

Split���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������91
Replace���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������92
Select-String�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������93
Compare-Object��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������94
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������98

Chapter 10: Gluing It All Together�������������������������������������������������������99

Product Examples (Daily Use)���������������������������������������������������������������������������105
Microsoft Exchange������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������105
Clean Database So That Mailboxes Appear in a Disconnected State����������105
Find Disconnected Mailboxes����������������������������������������������������������������������105
Extract Message Accept From���������������������������������������������������������������������106
Active Sync Stats�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������106
Message Tracking����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������106
Search Mailbox/Delete Messages���������������������������������������������������������������107
Exchange Quota Report�������������������������������������������������������������������������������107
Set Quota�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������109
Active Directory�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������109
Exporting Group Members���������������������������������������������������������������������������110
Setting Values for AD Attributes�������������������������������������������������������������������111
Exporting Active Directory Attributes�����������������������������������������������������������111

v
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Adding Members to the Group from a Text File�������������������������������������������117

Removing Members of the Group From a Text File��������������������������������������118
Office 365����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������119
Exchange Online Mailbox Report�����������������������������������������������������������������123
Exchange Online Message Tracking������������������������������������������������������������124
Searching a Unified Log������������������������������������������������������������������������������125
Azure AD�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������125
Adding Users to an Azure AD Group From a Text File of UPN�����������������������126
Removing Users in an Azure AD Group from a Text File of UPN�������������������126
Checking If a User Is Already a Member of a Group������������������������������������127
Adding Administrators to a Role������������������������������������������������������������������127
Checking for Azure AD User Provisioning Errors������������������������������������������127
Text/CSV File Operations�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������128
Regex����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������129
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������131

Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������133

vi
About the Author
Vikas Sukhija has over a decade of IT
infrastructure experience with expertise in
messaging, collaboration, and IT automation
utilizing PowerShell, PowerApps , Power
Automate, and other tools. He is currently
working as a Global Director at Golden Five
Consulting in Canada. He is also a blogger,
architect, and Microsoft MVP. He is known by
the name TechWizard. As an experienced professional, he assists small to
large enterprises in architecting, implementing, and automating Microsoft
365 and Azure.

vii
About the Technical Reviewer
Arun Sharma is a techno-strategic leader
and carries deep experience in development
consulting, cloud, AI, and the IoT space. He
is currently associated with Fresh & Pure, an
agritech startup, in the position of Director
Program Management-Automation and AI.
He has expertise in various technologies
(Microsoft Azure, AWS, Ali Cloud), IoT,
ML, microservices, bots, Dynamics 365,
PowerPlatform, SAP Crystal Reports, DevOps,
Docker, and containerization. He has more
than 20 years of experience in a wide range of
roles such as GM-Paytm, Delivery Manager
at Microsoft, Product Manager at Icertis, Lead and Architect Associate at
Infosys, Executive Trainer at Aptech, and Development Consultant
at CMC. He has managed CXO-level relationships on strategic levels, sales,
cloud consumption, consulting services, and adoption with medium- and
large-size global customers.

ix
Introduction
This small book is full of small scripts that can be used by system
administrators to improve the efficiency of their day-to-day IT operations.
PowerShell Fast Track is for experienced IT administrators who want to
utilize scripting and implement IT automations. Just copy/paste code
blocks from the book/links to make simple to complex scripts. You can
consider it your own personal scripting cheat book, like the cheat codes
gamers utilize to ace electronic games. What it really is, however, is a
practical guide, because it will get you started in automating much of
your work.

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CHAPTER 1

PowerShell Basics
Let’s start with basic elements and quickly review variables, loops,
if/else statements, switches, and functions. These are the heart of
any scripting language, and will assist you in creating simple to
complex scripts.
I will not delve into PowerShell versions or what PowerShell is.
(But here is an easy-to-understand definition without going into depth:
PowerShell is a task automation solution made up of a command-line shell
and a scripting language.) I also won’t talk about what platforms it can be
used on or get and set commands, because this is not an in-depth book for
learning the language.
The intent of this book is to teach you how to create scripts without
having a deep knowledge of under-the-hood elements. This is an
approach I’ve used successfully with many students. They gradually
became well-versed with the language.
Not everyone is from a programming background and not everyone is
adept at creating code. However, by following the approach described in
this book, you will be able to quickly create your own scripts and automate
IT systems/processes.

Note All source code used in the book can be accessed by clicking
the Download Source Code button located at www.apress.com/
9781484277584 (follow the listing numbers).

© Vikas Sukhija 2022 1

V. Sukhija, PowerShell Fast Track, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-7759-1_1
Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

V
 ariables and Printing
To begin, you need to understand the basics, which include variables and
arrays. Every variable in PowerShell starts with a dollar sign ($), such as

$a = "1"
$b = "Vikas"

When you type $a and $b, values will be displayed, as shown in

Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1. Variables in PowerShell

Now you can use Write-host to print this to the screen:

Input: PS C:\> Write-host $a

Output: 1
Input: PS C:\> Write-host $b
Output: vikas

Tip Make it a rule to use quotes when assigning values to variables,

as shown above in the two examples.

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 Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

Let’s change the foreground color of what is being displayed by

Write-­host:

Input: PS C:\> Write-host $b -ForegroundColor Green

Output: vikas
Input: PS C:\> Write-host "processing .........."
-ForegroundColor Green
Output: processing ..........
PS C:\>

Figure 1-2 shows the results.

Figure 1-2. Using the Write-host variable

Let’s illustrate arrays quickly. In PowerShell, arrays can be defined in

the same way as variables. Here are some examples:

$b = "A","B","C","D","E"

If you define it as a variable and separate the elements by a comma,

PowerShell automatically understands that it is an array, as shown in
Figure 1-3.

Figure 1-3. Array illustration

3
Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

The proper way of defining an array is as follows because it is understood

from the syntax itself that it is an array (as shown in Figure 1-­4):

$c= @("server1","server2")

Figure 1-4. Array syntax

A dynamic array can be defined as @(). You will use this type in
examples in this book to add elements in the array and generate reports:

$d = @()

I f/Else Switch
If else is condition-based processing. It is the basis of any scripting
language. If some condition is true, you need to process something;
otherwise, process some other thing.
Listing 1-1 shows two examples. First, you define a variable value as
10 and then you use the conditional operators and if else statements to
check if it’s greater than 9 or if it’s less than 9. Based on the result, you use
Write-host to print it to screen as shown in Figure 1-5.
Note that -gt means greater than and -lt means less than. Do not
worry; I will quickly go through them in the next subsection.

Listing 1-1. Example Code for Greater Than Operator Usage in

If/Else
[int]$a= "10"

4
 Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

if($a -gt "9")

{
write-host "True" -foregroundcolor Green
}else {
Write-host "False" -foregroundcolor Red
}

Yes, [int] that means integer. If you use a prefix before the variable, it
means you have exclusively defined it as an integer. Defining it is always
better but if you don’t, PowerShell is intelligent enough to do it implicitly.
These are called datatypes, and they include [string], [char], [int], [array], etc.

Figure 1-5. Showing -gt usage in if/else

Listing 1-2 and Figure 1-6 show a less than operator usage snippet.

Listing 1-2. Example Code for the Less Than Operator Usage in
If/Else
[int]$a= "10"

if($a -lt "9"){

write-host "True" -foregroundcolor Green
}else {
Write-host "False" -foregroundcolor Red
}

5
Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

Figure 1-6. Showing -lt usage in if/else

Conditional/Logical Operators
Below is a list of conditional/logical operators that you will use in your
everyday scripts. Without them, many scripting operations would not be
possible. They will always be used in comparison if else statements as
shown in the above parent section.

-eq Equal

-ne Not equal

-ge Greater than or equal

-gt Greater than

-lt Less than

-le Less than or equal

-like Wildcard comparison

-notlike Wildcard comparison

-match Regular expression comparison

-notmatch Regular expression comparison

-replace Replace operator

-contains Containment operator

-notcontains Containment operator

6
 Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

L ogical Operators
-and Logical AND

-or Logical OR

-not  Logical NOT

!  Logical NOT

Logical operators are used when you want to combine the conditions.
Let’s update the above example to the code shown in Listing 1-3. You will
print true if the value of variable $a is less than 9 or equals to 10. Here you
have combined two conditions. Since it is the OR operator, TRUE will be
returned if one of them matches. Here the second condition, $a -eq "10",
matches if a value is equal to 10. See the results in Figure 1-7.

Listing 1-3. Example Code Showing Logical -or Operator

[int]$a= "10"

If(($a -lt "9") -or ($a -eq "10")){

write-host "True" -foregroundcolor Green
}else {
Write-host "False" -foregroundcolor Red}

Figure 1-7. Showing logical -or operator

7
Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

If you use the AND operator, then both conditions should match if
you want to return TRUE, which will not happen in the above case. See
Listing 1-4 and Figure 1-8.

Listing 1-4. Code Showing Logical -and Operator

[int]$a= "10"

If(($a -lt "9") -and ($a -eq "10")){

write-host "True" -foregroundcolor Green
}else {
Write-host "False" -foregroundcolor Red}

Figure 1-8. Showing logical -and operator

Not is for negation. I generally don’t use it often. In my experience, it

causes human error if you are in hurry and do not think it through enough.

L oops
There are two main loops in any scripting language and that is true for
PowerShell as well. There are others but they are all variants of these two.

8
 Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

For Loop and While Loop

F or Loop
There are three iterations of for loops in PowerShell:
• foreach

• foreach-object

• for

Let’s differentiate between the three for loops by looking at the

examples.
foreach: You need to specify a foreach $variable in $collection:
foreach ($i in $x).

Note You combine the if else and comparison operators in

Listing 1-5. You can see the results in Figure 1-9.

Listing 1-5. Code Showing a foreach Loop

$x=@("1","2","3",,"4")

foreach ($i in $x) {

      if ($i -lt 2) { write-host "$i is Green" -foregroundcolor
Green
      }
         else{ write-host "$i is yellow" -foregroundcolor
yellow
      }
}

9
Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

Figure 1-9. Showing a foreach loop

foreach-object: You use a PIPE with the collection to achieve the

same thing (see Listing 1-6 and Figure 1-10):

$x | foreach-object

Listing 1-6. Code Showing a foreach-object Loop

$x=@("1","2","3",,"4")

$x | foreach-object{
        if ($_ -lt 2) { write-host "$_ is Green"
-foregroundcolor Green
}
        else{ write-host "$_ is yellow" -foregroundcolor yellow
}
     }

10
 Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

Figure 1-10. Showing a foreach-object loop

for: This is the one you will remember from your school days. I have
not used it much and see less usage across the community. See the code in
Listing 1-7 and the results in Figure 1-11.

Listing 1-7. Code Showing a for Loop

for($x=1; $x -le 5; $x++){

    if($x -lt 2){write-host "$x is Green" -foregroundcolor
Green
    }
    else{ write-host "$x is yellow" -foregroundcolor yellow
    }
}

11
Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

Figure 1-11. Showing a for loop

W
 hile Loop
The while loop is different because it lasts until the condition is true. Let’s
go through some examples to get more clarity.
The while loop also has two iterations:

• do-while

• while

For do-while you do something until some condition is met. In

Listing 1-8, variable x = 0 and inside the variable you increment its
value until it is not equal to 4. See Figure 1-12 for the result.

Note You are doing the thing first and matching the condition later.

Listing 1-8. Code Showing a do-while Loop

$x= 0

Do {$x++

12
 Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

if($x -lt 2){write-host "$x is Green" -foregroundcolor Green

              }
             else{ write-host "$x is yellow" -foregroundcolor
yellow
}
}while($x -ne 4)

Figure 1-12. Showing a do-while loop

For while, you are also doing something until some condition is
met. In Listing 1-9, variable x = 0 and inside the variable you increment
its value until it is not equal to 4.

Note You are checking first and doing the thing after that.

The main difference between the two, as you can see, is the while loop
(an example of which is shown in Listing 1-9) checks the condition before
the loop (iteration) but do-while does the checks after the execution. See
Figure 1-13 for the result.

13
Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

Listing 1-9. Code Showing the while Loop

$x= 0

while($x -ne 4) {$x++

if($x -lt 2){write-host "$x is Green" -foregroundcolor Green
       }
       else{ write-host "$x is yellow" -foregroundcolor yellow
      }
}

Figure 1-13. Showing a while loop

F unctions
Functions are entities that, once defined, can be called anywhere in the
script. Using functions avoids repetitive, lengthy code. Here’s a glimpse for
better understanding. I will not go in any details about parametrization
and advanced functionalities of a function as my main motive here is a
little bit of understanding and combining the code together to get the work
done. In Listing 1-10, you create an Add function to add two numbers. The
result is shown in Figure 1-14.

14
 Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

Listing 1-10. Example Code Showing an Add Function of Two

Numbers
Function Add ($a1, $b1)
{
$a1 + $b1
}

Add 5 6 # Call function

Figure 1-14. Showing an Add function of two numbers

Similarly, you can create this for three or more numbers. See Listing 1-11
and Figure 1-15.

Listing 1-11. Example Code Showing an Add Function of Three

Numbers
Function Add ($a1, $b1, $c1)
{
$a1 + $b1 +$c1
}

Add 5 6 9 # Call function

15
Chapter 1 PowerShell Basics

Figure 1-15. Showing an Add function of three numbers

Summary
In this chapter, you learned about PowerShell basics such as variables,
arrays, if/else statements, and loops, which are the building blocks for
creating powerful scripts in a production environment. These basics will
be utilized further in the following chapters.

16
CHAPTER 2

Date and Logs

To create scripts, it is essential to understand how to use the date and time
cmdlet to timestamp different types of operations, such as creating a time-­
stamped log file. I will share a cheat function that you can utilize inside
your scripts to create a time-stamped log as well as time-stamped entries
inside the script.
Let’s go through some date and time illustrations before utilizing the
Write-Log function that I have already created for you. (This is the first
actual cheat code that you will utilize in your scripts!)
The get-date command provides you with the current date and time,
as shown in Figure 2-1.

Figure 2-1. Showing the get-date cmdlet

To format it in a manner that will allow it to be used in file names and

other instances, the format keyword can be used as shown in Figure 2-2:

get-date -format d

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Chapter 2 Date and Logs

Figure 2-2. Showing date formatting

Listing 2-1 shows the date and time used in a file name.

Listing 2-1. Code for Date and Time Used in a File Name

$date = get-date -format d                  # formatting

$date = $date.ToString().Replace("/", "-")  # replace / with -
$time = get-date -format t    # only show time
$time = $time.ToString().Replace(":", "-") # replace : with -
$time = $time.ToString().Replace(" ", "")

$m = get-date
$month = $m.month  #getting month
$year = $m.year  #getting year

Examples: - (now gluing them all together)

#based on date
$log1 = ".\Processed\Logs" + "\" + "skipcsv_" + $date + "_.log"

#based on month and year

$log2 = ".\Processed\Logs" + "\" + "Created_" + $month +"_" +
$year +"_.log"

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 Chapter 2 Date and Logs

#based on date and time

$output1 = ".\" + "G_Testlog_" + $date + "_" + $time + "_.csv"

Note Always define the current working folder.

D
 ate Manipulation
You saw that get-date can get you the current date and time. You can
manipulate it according to the needs of your scripting solution. Here I will
demonstrate briefly how to perform operations such as getting the first and
last day of the month and getting a midnight date time stamp.
To get the first and last day of the month, you can use the code in
Listing 2-2. See Figure 2-3 for the results.

Listing 2-2. Code for Fetching the First and Last Day of the Month

$date= Get-Date -Day 01

$lastday = ((Get-Date -day 01).AddMonths(1)).AddDays(-1)

$start = $date
$end  = $lastday

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Chapter 2 Date and Logs

Figure 2-3. Showing the first and last day of the month

To get the midnight stamp, simply use this one-liner (and see Figure 2-­4):
Get-Date -Hour 0 -Minute 0 -Second 0

Figure 2-4. Showing how to get the midnight date time stamp

20
 Chapter 2 Date and Logs

Creating Folders Based on a Date

There can be situations in the real world in which you want to create
folders based on the current date, such as making a SharePoint
configuration backup every day and placing it in the date stamp folder.
Listing 2-3 shows the code that can be utilized to do this task and
Figure 2-5 shows the results.

Listing 2-3. Code for Creating a Folder Structure Based on a Date

$Dname = ((get-date).AddDays(0).toString('yyyyMMdd')) #date

manipulation
$dirName = "ConfigBackup_$Dname"  #prefix for the folder

New-Item -Path c:\temp -Name $dirName -ItemType directory

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Chapter 2 Date and Logs

Figure 2-5. Creating a folder structure based on a date

Ready-Made Date and Log Functions

Here are three ready-made functions that you can copy and paste inside
your scripts as per your requirements. Towards the end of this book, I will
demonstrate how to create a complete script by using all the ready-made
functions or code shared in this book.
Write-Log function: It uses another function named New-­
FolderCreation, which can be used separately if required. See Listing 2-4.

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 Chapter 2 Date and Logs

Listing 2-4. Code for Write-Log Function

function New-FolderCreation
{
  [CmdletBinding()]
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    [string]$foldername
  )
  $logpath  = (Get-Location).path + "\" + "$foldername"
  $testlogpath = Test-Path -Path $logpath
  if($testlogpath -eq $false)
  {
    #Start-ProgressBar -Title "Creating $foldername folder"
-Timer 10
    $null = New-Item -Path (Get-Location).path -Name
$foldername -Type directory
  }
}#New-FolderCreation

function Write-Log
{
  [CmdletBinding()]
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Create')]
    [array]$Name,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Create')]
    [string]$Ext,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Create')]
    [string]$folder,

23
Chapter 2 Date and Logs

    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Create',Position = 0)]

[switch]$Create,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Message')]
    [String]$message,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Message')]
    [String]$path,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $false,ParameterSetName =
'Message')]
    [ValidateSet('Information','Warning','Error')]
    [string]$Severity = 'Information',
    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Message',Position = 0)]
[Switch]$MSG
  )
  switch ($PsCmdlet.ParameterSetName) {
    "Create"
    {
      $log = @()
      $date1 = Get-Date -Format d
      $date1 = $date1.ToString().Replace("/", "-")
      $time = Get-Date -Format t

      $time = $time.ToString().Replace(":", "-")

      $time = $time.ToString().Replace(" ", "")
      New-FolderCreation -foldername $folder
      foreach ($n in $Name)
      {$log += (Get-Location).Path + "\" + $folder + "\" + $n +
"_" + $date1 + "_" + $time + "_.$Ext"}
      return $log
    }
    "Message"
    {
      $date = Get-Date

24
 Chapter 2 Date and Logs

      $concatmessage = "|$date" + "|   |" + $message +"|  |" +

"$Severity|"
      switch($Severity){
        "Information"{Write-Host -Object $concatmessage
-ForegroundColor Green}
        "Warning"{Write-Host -Object $concatmessage
-ForegroundColor Yellow}
        "Error"{Write-Host -Object $concatmessage
-ForegroundColor Red}
      }

      Add-Content -Path $path -Value $concatmessage

    }
  }
} #Function Write-Log

To create a log file, you can simply use it as below (it will auto-create
the folders):

$log = Write-Log -Name "Name-Log" -folder "logs" -Ext "log"

To create a CSV file for report purposes, you can use it like so:

$Report1 = Write-Log -Name "MAM-Report" -folder "Report" -Ext "csv"

To write the information to a log file, you can use

Write-log -Message "Connect to Intune" -path $log

To write a warning to a log file, you can use

Write-log -Message "Connect to Intune" -path $log -Severity

Warning

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Chapter 2 Date and Logs

To write an error to a log file, you can use

Write-Log -Message "Error loading Modules" -path $log -Severity

Error

Figure 2-6 shows the Write-Log operation in the PowerShell console.

Figure 2-6. Write-Log operation

The log file is created is under the logs folder and will create a
structural log text as shown in Figure 2-7.

26
 Chapter 2 Date and Logs

Figure 2-7. Log file created after using the Write-Log function

Set-Recyclelogs function: This will delete the files based on a

number of days as input. As logs accumulate over time, there is a need to
recycle them after a certain period to avoid filling up server drives. This is
important for all scripts for which you have enabled logging. Use the code
in Listing 2-5.

Listing 2-5. Code for the Set-Recyclelogs Function

function Set-Recyclelogs
{
  [CmdletBinding(
      SupportsShouldProcess = $true,
  ConfirmImpact = 'High')]
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Local')]
    [string]$foldername,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Local')]
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Path')]
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Remote')]

27
Chapter 2 Date and Logs

    [int]$limit,

    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Local',Position = 0)]

[switch]$local,

    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Remote')]

    [string]$ComputerName,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Remote')]
    [string]$DriveName,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Remote')]
    [string]$folderpath,

    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Remote',Position = 0)]

[switch]$Remote,

    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,ParameterSetName = 'Path')]

    [ValidateScript({
          if(-Not ($_ | Test-Path) ){throw "File or folder does
not exist"}
          return $true
    })]
    [string]$folderlocation,

    [Parameter(ParameterSetName = 'Path',Position = 0)]

[switch]$Path

  )

  switch ($PsCmdlet.ParameterSetName) {
    "Local"
    {
      $path1 = (Get-Location).path + "\" + "$foldername"
      if ($PsCmdlet.ShouldProcess($path1 , "Delete"))

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 Chapter 2 Date and Logs

      {
        Write-Host "Path Recycle - $path1 Limit - $limit"
-ForegroundColor Green
        $limit1 = (Get-Date).AddDays(-"$limit") #for report
recycling
        $getitems = Get-ChildItem -Path $path1 -recurse -file |
Where-Object {$_.CreationTime -lt $limit1}
        ForEach($item in $getitems){
          Write-Verbose -Message "Deleting item $($item.
FullName)"
          Remove-Item $item.FullName -Force
        }
      }
    }
    "Remote"
    {
      $path1 = "\\" + $ComputerName + "\" + $DriveName + "$" +
"\" + $folderpath
      if ($PsCmdlet.ShouldProcess($path1 , "Delete"))
      {
        Write-Host "Recycle Path - $path1 Limit - $limit"
-ForegroundColor Green
        $limit1 = (Get-Date).AddDays(-"$limit") #for report
recycling
        $getitems = Get-ChildItem -Path $path1 -recurse -file |
Where-Object {$_.CreationTime -lt $limit1}
        ForEach($item in $getitems){
          Write-Verbose -Message "Deleting item $($item.FullName)"
          Remove-Item $item.FullName -Force
        }
      }
    }

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Chapter 2 Date and Logs

   "Path"
    {
      $path1 = $folderlocation
      if ($PsCmdlet.ShouldProcess($path1 , "Delete"))
      {
        Write-Host "Path Recycle - $path1 Limit - $limit"
-ForegroundColor Green
        
$limit1 = (Get-Date).AddDays(-"$limit") #for report
recycling
        $getitems = Get-ChildItem -Path $path1 -recurse -file |
Where-Object {$_.CreationTime -lt $limit1}
        ForEach($item in $getitems){
          Write-Verbose -Message "Deleting item $($item.FullName)"
          Remove-Item $item.FullName -Force
        }
      }
    }
  }

}# Set-Recycle logs

To recycle logs older than 10 days inside the logs folder in the current
directory:

Set-Recyclelogs -foldername logs -limit 10

Use confirm:$false to avoid confirmation once you are sure that you
want to delete the files:

Set-Recyclelogs -foldername logs -limit 10 -confirm:$false

Use verbose to check which files are getting deleted:

Set-Recyclelogs -foldername logs -limit 10 -confirm:$false -verbose

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 Chapter 2 Date and Logs

You can specifiy the path as well if your script is in another directory
and you want to delete logs in another folder structure:

Set-Recyclelogs -folderlocation c:\temp\logs -limit 10

To recycle logs on a remote machine, use the following syntax:

Set-Recyclelogs -ComputerName testmachine -DriveName c

-folderpath data\logs -limit 10

Set-ProgressBar function: This function is just to show the progress

bar when you want to pause for some time. See Listing 2-6 and Figure 2-8.

Listing 2-6. Code for Start-ProgressBar Function

function Start-ProgressBar
{
  [CmdletBinding()]
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    $Title,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    [int]$Timer
  )

  For ($i = 1; $i -le $Timer; $i++)

  {
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 1;
    Write-Progress -Activity $Title -Status "$i" -Percent
Complete ($i /100 * 100)
  }
} #Function Start-ProgressBar

Start-ProgressBar -Title “Test timeout” -Timer 30

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Chapter 2 Date and Logs

Figure 2-8. Start-ProgressBar with a timer of 30 seconds

You can use a simple timeout as well, which is built in (see Figure 2-9):

timeout 10

Figure 2-9. Built-in timeout cmdlet

S
 ummary
In this chapter, you learned about the date and logs cmdlet and how to
manipulate and use the format of dates to generate time-stamped folders
and files. This technique will help you in different scenarios such as
creating log files or log folders every day with a date/time stamp inserted
into the file name.

32
CHAPTER 3

Input to Your Scripts

There are many situations in the practical system administration world
in which you have to feed your scripts with inputs. Examples are reading
a text file that has a list of users and adding them to a specific Active
Directory group, or reading a CSV file that includes user attributes like
phone number, title, and department, and updating these attributes in
Active Directory. In this chapter, you will look at the different ways of
feeding your scripts with different types of inputs.

I mport-CSV
Import-CSV is the most-used method for providing a script with a CSV file
to read and it is further used to perform bulk operations using loops.
To demonstrate, let’s create a small CSV file (save it as samplecsv.csv)
in the format shown in Figure 3-1 and then print the contents. See
Listing 3-1 for the code.

Figure 3-1. Example CSV file

© Vikas Sukhija 2022 33

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Chapter 3 Input to Your Scripts

Listing 3-1. Code for Import-CSV

$data = import-csv c:\temp\samplecsv.csv    #Import CSV in

variable data
foreach ($i in $data) {
Write-host  $i.user -foregroundcolor green #printing column user
Write-host  $i.email -foregroundcolor yellow #printing column email
Write-host  $i.title -foregroundcolor magenta #printing column title
         }

Figure 3-2 shows the Import-CSV operation in PowerShell. If you are in

the same folder, you can use dot source instead of the full path shown in
screenshot:

$data = import-csv .\samplecsv.csv # .\ means current directory

Figure 3-2. Showing the Import-CSV operation by dot sourcing (.\)

34
 Chapter 3 Input to Your Scripts

Importing from a Text File

There are scenarios in which you get data in a text file, such as a server
list or a user list, one name at a time, and you want to perform a certain
operation on the data.
Figure 3-3 shows the printing of each server from a file named
servers.txt file onto the screen. (Get-content is the cmdlet used for
reading text files; see Listing 3-2.)

Figure 3-3. Example text file contents

Listing 3-2. Code for Reading from a Text File

$servers = Get-content .\servers.txt

$servers | foreach-object {
Write-host $_
}

Save the code in a .ps1 file and run it or just paste it in the PowerShell
console. See Figure 3-4.

Figure 3-4. Reading from a text file operation in PowerShell

35
Chapter 3 Input to Your Scripts

I nput from an Array

You can do the same thing with array that you have done with text file. Say you
have array of servers and you want to print it on the screen. See Listing 3-3.

Listing 3-3. Code for Reading from an Array and Printing It

$servers = @("server01","server02","server03","server04")
#array of servers
$servers | foreach-object {
Write-host $_ -foregroundcolor yellow
}

Running this script will show the results in Figure 3-5.

Figure 3-5. Showing the printing of an array

S
 ummary
In this chapter, you learned how to feed scripts with input either through
a text file, CSV file, or an array. There are advanced ways to input your
scripts but the ways mentioned in this chapter are common and are used
every day in the system administration world.

36
CHAPTER 4

Interactive Input
This chapter will provide examples where you can add interactive input to
your scripts (i.e., the script will ask for input such as entering a password or
another attribute such as the path of a CSV or text file).

R
 ead-host
You have used Write-host for printing value to the screen. Now you can
use Read-host to get values that are input by a user on the screen:

$x =Read-host "input your Name"

The value of your input is saved in an $x variable so you can use it in

the script for further processing, as shown in Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1. Read-host operation

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Chapter 4 Interactive Input

Another option is to specifically use the -prompt parameter. There is

no difference in how you use it. See Figure 4-2.

$Age =Read-host -prompt "input your Age."

Figure 4-3. Read-host operation for a password as an input

-assecurestring is used when you want to input a password securely:

$Password = Read-Host -assecurestring "Enter your password"

Here as well the value of the password entered is saved in the

$Password variable that you can use it in the script for further processing,
such as authentication to some service like Office 365. See Figure 4-3.

Figure 4-2. Read-host operation specifying the -prompt

38
 Chapter 4 Interactive Input

P
 arameters
In a PowerShell command, functions are scripts that rely on parameters so
that a user can either enter values or select options. I will briefly touch on
basic parametrization. (Advanced parameters are outside the scope of this
book.) See Listing 4-1.

Listing 4-1. Example Code Showing Use of Parameters

Param(
  [string]$firstname,
  [string]$lastname,
  [string]$title
)

Write-host "First Name: $firstname" -ForegroundColor Yellow

Write-host "Last Name: $lastname" -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-host "Title: $Title" -ForegroundColor green

Save this as a .ps1 file and run it as follows (and see Figure 4-4):

.\script.ps1 -firstname Vikas -lastname sukhija -title blogger

Figure 4-4. Script execution with parameters

Tip Make sure you define the parameters at the beginning of your
script.

39
Chapter 4 Interactive Input

G
 UI Button
Here is a cheat code (function) in case you want interactive input in the
form of a graphical user interface. I consider it as a fancy way to get input
from the user. The button function in Listing 4-2 can take inputs from the
Windows form that you can display on a screen or perform other desired
operations in your script.

Listing 4-2. Code for Input from a GUI Button

function button ($title,$mailbx, $WF, $TF)

{
  ###################Load Assembly for creating form &
button######
  [void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName(
"System.Windows.Forms")
  [void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName(
"Microsoft.VisualBasic")

  #####Define the form size & placement

  $form = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.Form";
  $form.Width = 500;
  $form.Height = 150;
  $form.Text = $title;
  $form.StartPosition = [System.Windows.Forms.FormStartPosition
]::CenterScreen;

  ##############Define text label1

  $textLabel1 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.Label";
  $textLabel1.Left = 25;
  $textLabel1.Top = 15;

  $textLabel1.Text = $mailbx;

40
 Chapter 4 Interactive Input

  ##############Define text label2

  $textLabel2 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.Label";

  $textLabel2.Left = 25;
  $textLabel2.Top = 50;

  $textLabel2.Text = $WF;

  ##############Define text label3

  $textLabel3 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.Label";

  $textLabel3.Left = 25;
  $textLabel3.Top = 85;

  $textLabel3.Text = $TF;

  ############Define text box1 for input

  $textBox1 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.TextBox";
  $textBox1.Left = 150;
  $textBox1.Top = 10;
  $textBox1.width = 200;

  ############Define text box2 for input

  $textBox2 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.TextBox";

  $textBox2.Left = 150;
  $textBox2.Top = 50;
  $textBox2.width = 200;

  ############Define text box3 for input

  $textBox3 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.TextBox";

  $textBox3.Left = 150;
  $textBox3.Top = 90;
  $textBox3.width = 200;

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Chapter 4 Interactive Input

  #############Define default values for the input boxes

  $defaultValue = ""
  $textBox1.Text = $defaultValue;
  $textBox2.Text = $defaultValue;
  $textBox3.Text = $defaultValue;

  #############define OK button
  $button = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.Button";
  $button.Left = 360;
  $button.Top = 85;
  $button.Width = 100;
  $button.Text = "Ok";

  ############# This is when you have to close the form after

getting values
  $eventHandler = [System.EventHandler]{
    $textBox1.Text;
    $textBox2.Text;
    $textBox3.Text;
    $form.Close();
  };

  $button.Add_Click($eventHandler) ;

  #############Add controls to all the above objects defined

  $form.Controls.Add($button);
  $form.Controls.Add($textLabel1);
  $form.Controls.Add($textLabel2);
  $form.Controls.Add($textLabel3);
  $form.Controls.Add($textBox1);
  $form.Controls.Add($textBox2);
  $form.Controls.Add($textBox3);
  $ret = $form.ShowDialog();

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 Chapter 4 Interactive Input

  #################return values

  return $textBox1.Text, $textBox2.Text, $textBox3.Text

} #button

Load this function into your script, and then you can perform the
operations on the inputs as shown:

$return= button "Enter Folders" "Enter mailbox" "Working

Folder" "Target Folder"

You can choose different names per your requirements. See Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-5. GUI button input

After you press the OK button, the $return variable contains all these
values in the array (see Figure 4-6):

$return[0] → Enter mailbox value

$return[1] → Working folder value
$return[2] → Target Folder value

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Chapter 4 Interactive Input

Figure 4-6. Showing values returned from the user input

You can also print to the screen in the same manner as shown
previously (see Figure 4-7):

Write-host "Enter mailbox : $($return[0])" -ForegroundColor Yellow

Write-host "Working folder : $($return[1])" -ForegroundColor Yellow
Write-host "Target Folder : $($return[2])" -ForegroundColor green

Figure 4-7. Printing the values from the input using Write-host

Prompt (Yes or No)

There are practical situations when as a system administrator you want to
build a nice way to get a Yes/No response from the users. You can do this
easily with PowerShell utilizing the cheat code in Listing 4-3.

44
 Chapter 4 Interactive Input

Listing 4-3. Code for a Yes/No Operation

$overwrite = New-Object -comobject wscript.shell

$Answer = $overwrite.popup("Do you want to Overwrite AD

Attributes?",0,"Overwrite Attributes",4)

If ($Answer -eq 6) {Write-Host "you pressed Yes"

-ForegroundColor Green}
else{Write-Host "you pressed Yes" -ForegroundColor Red}

Copy and paste the code into the PowerShell console or save the script
as a .ps1 file and run it. See Figure 4-8.

Figure 4-8. Showing a Yes/No operation in PowerShell

If you press Yes, you get the result shown in Figure 4-9.

45
Chapter 4 Interactive Input

Figure 4-9. Showing the Yes operation

If you press No, you get the result shown in Figure 4-10.

Figure 4-10. Showing the No operation

Instead of just Write-host you can perform different operations inside

your script based on the response selected by the user.

S
 ummary
In this chapter, you learned about interactive inputs. This strategey is
utilized when you have to provide the script to an end user. The end user
can just run the script. Questions that are coded by the scripter pop up
interactively and the user can answer them and perform a meaningful job.

46
CHAPTER 5

Adding Snapins/
Modules
Microsoft and other third-party vendors have built PowerShell snapins
or modules for their different products. To use the PowerShell cmdlets
for these technologies, you have to either add the snapins or import the
modules in your scripts.
PowerShell snapins are legacy products because nowadays everything
comes as modules. You can consider a module as a battery that is required
to run your scripts. Each module is a package that contains cmdlets,
providers, functions, aliases, and more.
Although snapins are legacy, let’s touch on them briefly, showing the
products that use(d) them.

P
 owerShell Snapins
Exchange Sever itself is the better example to show for PowerShell snapins.
Exchange 2007 and 2010 both used snapins.
To add an Exchange snapin to your scripts, you can use following
code. (Examples of Exchange 2007 and 2010 snapins are in Listing 5-1 and
Listing 5-2, respectively.) As these products are officially at end-of-support
status, the usage might be rare (they’re only applicable for organizations
that have not upgraded yet).

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Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Note Exchange management binaries should be installed first on

the machine or the snapin will not work.

Listing 5-1. Code to Add the Exchange 2007 Management Shell

If ((Get-PSSnapin | where {$_.Name -match "Exchange.

Management"}) -eq $null)
{
       Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.
Admin
}

Listing 5-2. Code to Add the Exchange 2010 Management Shell

If ((Get-PSSnapin | Where-Object { $_.Name -match "Microsoft.

Exchange.Management.PowerShell.E2010" }) -eq $null) {
    Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.E2010
}

After the snapin has been added to the session or the script, it can run
the Exchange commands inside the window, as shown in Figure 5-1.

Figure 5-1. Exchange Management Shell

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 Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

You can also use get-pssnapin in the PowerShell shell window to

check which snapin is available.
In Figure 5-2, I want to take advantage of the Quest shell, so I use get-­
pssnapin in the Quest AD shell to find out the snapin name.

Figure 5-2. Quest AD Management Shell

Listing 5-3 shows how to add the snapin to the PowerShell script or
session using the same technique as for the Exchange product.

Listing 5-3. Code to Add the Quest AD Management Shell

If ((Get-PSSnapin | where {$_.Name -match "Quest.ActiveRoles"})

-eq $null)
{
    Add-PSSnapin Quest.ActiveRoles.ADManagement
}

Note The above code to add a snapin first checks to see if the

snapin already exists. If so, it does nothing. If not, it adds the required
snapin.

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Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

M
 odules
Let’s cover modules now as this is what you will deal with in your day-to-­
day work. Per Microsoft, “a module is a package that contains PowerShell
members, such as cmdlets, providers, functions, workflows, variables, and
aliases. The members of this package can be implemented in a PowerShell
script, a compiled DLL, or a combination of both. These files are usually
grouped together in a single directory.”
For the PowerShell scripting language, we need modules to interact with
different products, such as Azure, Office 365, Exchange Online, and so on.
PowerShell Gallery (www.powershellgallery.com/) is the de facto
repository that contains almost all of the modules that anyone can utilize.
To install a module on your machine from PowerShell gallery, use this
code:

Install-Module -Name AzureAD

Enter yes (as shown in Figure 5-3) when you receive the prompt to
install the module.

Figure 5-3. Installing a module from PowerShell Gallery

When you install the module on your machine it will get stored in
C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules as depicted in Figure 5-4.

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 Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Figure 5-4. Module path on the computer

There may be a situation where a developer has developed a new version

of the module and you want to update your machine with this newer version.
Use one of the following commands to upgrade the existing module:

Update-Module -Name AzureAD

or

Install-Module -Name AzureAD -force (this will also upgrade the

module to latest version)

With update you can also update the module to a specific version:

Update-Module -Name AzureAD -RequiredVersion 1.0.1

Removing the module is a simple operation and can be done as shown

in the following cmdlet:

Remove-Module AzureAD

After you have installed the module, which is a one-time task, and
you want to utilize that module in your scripts, you can do so by using the
Import-Module command.

Note After PowerShell V3, modules are loaded automatically when

the first cmdlet from that module is run from the script.

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Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

You can still follow the practice of importing the modules in your script
before running a command:

Import-Module AzureAD

To get all of the modules installed on your machine, you can use the
following code (the results are shown in Figure 5-5):

Get-Module -ListAvailable

Figure 5-5. Showing a list of available modules on the computer

Cheat Module (vsadmin)

Since this book is about cheat codes to create complex scripts, here is a
cheat module that is full of functions that you can utilize to do complex
operations inside your scripts. I recently created this module for the
community to help them with scripting. I update it to newer versions from
time to time as features change for different products.
Module name: vsadmin
Installing the module (see Figure 5-6):

Install-Module -Name vsadmin

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 Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Figure 5-6. Installing the vsadmin module

Once installed, you will find files created inside your module’s
directory (C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules) as depicted
in Figure 5-7.

Figure 5-7. Showing files inside the vsadmin module

As stated, you can import the module in to the session using import-­
module like so:

import-module vsadmin

Figure 5-8 shows the commands that are available inside the vsadmin
module. You can use the following command to check functions and
cmdlets in any module:

Get-Command -Module vsadmin

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Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Figure 5-8. Available vsadmin module commands

Let’s explore Office 365 functions and then we will move on to other
system admin functions that you can utilize daily.

• LaunchEOL/RemoveEOL (Exchange Online)

• LaunchSOL/RemoveSOL (Skype online)

• LaunchSPO/RemoveSPO (SharePoint online)

• LaunchCOL/RemoveCOL (Security and Compliance)

• LaunchMSOL/RemoveMSOL (MSonline Azure Active
Directory)

• LaunchEXOnprem/RemoveEXOnprem (for on-premise

Exchange Server)

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 Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Three of the Office 365 functions are prefixed so that they do not
conflict with on-premise commands and are easy to use/understand in a
hybrid script. For example, the Exchange Online command get-mailbox is
get-EOLmailbox when you use this module to launch it, as shown later.

Note The following native Office 365 modules are necessary for the
Office 365 functions in the vsadmin module to work, or it will ask
you to install them.

• ExchangeOnlineManagement, www.
powershellgallery.com/packages/
ExchangeOnlineManagement

• Sharepoint Online, ­www.microsoft.com/en-­ca/

download/details.aspx?id=35588

• MSOnline Module, www.powershellgallery.com/

packages/MSOnline

• Skype Online (Retired) All cmdlets are under the

Teams Module at www.powershellgallery.com/
packages/MicrosoftTeams
For example, you can use LaunchEOL if you just want to connect to
Office 365 Exchange online. It will prompt you for authentication and,
once authenticated, you will get connected. It will check if the Exchange
Online Management Shell is installed on your computer or not. If not, it
will provide you with a hint. See Figure 5-9.

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Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Figure 5-9. Authentication prompt by Office 365

Figure 5-10 shows that you are connected and can use the Exchange
commands.

Figure 5-10. Exchange Online Management Shell prefixed

Get-­MailBox command

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 Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

If you want to use these commands in a script without entering a

password every time (a technique you will learn after finishing this book),
LaunchEOL -Credential can be used by passing PS credentials.
Similarly, you can use other functions because they are designed in a
similar manner. For example, use this code and see the results in Figure 5-­11:

LaunchSPO –orgName techwizard

Figure 5-11. Showing a connection to SharePoint Online using

LaunchSPO

Tip Pressing Tab on a keyboard after pressing the hyphen will show

you the parameters available for any function in PowerShell.

To disconnect the session, you can use the following functions:

RemoveEOL/RemoveSOL/RemoveSPO, etc.

Other good functions that system administrators really like are the
LaunchEXOnprem/RemoveEXOnprem functions as they are for on-premise
Exchange servers. To connect to an Exchange on-premise server from your
network, use this code:

LaunchEXOnprem -psurl http://exchangeserver.techwizard.cloud/

Powershell

or

LaunchEXOnprem -ComputerName exchangeserver.techwizard.cloud

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Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

To disconnect, use the same technique you used for Office 365
functions:

RemoveEXOnprem -computername exchangeserver.techwizard.cloud

Let’s now discuss generic functions inside this module. In Chapter 2,

Write-Log, Set-recyclelogs, start-progressbar and other cheat
function were shared. These functions are part of this module as well, so
you do not have to copy and paste them in your scripts if you are importing
this module in the script. See Listing 5-4 and Figure 5-12.

Listing 5-4. Importing vsadmin and Using the Write-Log Function

Import-Module vsadmin

$log = Write-Log -Name "log_file" -folder logs -Ext log

Write-Log -Message "Information..........Script" -path

$log  #default  will log as information
Write-Log -Message "warning.........Message" -path $log
-Severity Warning #you can display warning using the severity
Write-Log -Message "error.........Error" -path $log -Severity
error #you can display error using the severity

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 Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Figure 5-12. Showing the result of executing Listing 5-4

In a similar fashion, you can create a CSV file:

$report = Write-Log -Name "log_Enable" -folder reports -Ext csv

I will not get into the other functions that have been shared in previous
chapters. I just wanted to show that they can all be used in this manner as
well.

Encrypting a Password (vsadmin)

You can encrypt a password and later utilize in it the script to connect to
online services like Office 365 and Azure as follows (see Figure 5-13 for the
result):

Save-EncryptedPassword -password "testpassword" -path ­c:\temp\

password1.txt

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Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Figure 5-13. Encrypting a password using the save-encrypted

command

get-auth is another important function that you can use in your

scripts to read credentials from the encrypted text file that you created
above. You use it as follows:

$cred = get-auth -userId [email protected] -passwordfile

c:\temp\password1.txt
$pwd = $cred[0] ### credentials that can be used inside csom /
api calls.
$pscredential = $cred[1] ###credentials that can be used for
functions that supports ps credentials.

or

$cred = get-auth -userId [email protected]

-password  "encryptedpassword"
$pwd = $cred[0] ### credentials that can be used inside csom /
api calls.

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 Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

$pscredential = $cred[1] ###credentials that can be used for

functions that supports ps credentials.

Let’s use a small cheat code snippet to connect to Office 365 using the
PS credentials saved in the file and export a CSV report on mailboxes. (This
can be modified and scheduled as per your needs.) See Listing 5-5 and
Figure 5-14.

Listing 5-5. Code Showing Use of PS Credentials

Import-Module vsadmin

$cred = get-auth -userId [email protected] -passwordfile

"c:\temp\password1.txt"  #getcredentials that you created using
Save-EncryptedPassword
$pscredential = $cred[1] ###credentials that can be used for
functions that supports ps credentials.

LaunchEOL -Credential $pscredential

$data = Get-EOLMailbox -ResultSize unlimited | Select Name,Wind
owsEmailAddress,IssueWarningQuota, ProhibitSendQuota,ProhibitSe
ndReceiveQuota #fetch the required data from exchange online

$data | Export-Csv "c:\temp\mailboxes.csv" -NoTypeInformation

#export the data in csv format

RemoveEOL #disconnect the exchange online session

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Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Figure 5-14. Exporting the mailboxes data in a CSV file

Use Get-IniContent to read ini files and then use the values in scripts.
See Figure 5-15.

Figure 5-15. Example INI file

You can see an example of the following code in Figure 5-16:

$inifile = "c:\temp\config.ini"
$readini = Get-IniContent $inifile
$User = $readini["ServiceAccount"].UserID

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 Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Figure 5-16. Showing how to read an INI file using Get-­IniContent

Another useful day-to-day function is Save-CSV2Excel. As the name

suggests, it converts a CSV file to formatted Excel:

Save-CSV2Excel -CSVPath C:\data\auditmbx.csv -Exceloutputpath

c:\data\audit.xlsx

Random complex passwords are essential in the system administrator

world. So why use the Web or a tool to generate them when you can do so
with the New-RandomPassword function from the vsadmin module? See this
example in Figure 5-17:

New-RandomPassword – NumberofChars 9

It has been coded with 5, 9 ,14, and 20.

Figure 5-17. Showing the generation of a random password

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Chapter 5 Adding Snapins/ Modules

Last but not least, I’ll share some Active Directory functions that are
not available out of the box from the Active Directory module.
Get-ADGroupMembersRecursive can extract group members
recursively, but the AD module is required:

Get-ADGroupMembersRecursive -Groups "Test Nested Group"

You can read more about this function at ­https://techwizard.

cloud/2020/10/24/get-­ad-­group-­members-­recursively/.
Get-ADUserMemberOf can check if a user is a member of a group or
not, but the AD module is required:

Get-ADUserMemberOf -User "User" -Group "Group"

It returns true if the user is a member of a group or else it returns

false. You can read more about this function at https://techwizard.
cloud/2020/12/31/check-­if-­ad-­user-­is-­member-­of-­group/.

S
 ummary
In this chapter, you learned how to use modules in PowerShell. Modules
are like batteries. Without them it is hard to script any product using
PowerShell. I also shared a cheat system administration module (vsadmin)
which has many daily use functions/cmdlets.

64
CHAPTER 6

Sending Email
Sending email is an important aspect of scripting. Say you want to send
alerts if a script results in an error, or you want to send bulk emails without
utilizing any bulk email tool.
PowerShell has a simple and effective out-of-the-box cmdlet for this
purpose right from PowerShell v2. The following is an example of Send-­
MailMessage, which is prevalent in PowerShell:

Send-MailMessage -SmtpServer "smtpserver" -From "DoNotReply@

labtest.com" -To "[email protected] " -Subject "Error
exception occured " -Body "body of the message"

If you are still using PowerShell 1.0 (which is highly unlikely), you can
use the code in Listing 6-1 as it works on all versions of PowerShell.

Listing 6-1. Sending a Message with Powershell v1

$smtpserver = "smtp.lab.com"
$to = "[email protected]"
$from = "[email protected]"
$file = "c:\file.txt" #for attachment
$subject = "Test Subject"

$message = new-object Net.Mail.MailMessage

$smtp = new-object Net.Mail.SmtpClient($smtpserver)
$message.From = $from

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Chapter 6 Sending Email

$message.To.Add($to)

$att = new-object Net.Mail.Attachment($file)

$message.IsBodyHtml = $False
$message.Subject = $subject
$message.Attachments.Add($att)
$smtp.Send($message)

Formatting a Message Body

There are situations in which you want to send a properly formatted email
body instead of just a one-liner email. You can use the cheat code in
Listing 6-2 for this purpose. You can see the result in Figure 6-1.

Listing 6-2. Sending a Formatted Message Body

$smtpserver = "smtp.lab.com"
$to = "[email protected]"
$from = "[email protected]"
$subject = "Test Subject"

$message = @"
Hello,

Line............................1

Line............................2

Line............................3

"@
Send-MailMessage -SmtpServer $smtpserver -From $from -To $to
-Subject $subject -Body $message

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 Chapter 6 Sending Email

Figure 6-1. The result of Listing 6-2

S
 ending HTML
You can send fancy HTML emails using PowerShell if you use another cheat
tip if you are not familiar with HTML. Log on to the HTML Online Editor
(shown in Figure 6-2) to create the HTML: https://html-online.com/
editor/.

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Chapter 6 Sending Email

Figure 6-2. The HTML Online Editor

Create some HTML content and use the code in Listing 6-3. You can
see the result in Figure 6-3.

Listing 6-3. Sending HTML-Formatted Email

$smtpserver = "smtp.lab.com"
$to = "[email protected]"
$from = "[email protected]"
$subject = "Test Subject"

$message = @"
<!-- #######  YAY, I AM THE SOURCE EDITOR! #########-->
<h1 style="color: #5e9ca0;">You can edit <span style="color:
#2b2301;">this demo</span> text!</h1>
<h2 style="color: #2e6c80;">How to use the editor:</h2>
<p>Paste your documents in the visual editor on the left or
your HTML code in the source editor in the right. <br />Edit
any of the two areas and see the other changing in real
time.&nbsp;</p>

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 Chapter 6 Sending Email

<p>&nbsp;</p>
"@

Send-MailMessage -SmtpServer $smtpserver -From $from -To $to

-Subject $subject -Body $message -BodyAsHtml

Figure 6-3. The result of executing Listing 6-3

S
 ummary
In this chapter, you learned how to send email using PowerShell. You can
use this knowledge in the real world to send bulk emails or send email
alerts when some task/process/script fails or errors out.

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CHAPTER 7

Error Reporting
For successful scripting, error reporting is a must-have. If there is an error,
you want to report it to the admin or the owner of the process/automation.
PowerShell has different ways to do error reporting. The most common
way is the $error variable as it contains all the errors that have occurred
in the session. Let’s look at some cheat code examples that you can utilize.
You can log errors or send them via email.

Reporting Errors Through Email

Below is the code that can be used to send errors via email. You can insert
this code into your script so that if the script results in an error, it is sent via
email.
$error is the default variable in PowerShell that contains the error if it
occurs during the execution of the code. In Listing 7-1, you check if $error
is not equal to null, and then send the error in an email.
After sending the error email, if you want to clear the error, you can
use $error.clear() so that if you are using iterations, the error is not sent
again if it does not occur in the next iteration.

Listing 7-1. Sending Errors via Email

$from = "[email protected]"
$to="[email protected]"
$subject = "Error has occured"

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Chapter 7 Error Reporting

$smtpServer="smtp.lab.com"

if ($error)
      {
Send-MailMessage -SmtpServer $smtpserver -From $from -To $to
-Subject $subject -Body $error[0].ToString()
$error.clear()
       }

Listing 7-1 is missing one important thing. It just sends the last error,
but what if you want to send the full error, which is actually an array and
send-mailmessage is not able to send it effectively? You can utilize the
Send-Email function in Listing 7-2, which is also part of the vsadmin
module that was shared in the modules chapter.

Listing 7-2. Send-Email Function to Send an $error Array

function Send-Email
{
  [CmdletBinding()]
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    $From,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    [array]$To,
    [array]$bcc,
    [array]$cc,
    $body,
    $subject,
    $attachment,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    $smtpserver
  )

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 Chapter 7 Error Reporting

  $message = New-Object System.Net.Mail.MailMessage

  $message.From = $From
  if ($To -ne $null)
  {
    $To | ForEach-Object{
      $to1 = $_
      $to1
      $message.To.Add($to1)
    }
  }
  if ($cc -ne $null)
  {
    $cc | ForEach-Object{
      $cc1 = $_
      $cc1
      $message.CC.Add($cc1)
    }
  }
  if ($bcc -ne $null)
  {
    $bcc | ForEach-Object{
      $bcc1 = $_
      $bcc1
      $message.bcc.Add($bcc1)
    }
  }
  $message.IsBodyHtml = $true
  if ($subject -ne $null)
  {$message.Subject = $subject}
  if ($attachment -ne $null)

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Chapter 7 Error Reporting

  {
    $attach = New-Object Net.Mail.Attachment($attachment)
    $message.Attachments.Add($attach)
  }
  if ($body -ne $null)
  {$message.body = $body}
  $smtp = New-Object Net.Mail.SmtpClient($smtpserver)
  $smtp.Send($message)
}

Once you have imported the function from Listing 7-2, you can utilize
the code in Listing 7-3, which is similar to the code in Listing 7-1. The only
change is utilizing Send-Email instead of the built-in Send-MailMessage.

Listing 7-3. Sending $error Array in an Email

$from = "[email protected]"
$to="[email protected]"
$subject = "Error has occured"
$smtpServer="smtp.lab.com"

if ($error)
      {
  Send-Email -smtpserver $smtpServer -From $from -To $to
-subject $subject -body $error
  $error.clear()
       }

Logging Everything Including Errors

There is an built-in PowerShell cmdlet that you can use at the beginning of
your script and stop at the end of the script. This is often called transcript
logging.

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 Chapter 7 Error Reporting

Start-transcript  # at the beginning of the script

Stop-transcript  # at the end of the script

This log will by default get stored in the running account’s My

Documents folder. To store the transcript at a different location, you can
specify the path parameter as shown in Figure 7-1.

$log = "c:\data\log.txt"
Start-transcript  -path $log # at the beginning of the script
Stop-transcript  # at the end of the script

Figure 7-1. Showing the transcript log in PowerShell

Logging Errors to a Text File

You can also just log errors in text files. This cheat guide describes a Write-­
Log function; the same can be utilized to log errors in text files. The result is
shown in Figure 7-2.

$log = Write-Log -Name "Errorlog" -folder "logs" -Ext "log"

write-log -message "error is $error" -path $log -Severity error

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Chapter 7 Error Reporting

Figure 7-2. Showing the error logging in a text file

Summary
In this chapter, you learned how to report errors when they occur, how
to write them in log files, how to send them through email, and how to
capture the whole PowerShell session with the start-transcript cmdlet.

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CHAPTER 8

Reporting
Reports are an important aspect of day-to-day system administration.
Sometimes we present reports to our managers and other times we utilize
them to evaluate and improve our own work.
Reports can be in the form of CSV, HTML, Excel, and more. The most
common form is a CSV report because it’s universal and can be converted
to other forms like Excel easily from the application itself.

C
 SV Report
Export-CSV is the built-in PowerShell cmdlet that can be used to export
the data to a CSV file. You can simply pipe select and then export as
shown in the following code that shows the export of certain attributes of
users’ mailboxes from Exchange Server (to be run in the Exchange shell):

Get-Mailbox -ResultSize unlimited | Select Name,identity, Windo

wsEmailAddress,Database,ProhibitSendQuota,ProhibitSendReceiveQu
ota,IssueWarningQuota | export-csv c:\mailboxes.csv -notypeinfo

There are many complex situations where you need scripting code to
format the data in the right manner. Listing 8-1 and Figure 8-1 show where
you have a list of users in a text file and you want to export their Active
Directory attributes and some Exchange attributes in a CSV file. In this
case, get, select, and export are not possible. This code can be used in all
such situations where you want to export the data in the CSV form but a
simple operation is not possible.

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Chapter 8 Reporting

You want to export attributes Name,identity,WindowsEmailAddress,

Database,ProhibitSendQuota,ProhibitSendReceiveQuota, and
IssueWarningQuota and also attributes employeeid, l, C from Active
Directory.

Note The Exchange and AD modules are both required. You need to
connect to them. The script will fail if they are not loaded.

To load them, use your knowledge from previous chapters.

Load the Exchange on-premise shell using vsadmin launchexonprem:

LaunchEXOnprem -ComputerName ExchangeServer

For Active Directory, you can use

Import-Module Activedirectory

Listing 8-1. Exporting to CSV When Fetching From Multiple Sources

$collection=@() #array to collect report data

$data = get-content .\users.txt #read samaccountname from text file
$data | foreach-object{
  $coll = "" | Select Name,identity,WindowsEmailAddress,Database,
ProhibitSendQuota,ProhibitSendReceiveQuota,IssueWarningQuota,
employeeid, l,C  #values needed in report

  $getmbx = get-mailbox -identity $_

  $getaduser = get-aduser -identity $_ -properties employeeid, l,C
  $coll.Name = $getmbx.Name
  $coll.identity = $getmbx.identity
  $coll.WindowsEmailAddress = $getmbx.WindowsEmailAddress
  $coll.Database= $getmbx.Database
  $coll.ProhibitSendQuota = $getmbx.ProhibitSendQuota
  $coll.ProhibitSendReceiveQuota = $getmbx.ProhibitSendReceiveQuota

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  $coll.IssueWarningQuota = $getmbx.IssueWarningQuota
  $coll.employeeid = $getaduser.employeeid #note difference here
  $coll.l = $getaduser.l
  $coll.c = $getaduser.c
  
$collection+=$coll #add the collected values to the collecttion
array
}
#now export to CSV file
$collection | Export-Csv .\report.csv -NoTypeInformation

Figure 8-1. Showing the execution result of Listing 8-1

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Chapter 8 Reporting

Another important aspect of CSV reporting is to export multi-valued

attributes. Here is an example of extracting recipients (which is a multi-
valued attribute) in Exchange tracking logs:

@{Name="Recipents";Expression={$_.recipients}}

See Listing 8-2 for an example of extracting recipient values from

Exchange transport logs.

Listing 8-2. Example Code Showing How to Export Multi-Value

Attributes
Get-transportserver | Get-MessageTrackingLog -Start"03/09/2015
00:00:00 AM" -End"03/09/2015 11:59:59 PM" -sender "[email protected]"
-resultsize unlimited | `
select-object Timestamp,clientip,ClientHostname,ServerIp,
ServerHostname,sender,EventId,MessageSubject, TotalBytes ,
SourceContext,ConnectorId,Source, `
InternalMessageId , MessageId ,@{Name="Recipents";Expression=
{$_.recipients}} | `
export-csv c:\track.csv

E xcel Reporting
Although CSV reports are fine for most purposes, there are situations in
which you want to share the data with your managers so converting the
CSV file to Excel is a much-needed script. I will share two methods for
doing the same.
The first method exists in the vsadmin module that was shared in the
modules chapter.

Note Excel should be installed on the machine to use this method.

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Listing 8-3 shows the code of the Save-CSV2Excel function in case you
do not have the vsadmin module installed or do not want to use it.

Listing 8-3. Cheat Code for the Save-CSV2Excel Function

Function Save-CSV2Excel
{
  [CmdletBinding()]
  Param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,Position = 1)]
    [ValidateScript({
          if(-Not ($_ | Test-Path) ){throw "File or folder does
not exist"}
          if(-Not ($_ | Test-Path -PathType Leaf) ){throw "The
Path argument must be a file. Folder paths are not
allowed."}
          if($_ -notmatch "(\.csv)"){throw "The file specified
in the path argument must be either of type csv"}
          return $true
    })]
    [System.IO.FileInfo]$CSVPath,

    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    [ValidateScript({
          if($_ -notmatch "(\.xlsx)"){throw "The file specified
in the path argument must be either of type xlsx"}
          return $true
    })]
    [System.IO.FileInfo]$Exceloutputpath
  )
  ####### Borrowed function from Lloyd Watkinson from script
gallery##
  Function Convert-NumberToA1

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  {
    Param([parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    [int]$number)

    $a1Value = $null
    While ($number -gt 0)
    {
      $multiplier = [int][system.math]::Floor(($number / 26))
      $charNumber = $number - ($multiplier * 26)
      If ($charNumber -eq 0) { $multiplier-- ; $charNumber = 26
}
      $a1Value = [char]($charNumber + 64) + $a1Value
      $number = $multiplier
    }
    Return $a1Value
  }
  ##################Start converting
excel#######################
  $importcsv = Import-Csv $CSVPath
  $countcolumns = ($importcsv |
    Get-Member |
  Where-Object{$_.membertype -eq "Noteproperty"}).count
  #################call Excel com object ##############
  $xl = New-Object -comobject excel.application
  $xl.visible = $false
  $Workbook = $xl.workbooks.open($CSVPath)
  $Workbook.SaveAs($Exceloutputpath, 51)
  $Workbook.Saved = $true
  $xl.Quit()
  #############Now format the Excel###################
  timeout.exe 10 #wait for 10 seconds before saving
  $xl = New-Object -comobject excel.application

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  $xl.visible = $false
  $Workbook = $xl.workbooks.open($Exceloutputpath)
  $worksheet1 = $Workbook.worksheets.Item(1)
  for ($c = 1; $c -le $countcolumns; $c++) {$worksheet1.Cells.
Item(1, $c).Interior.ColorIndex = 39}
  $colvalue = (Convert-NumberToA1 $countcolumns) + "1"
  $headerRange = $worksheet1.Range("a1", $colvalue)
  $null = $headerRange.AutoFilter()
  $null = $headerRange.entirecolumn.AutoFit()
  $worksheet1.rows.item(1).Font.Bold = $true
  $Workbook.Save()
  $Workbook.Close()
  $xl.Quit()
  $Null = [System.Runtime.Interopservices.Marshal]::Release
ComObject($xl)
  ##########################################################
#############
}#Write-CSV2Excel

Let’s use the CSV report from Listing 8-1 and convert it to Excel using
Save-CSV2Excel. See Figure 8-2.

Save-CSV2Excel -CSVPath c:\temp\report.csv -Exceloutputpath

c:\temp\report.xlsx

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Figure 8-2. Showing a CSV-to-Excel conversion

There is a module named ImportExcel. It is one of the most popular

modules in the PowerShell Gallery. You can utilize this module to directly
convert variables to Excel. Get it from www.powershellgallery.com/
packages/ImportExcel. Install the module on your machine and then
import it to utilize it:

Install-Module -Name ImportExcel

Let’s use the same report and use this new module to convert it into
Excel. The advantage of using this module is that it does not require Excel
to be installed on the machine. See Figure 8-3.

Import-Module -Name ImportExcel

$data = Import-Csv .\report.csv

$data | Export-Excel -Path c:\temp\report.xlsx

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 Chapter 8 Reporting

Figure 8-3. Using the Import-Excel module

There are lot of other parameters inside that function like the
formatting of Excel, which I leave to you to explore!

H
 TML Reporting
It would be wonderful if we could create HTML dashboards with
PowerShell ☺ that can show traffic light-type signals. For example, if a
service is down, it shows red. Otherwise, it shows green. See Figure 8-4.

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Figure 8-4. An HTML table report

Listing 8-4 is a template for HTML coding that you can use inside
scripts and do traffic light-type operations based on conditions.

Listing 8-4. Template for HTML Coding

$report = $reportpath
Clear-Content $report
#################HTml Report
Content############################
Add-Content $report "<html>"
Add-Content $report "<head>"
Add-Content $report "<meta http-equiv='Content-Type'
content='text/html; charset=iso-8859-1'>"
Add-Content $report '<title>Exchange Status Report</title>'
add-content $report '<STYLE TYPE="text/css">'
add-content $report  "<!--"
add-content $report  "td {"
add-content $report  "font-family: Tahoma;"
add-content $report  "font-size: 11px;"
add-content $report  "border-top: 1px solid #999999;"
add-content $report  "border-right: 1px solid #999999;"
add-content $report  "border-bottom: 1px solid #999999;"
add-content $report  "border-left: 1px solid #999999;"

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 Chapter 8 Reporting

add-content $report  "padding-top: 0px;"

add-content $report  "padding-right: 0px;"
add-content $report  "padding-bottom: 0px;"
add-content $report  "padding-left: 0px;"
add-content $report  "}"
add-content $report  "body {"
add-content $report  "margin-left: 5px;"
add-content $report  "margin-top: 5px;"
add-content $report  "margin-right: 0px;"
add-content $report  "margin-bottom: 10px;"
add-content $report  ""
add-content $report  "table {"
add-content $report  "border: thin solid #000000;"
add-content $report  "}"
add-content $report  "-->"
add-content $report  "</style>"
Add-Content $report "</head>"
Add-Content $report "<body>"
add-content $report  "<table width='100%'>"
add-content $report  "<tr bgcolor='Lavender'>"
add-content $report  "<td colspan='7' height='25'
align='center'>"
add-content $report  "<font face='tahoma' color='#003399'
size='4'><strong>DAG Active Manager</strong></font>"
add-content $report  "</td>"
add-content $report  "</tr>"
add-content $report  "</table>"
add-content $report  "<table width='100%'>"
Add-Content $report  "<tr bgcolor='IndianRed'>"
Add-Content $report  "<td width='10%'
align='center'><B>Identity</B></td>"

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Add-Content $report  "<td width='5%' align='center'><B>PrimaryA

ctiveManager</B></td>"
Add-Content $report  "<td width='20%' align='center'><B>Operati
onalMachines</B></td>"
Add-Content $report "</tr>"
##############################Report
Template##################################
add-content $report  "<tr bgcolor='Lavender'>"
add-content $report  "<td colspan='7' height='25'
align='center'>"
add-content $report  "<font face='tahoma' color='#003399'
size='4'><strong>DAG Database Backup Status</strong></font>"
add-content $report  "</td>"
add-content $report  "</tr>"
add-content $report  "</tr>"
add-content $report  "</table>"
add-content $report  "<table width='100%'>"
Add-Content $report "<tr bgcolor='IndianRed'>"
Add-Content $report  "<td width='10%'
align='center'><B>Database</B></td>"
Add-Content $report  "<td width='5%' align='center'><B>BackupIn
Progress</B></td>"
Add-Content $report  "<td width='10%' align='center'><B>Snapsho
tLastFullBackup</B></td>"
Add-Content $report  "<td width='5%' align='center'><B>Snapshot
LastCopyBackup</B></td>"
Add-Content $report  "<td width='10%' align='center'><B>LastFul
lBackup</B></td>"
Add-Content $report  "<td width='5%' align='center'><B>RetainDe
letedItemsUntilBackup</B></td>"

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$dbst= Get-MailboxDatabase | where{$_.MasterType -like

"DatabaseAvailabilityGroup"}

$dbst | foreach{$st=Get-MailboxDatabase $_ -status

  $dbname =  $st.Name
  $dbbkprg = $st.BackupInProgress
  $dbsnpl = $st.SnapshotLastFullBackup
  $dbsnplc= $st.SnapshotLastCopyBackup
  $dblfb = $st.LastFullBackup
  $dbrd = $st.RetainDeletedItemsUntilBackup
    Add-Content $report "<tr>"
    Add-Content $report "<td bgcolor= 'GainsBoro'
align=center>  <B>$dbname</B></td>"
          Add-Content $report "<td bgcolor= 'GainsBoro'
align=center>  <B>$dbbkprg</B></td>"
    Add-Content $report "<td bgcolor= 'GainsBoro'
align=center>  <B>$dbsnpl</B></td>"
          Add-Content $report "<td bgcolor= 'GainsBoro'
align=center>  <B>$dbsnplc</B></td>"
  if($dblfb -lt $hrs)
  {
    Add-Content $report "<td bgcolor= 'Red'
align=center>  <B>$dblfb</B></td>"
  }
  else
  {
      Add-Content $report "<td bgcolor= 'Aquamarine'
align=center>  <B>$dblfb</B></td>"
  }
    Add-Content $report "<td bgcolor= 'GainsBoro'
align=center>  <B>$dbrd</B></td>"

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    Add-Content $report "</tr>"

}
##############################################################
Add-content $report  "</table>"
Add-Content $report "</body>"
Add-Content $report "</html>"

See examples at the following links where this template has been
successfully utilized for the Exchange Health Check, AD Health Check, and
Monitor Remote services:

https://techwizard.cloud/exchange-2010-health-check/
https://techwizard.cloud/adhealthcheck/
https://techwizard.cloud/monitor-windows-services-status-remotely/

As mentioned, you can use the HTML Online Editor to create HTML
and use it in your PowerShell scripts (https://html-online.com/
editor/).

S
 ummary
In this chapter, you learned about reporting. CSV, HTML, and Excel are
three common report types used by almost all systems. By learning how to
run these reports you can easily impress managers with the data they need
in a format that is understandable.

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CHAPTER 9

Miscellaneous
Keywords
In this chapter, you will be introduced to keywords in PowerShell. These
keywords can perform data manipulation, which is a crucial part of any
scripting or automation operation.
In the next chapter, you will use the knowledge you have gathered in
this book to create some practical production scripts using the cheat codes
shared in this book.

S
 plit
The split keyword can be used to extract data out of a string. Say there
is an email address inside a string and you want to get it, or you want to
extract some useful information out of a text string.
Let’s go through an example to understand it more. Let’s extract the
first name and last name from an email address string. You will use split
because it can split the string on any character and convert it into array.
You will split the email address on the dot (.). After that, in element 0 of
the array you get the first name, but for last name you must split again at
character @.

$email = "[email protected]"
$emsplit = $email.split(".")

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Chapter 9 Miscellaneous Keywords

$firstname = $emsplit[0]
$lastname = ($emsplit[1] -split "@")
$lastn = $lastname[0]
$emsplit[0] and $lastname[0]

See the step-by-step split operation in Figure 9-1 for a better

understanding of how to use it.

Figure 9-1. Showing the split operation

R
 eplace
Another keyword is replace. Instead of splitting the string, you can replace
the content of the string with other content.

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 Chapter 9 Miscellaneous Keywords

You can use replace when you want to replace data in a string. Say you
want to add an underscore instead of a dot because you want to update a
secondary address. You can use this code and see the result in Figure 9-2:

$email = "[email protected]"
$emreplace = $email.replace(".","_")

Figure 9-2. Showing a replace operation

S
 elect-String
Select-String can do wonders because you can use it to find strings
inside files. Here is a practical use for it, which I have used many times
(while others have struggled and spent ample hours trying to solve):
finding the right date and time of an operation from a large number of log
files.
Say you have a large number of files inside the logs folder and you just
want to find the files where the string error is present:

Get-ChildItem c:\data\logs | Select-String -Pattern "Error"

This simple one-liner will search for the string error in all of the log
files inside the logs folder. Figure 9-3 show how it extracted the file name
of the file that has the error.

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Figure 9-3. Showing a Select-String operation

C
 ompare-Object
Compare-Object (alias Compare) is used many times to compare two files or
two arrays. It is faster than comparing the arrays or files using for loops. I
use it many times for fetching members from a group and comparing them
with a text file that has user IDs. This approach fetches only members that
are not already part of the group and adds them, instead of processing all
members.
Listing 9-1 adds members from one group to another.

Note The Active Directory module is required for this to work.

Listing 9-1. Cheat Code for Adding Members Using Compare-

Object
##########################fetching group1 ##################
$collgroup1 = Get-ADGroup -id "group1" -Properties member |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty member |
  Get-ADUser |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty samaccountname
##########################fetching group2 ##################
$collgroup2 = Get-ADGroup -id "group2" -Properties member |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty member |
  Get-ADUser |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty samaccountname
####################compare two groups#####################

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$change = Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $collgroup1

-DifferenceObject $collgroup2
$Addition = $change |
Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.SideIndicator -eq "<="} |
Select-Object -ExpandProperty InputObject
#######adding only members that are missing in
group2##############
$Addition | ForEach-Object{
      $sam = $_
      Add-ADGroupMember -identity "group2" -Members $sam
}
##############################################################

Similarly, you can do a remove operation by using Compare-Object, as

shown in Listing 9-2.

Listing 9-2. Cheat Code for Removing Members Using Compare-

Object
##########################fetching group1 ##################
$collgroup1 = Get-ADGroup -id "group1" -Properties member |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty member |
  Get-ADUser |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty samaccountname
##########################fetching group2 ##################
$collgroup2 = Get-ADGroup -id "group2" -Properties member |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty member |
  Get-ADUser |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty samaccountname
####################compare two groups####################
$change = Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $collgroup1
-DifferenceObject $collgroup2
$Removal = $change |

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Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.SideIndicator -eq "=>"} |

Select-Object -ExpandProperty InputObject
####Removing members that are in group2 but not in
group1########
$Removal | ForEach-Object{
      $sam = $_
      Remove-ADGroupMember -identity "group2" -Members $sam
-confirm:$false
}
##############################################################

You can combine both operations in one script and synchronize two
groups based on group1 as the anchor. Listing 9-3 shows this operation.

Listing 9-3. Cheat Code for Synchronizing Two Groups Using

Compare-Object (Based on group1 as the Anchor)
##########################fetching group1 ##################
$collgroup1 = Get-ADGroup -id "group1" -Properties member |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty member |
  Get-ADUser |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty samaccountname
##########################fetching group2 ##################
$collgroup2 = Get-ADGroup -id "group2" -Properties member |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty member |
  Get-ADUser |
  Select-Object -ExpandProperty samaccountname
####################compare two groups####################
$change = Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $collgroup1
-DifferenceObject $collgroup2
$Addition = $change |
Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.SideIndicator -eq "<="} |
Select-Object -ExpandProperty InputObject

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$Removal = $change |
Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.SideIndicator -eq "=>"} |
Select-Object -ExpandProperty InputObject
#######adding only members that are missing in group2########
$Addition | ForEach-Object{
      $sam = $_
      Add-ADGroupMember -identity "group2" -Members $sam
}

####Removing members that are in group2 but not in

group1########
$Removal | ForEach-Object{
      $sam = $_
      Remove-ADGroupMember -identity "group2" -Members $sam
-confirm:$false
}
##############################################################

You can also use the other approach, so instead of removing from
group2 you just use ADD-Groupmember for group1 so you can truly
synchronize both groups. Any user object that is not present in group2 but
is in group1 should be added to group2, and any user object not present in
group1 but in group2 should be added to group1:

ADD-ADGroupMember -identity "group1" -Members $sam

instead of

Remove-ADGroupMember -identity "group2" -Members $sam

-confirm:$false

There are other nice tricks you can perform with Compare-Object. Say
you have two CSV files. One just has email addresses of users; the other has
email addresses and other properties. You want all details from CSV file 2
for the users in CSV file one.

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Listing 9-4 shows an example for OneDrive properties. There are two
CSV files. One contains user email addresses and the other contains email
addresses and other properties in other columns.

Listing 9-4. Cheat Code for Merging Two CSV Files Using Compare-
Object
$importallonedrivesites = import-csv "c:\importonedrives.csv" #
onedrive file with other attributes
$importspofile = import-csv "c:\users.csv" #users email
addresses

$change = Compare-Object -ReferenceObject

$importallonedrivesites   -DifferenceObject $importspofile
-Property owner -IncludeEqual -PassThru  #owner is the column
name for users email addreses
$change | where{$_.SideIndicator -eq "==" -or $_.SideIndicator
-eq "=>"} |
select Owner, Title, url, StorageUsageCurrent, StorageQuota,
StorageQuotaWarningLevel |
Export-Csv "c:\newfile.csv" -NoTypeInformation

S
 ummary
In this chapter, you learned about important keywords in PowerShell,
which will help you with data manipulation or transformation. This means
you can automate information when the data input is in a different format
than expected.

98
CHAPTER 10

Gluing It All Together

This is the last chapter of this book, and in it I will show you how to use the
knowledge you have gathered thus far to create a practical script. I will also
share some cheat codes from different products that you can utilize for
your daily needs.
Here is the scenario: You get a text file from your HR system that
contains a list of account names (Figure 10-1) that you want to add to an
Active Directory group so that they can access a particular file share where
this AD group has permissions, or get some app pushed to their devices
based on their membership of that AD group.

Figure 10-1. Showing the example users text file

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Chapter 10 Gluing It All Together

Step 1: Add headers to the script (see Figure 10-2):

<#
    .NOTES
    ===========================================================
    Created with:     ISE
    Created on:       9/6/2021 1:46 PM
    Created by:       Vikas Sukhija
    Organization:
    Filename:         ADDUserstoGroupfromText.ps1
    ===========================================================
    .DESCRIPTION
    This will add the users from text file to AD group
#>

Figure 10-2. Showing headers in ISE

Step 2: Import all modules that you will utilize for this script:

1. The vsadmin module will make your life easy for the
scripting operations.

2. Active Directory modules

If you do not want to use the vsadmin module, then just use the
functions instead.

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 Chapter 10 Gluing It All Together

import-module vsadmin
import-module Activedirectory

Step 3: Add some variables and logs for your script:

$log = Write-Log -Name "ADDUser2Group-Log" -folder "logs" -Ext "log"

$users = get-content "c:\temp\users.txt"
$Adgroup = "ADgroup1"
$logrecyclelimit = "60" #to recycle the logs after 60 days

Step 4: Start the actual operation:

Write-Log -Message "Start...............script" -path $log

$users | foreach-object{
  $user = $_.trim() #triming fro any whitespace
  Write-Log -Message "Processing..........$user" -path $log
  $getusermemberof = Get-ADUserMemberOf -User $user -Group
$Adgroup #checking if user si already member
  if($getusermemberof -eq $true){ #if users is already mebe
rjust write it to log
    Write-Log -Message "$user is already member of $Adgroup"
-path $log
  }
  else{
    Write-Log -Message "ADD $user to $Adgroup" -path $log
    Add-ADGroupMember -identity $Adgroup -members $user
    if($error){ #error checking, if error occurs add in log
      Write-Log -Message "Error - ADD $user to $Adgroup" -path
$log
     $error.clear() # clearing the error as it has already been
captuire for this iteration
    }

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Chapter 10 Gluing It All Together

    else{
      Write-Log -Message "Success - ADD $user to $Adgroup"
-path $log
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Recycle logs or clean up the sessions (see Listing 10-1).

Listing 10-1. Cheat Code Script Template Example

#####################Recycle logs#############################
Set-Recyclelogs -foldername "logs" -limit $logrecyclelimit
-Confirm:$false

Write-Log -Message "Script Finished" -path $log

Glue is all together to form a nice script as shared in

Listing 10.1
<#
    .NOTES
    ==========================================================
    Created with:     ISE
    Created on:       9/6/2021 1:46 PM
    Created by:       Vikas Sukhija
    Organization:
    Filename:         ADDUserstoGroupfromText.ps1
    ==========================================================
    .DESCRIPTION
    This will add the users from text file to AD group
#>
###############Import modules and
functions#####################

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import-module vsadmin
import-module Activedirectory

##############Add logs and

variables############################
$log = Write-Log -Name "ADDUser2Group-Log" -folder "logs" -Ext "log"
$users = get-content "c:\temp\users.txt"

$Adgroup = "ADgroup1"

$logrecyclelimit = "60" #to recycle the logs after 60 days

###############################################################
#
Write-Log -Message "Start...............script" -path $log

$users | foreach-object{
  $user = $_.trim() #triming fro any whitespace
  Write-Log -Message "Processing..........$user" -path $log
  $getusermemberof = Get-ADUserMemberOf -User $user -Group
$Adgroup #checking if user si already member
  if($getusermemberof -eq $true){ #if users is already mebe
rjust write it to log
    Write-Log -Message "$user is already member of $Adgroup"
-path $log
  }
  else{
    Write-Log -Message "ADD $user to $Adgroup" -path $log
    Add-ADGroupMember -identity $Adgroup -member $user
    if($error){ #error checking, if error occurs add in log
      Write-Log -Message "Error - ADD $user to $Adgroup" -path
$log

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      $error.clear() # clearing the error as it has already

been captuire for this iteration
    }
    else{
      Write-Log -Message "Success - ADD $user to $Adgroup"
-path $log
    }
  }
}
#####################Recycle logs#############################
Set-Recyclelogs -foldername "logs" -limit $logrecyclelimit
-Confirm:$false
Write-Log -Message "Script Finished" -path $log

Let’s run this cheat code by changing the variable adgroup and adding
users in the text file as per the production environment. See Figure 10-3.

Figure 10-3. Showing execution of the script ADDUserstoGroup

FromText.ps1

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In a similar fashion, you can create multiple scripts for different

production uses. I have shared hundreds of scripts with the community
over the past 10 years, which you can access via the following link and
modify as per your needs. The majority of scripts share the same principles
described in this book: https://techwizard.cloud/downloads/.

Product Examples (Daily Use)

In this section, I share snippets that you can use as-is or combine in your
scripts for daily admin tasks. Due to my love for Exchange, I use Microsoft
Exchange☺. Here are Exchange Script excerpts that you can use on a
day-­to-­day basis.

M
 icrosoft Exchange
 lean Database So That Mailboxes Appear
C
in a Disconnected State
Get-MailboxServer | Get-MailboxDatabase | Clean-MailboxDatabase

Find Disconnected Mailboxes

Get-ExchangeServer | Where-Object {$_.IsMailboxServer -eq
$true} | ForEach-Object { Get-MailboxStatistics -Server $_.Name
| Where-Object {$_.DisconnectDate -notlike ''}}

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Extract Message Accept From

Get-distributiongroup "dl name" | foreach {
$_.AcceptMessagesonlyFrom} | add-content  "c:/output/abc.txt"

Active Sync Stats

Get-CASMailbox -ResultSize unlimited | where {$_.
ActiveSyncEnabled -eq "true"} | ForEach-Object {Get-­
ActiveSyncDeviceStatistics -Mailbox:$_.identity} | select
Devicetype, DeviceID,DeviceUserAgent, FirstSyncTime,
LastSuccessSync, Identity, DeviceModel, DeviceFriendlyName,
DeviceOS | Export-Csv c:\activesync.csv

Message Tracking
Get-transportserver | Get-MessageTrackingLog -Start "03/09/2015
00:00:00 AM" -End "03/09/2015 11:59:59 PM" -sender  "vikas@
lab.com" -resultsize unlimited  | select Timestamp,clientip,
ClientHostname,ServerIp,ServerHostname,sender,EventId,Messa
geSubject, TotalBytes , SourceContext,ConnectorId,Source ,
InternalMessageId , MessageId ,@{Name="Recipents";Expressi
on={$_.recipients}} | export-csv c:\track.csv

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Search Mailbox/Delete Messages

Search only:

import-csv c:\tmp\messagesubject.csv | foreach {Search-Mailbox

$_.alias -SearchQuery subject:"Test SUbject" -TargetMailbox
"Exmontest" -TargetFolder "Logs" -LogOnly -LogLevel Full} >c:\
tmp\output.txt

Delete:

import-csv c:\tmp\messagesubject.csv | foreach {Search-Mailbox

$_.alias -SearchQuery subject:"Test Schedule" -DeleteContent
-force} >c:\tmp\output.txt

Delete and log:

import-csv c:\tmp\messagesubject.csv | foreach

{Search-Mailbox $_.alias  -SearchQuery Subject:"test
Story",Received:>'5/23/2018'  -TargetMailbox "Exmontest"
­-TargetFolder "Logs"  -deletecontent -force} >c:\tmp\testlog-­
23-29-­left.txt

Exchange Quota Report

This example is found under Export-CSV as well.

#format Date
$date = get-date -format d
$date = $date.ToString().Replace("/", "-")
$output = ".\" + "QuotaReport_" + $date + "_.csv"
Collection = @()
Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | foreach-object{
$st = get-mailboxstatistics $_.identity
$TotalSize = $st.TotalItemSize.Value.ToMB()

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$user = get-user $_.identity

$mbxr = "" | select DisplayName,Alias,RecipientType,TotalItem
SizeinMB, QuotaStatus,
UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults,IssueWarningQuota,ProhibitSendQuota,
ProhibitSendReceiveQuota,
Itemcount, Email,ServerName,Company,Hidden, OrganizationalUnit,
RecipientTypeDetails,UserAccountControl,Exchangeversion

$mbxr.DisplayName = $_.DisplayName
$mbxr.Alias = $_.Alias
$mbxr.RecipientType = $user.RecipientType
$mbxr.TotalItemSizeinMB = $TotalSize
$mbxr.QuotaStatus = $st.StorageLimitStatus
$mbxr.UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults = $_.UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults
$mbxr.IssueWarningQuota = $_.IssueWarningQuota.Value
$mbxr.ProhibitSendQuota = $_.ProhibitSendQuota.Value
$mbxr.ProhibitSendReceiveQuota = $_.ProhibitSendReceiveQuota.Value
$mbxr.Itemcount = $st.Itemcount
$mbxr.Email = $_.PrimarySmtpAddress
$mbxr.ServerName = $st.ServerName
$mbxr.Company = $user.Company
$mbxr.Hidden = $_.HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled
$mbxr.RecipientTypeDetails = $_.RecipientTypeDetails
$mbxr.OrganizationalUnit = $_.OrganizationalUnit
$mbxr.UserAccountControl = $_.UserAccountControl
$mbxr.ExchangeVersion= $_.ExchangeVersion
$Collection += $mbxr
}
#export the collection to csv , define the $output path
accordingly
$Collection | export-csv $output

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Set Quota
1GB mailbox limit (must have the $false included):

set-mailbox testmailbox -UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults $false

-IssueWarningQuota 997376KB -ProhibitSendQuota 1048576KB
-ProhibitSendReceiveQuota 4194304KB

2GB mailbox limit (must have the $false included):

set-mailbox "testmailbox" -UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults

$false -IssueWarningQuota 1.75GB -ProhibitSendQuota 2GB
-ProhibitSendReceiveQuota 4GB

3GB mailbox limit (must have the $false included):

set-mailbox "testmailbox" -UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults

$false -IssueWarningQuota 2.75GB -ProhibitSendQuota 3GB
-ProhibitSendReceiveQuota 5GB

Active Directory
Active Directory is the lifeline of every Microsoft product. By using
PowerShell you can automate various AD components. Thankfully,
Microsoft created a native Active Directory module for this job.
The following are methods that you can use for Active Directory
scripting through PowerShell:

• Active Directory Module

• Quest Management Shell for Active Directory

• ADSI (out of scope for this book)

My favorite in the past was the Quest Management Shell followed by

the Microsoft Active Directory Module. The Quest Shell is free and can be

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downloaded. But Microsoft has added updates, so it is at par or better now

than Quest, in my opinion.
One more reason for the AD module to take priority in my mind is that
the Quest AD module is no longer free, you can still find the old version.
I found it at the link below (if you want to use it in production, do cross
check if there is licensing involved).
I encourage you to use the Microsoft Active directory module but
there are still many admins or organizations using Quest, either freely
or they have bought it. Download the Quest AD free version (1.5.1)
from this link (found via Google): www.powershelladmin.com/wiki/
Quest_ActiveRoles_Management_Shell_Download. See Figure 10-4.

Figure 10-4. Showing the Quest AD module

Exporting Group Members

Just a single line of code will work.
Using Quest:

Get-QADGroupMember "group Name" | select Name, Type | Export-­

Csv .\members.csv

Using the AD module:

Get-ADGroup -identity "group Name"  -Properties member |

Select-­Object -ExpandProperty member | Get-ADUser -Properties
DisplayName,Samaccountname,mail,employeeid | export-csv c:\
exportgroup.csv -notypeinfo

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Setting Values for AD Attributes

Here is the example code that can be used to set AD attributes.
Using Quest:

Set-QADUser -identity samaccountname -ObjectAttributes

@{extensionattribute10 = "IntuneCommCompleted"}

Using the AD module:

Set-ADUser -identity samaccountanme -replace

@{"extensionattribute10" = "IntuneCommCompleted"}

Exporting Active Directory Attributes

This example is for calling Excel as well as using Quest ☺:

# call excel for writing the results

$objExcel = new-object -comobject excel.application
$workbook = $objExcel.Workbooks.Add()
$worksheet=$workbook.ActiveSheet
$objExcel.Visible = $False # true or false to set as visible on
screen or not
$cells=$worksheet.Cells
# define top level cell
$cells.item(1,1)="UserId"
$cells.item(1,2)="FirstName"
$cells.item(1,3)="LastName"
$cells.item(1,4)="Employeeid"
$cells.item(1,5)="email"
$cells.item(1,6)="Office"
$cells.item(1,7)="Department"
$cells.item(1,8)="Title"
$cells.item(1,9)="Company"

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$cells.item(1,10)="City"
$cells.item(1,11)="State"
$cells.item(1,12)="Country"
#intitialize row out of the loop
$row = 2
#import quest management Shell
if ( (Get-PSSnapin -Name Quest.ActiveRoles.ADManagement
-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null )
{
    Add-PsSnapin Quest.ActiveRoles.ADManagement
}
$data = get-qaduser -IncludedProperties "CO",
"extensionattribute1" #-sizelimit 0
#loop thru users
foreach ($i in $data){
#initialize column within the loop so that it always loop back
to column 1
$col = 1
$userid=$i.Name
$FisrtName=$i.givenName
$LastName=$i.sn
$Employeeid=$i.extensionattribute1
$email=$i.PrimarySMTPAddress
$office=$i.Office
$Department=$i.Department
$Title=$i.Title
$Company=$i.Company
$City=$i.l
$state=$i.st
$Country=$i.CO
Write-host "Processing.................................$userid"

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$cells.item($row,$col) = $userid
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $FisrtName
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $LastName
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Employeeid
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $email
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $office
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Department
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Title
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Company
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $City
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $state
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Country
$col++
$row++}
#formatting excel
$range = $objExcel.Range("A2").CurrentRegion
$range.ColumnWidth = 30
$range.Borders.Color = 0
$range.Borders.Weight = 2
$range.Interior.ColorIndex = 37

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$range.Font.Bold = $false
$range.HorizontalAlignment = 3
# Headings in Bold
$cells.item(1,1).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,2).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,3).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,4).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,5).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,6).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,7).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,8).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,9).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,10).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,11).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,12).font.bold=$True
#save the excel file
$filepath = "c:\exportAD.xlsx" #save the excel file
$workbook.saveas($filepath)
$workbook.close()
$objExcel.Quit()

Same example using the native Active Directory module:

# call excel for writing the results

$objExcel = new-object -comobject excel.application
$workbook = $objExcel.Workbooks.Add()
$worksheet=$workbook.ActiveSheet
$objExcel.Visible = $True # true or false to set as visible on
screen or not
$cells=$worksheet.Cells
# define top level cell
$cells.item(1,1)="UserId"

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$cells.item(1,2)="FirstName"
$cells.item(1,3)="LastName"
$cells.item(1,4)="Employeeid"
$cells.item(1,5)="email"
$cells.item(1,6)="Office"
$cells.item(1,7)="Department"
$cells.item(1,8)="Title"
$cells.item(1,9)="Company"
$cells.item(1,10)="City"
$cells.item(1,11)="State"
$cells.item(1,12)="Country"
#intitialize row out of the loop
$row = 2
#import AD management Shell
Import-module Activedirectory
$data = Get-ADUser -Filter {Enabled -eq $True} -Properties
extensionattribute1,mail,physicalDeliveryOfficeName,Department,
title,Company,l,st,co -ResultSetSize 1000 #define the size
#loop thru users
foreach ($i in $data){
#initialize column within the loop so that it always loop back
to column 1
$col = 1
$userid=$i.Name
$FisrtName=$i.givenName
$LastName=$i.surname
$Employeeid=$i.extensionattribute1
$email=$i.mail
$office=$i.physicalDeliveryOfficeName
$Department=$i.Department
$Title=$i.Title

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$Company=$i.Company
$City=$i.l
$state=$i.st
$Country=$i.CO
Write-host "Processing.................................$userid"
$cells.item($row,$col) = $userid
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $FisrtName
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $LastName
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Employeeid
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $email
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $office
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Department
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Title
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Company
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $City
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $state
$col++
$cells.item($row,$col) = $Country
$col++
$row++}
#formatting excel

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$range = $objExcel.Range("A2").CurrentRegion
$range.ColumnWidth = 30
$range.Borders.Color = 0
$range.Borders.Weight = 2
$range.Interior.ColorIndex = 37
$range.Font.Bold = $false
$range.HorizontalAlignment = 3
# Headings in Bold
$cells.item(1,1).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,2).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,3).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,4).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,5).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,6).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,7).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,8).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,9).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,10).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,11).font.bold=$True
$cells.item(1,12).font.bold=$True
#save the excel file
$filepath = "c:\exportAD.xlsx" #save the excel file
$workbook.saveas($filepath)
$workbook.close()
$objExcel.Quit()

Adding Members to the Group from a Text File

Using the Quest Management Shell:

$users = Get-Content C:\Users.txt   # samccountnames of users

in text file

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$groupname = "Group Name"

$users | ForEach-Object{
$user = $_
Write-host "adding $user to $groupname" -foregroundcolor green
Add-QADGroupMember -Identity $groupname -Member $user
}

Similarly, in the native Active Directory module:

$users = Get-Content C:\Users.txt    # samccountnames of users

in text file
$groupname = "Group Name"
$users | ForEach-Object{
$user = $_
Write-host "adding $user to $groupname" -foregroundcolor green
Add-ADGroupMember -id $groupname -members $user
}

 emoving Members of the Group From a Text

R
File
Using the Quest Management Shell:

$users = Get-Content C:\Users.txt   # samccountnames of users

in text file
$groupname = "Group Name"
$users | ForEach-Object{
$user = $_
Write-host "adding $user to $groupname" -foregroundcolor green
Remove-QADGroupMember -Identity $groupname -Member $user
-confirm:$false
}

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Similarly, using the native Active Directory module:

$users = Get-Content C:\Users.txt    # samccountnames of users

in text file
$groupname = "Group Name"
$users | ForEach-Object{
$user = $_
Write-host "adding $user to $groupname" -foregroundcolor green
Remove-ADGroupMember -id $groupname -members $user
-confirm:$false
}

O
 ffice 365
Office 365 is everywhere so connecting is important in day-to-day activities
for admins. You can use vsadmin or separate functions.
Operations: https://techwizard.cloud/2016/12/18/all-­in-­one-
office-­365-­powershell-­connect/

• LaunchEOL/RemoveEOL (Exchange Online)

• LaunchSOL/RemoveSOL (Skype online)

• LaunchSPO/RemoveSPO (SharePoint online)

• LaunchCOL/RemoveCOL (Security and Compliance)

• LaunchMSOL/RemoveMSOL (MS Online Azure Active

Directory)

##################Exchange Modern Online##################

Function LaunchEOL {

  [CmdletBinding()]
  param

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  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
    $Credential
  )
  Import-Module ExchangeOnlineManagement -Prefix "EOL"
  Connect-ExchangeOnline -Prefix "EOL" -Credential $Credential
-ShowBanner:$false
}

Function RemoveEOL {
  Disconnect-ExchangeOnline -Confirm:$false
}

#############Skype Online#####################################
function LaunchSOL
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    $Domain,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
    $Credential
  )
  Write-Host -Object "Enter Skype Online Credentials"
-ForegroundColor Green
  $dommicrosoft = $domain + ".onmicrosoft.com"
  $CSSession = New-CsOnlineSession -Credential $Credential
-OverrideAdminDomain $dommicrosoft
  Import-Module (Import-PSSession -Session $CSSession
-AllowClobber) -Prefix SOL  -Global
} #Function LaunchSOL

Function RemoveSOL

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{
  $Session = Get-PSSession | Where-Object -FilterScript {
$_.ComputerName -like "*.online.lync.com" }
  Remove-PSSession $Session
} #Function RemoveSOL

############Sharepoint Online###############################
function LaunchSPO
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
    $orgName,
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
    $Credential
  )
  Write-Host "Enter Sharepoint Online Credentials"
-ForegroundColor Green
  Connect-SPOService -Url "https://$orgName-admin.sharepoint.
com" -Credential $Credential
} #LaunchSPO

Function RemoveSPO
{
  disconnect-sposervice
} #RemoveSPO

####Secuirty and
Compliance#####################################
Function LaunchCOL {
  [CmdletBinding()]
  param
  (

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    [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
    $Credential
  )
  Import-Module ExchangeOnlineManagement
  Connect-IPPSSession -Credential $Credential
  $s=Get-PSSession | where {$_.ComputerName -like "*compliance.
protection.outlook.com"}
  Import-Module (Import-PSSession -Session $s  -AllowClobber)
-Prefix col -Global
}

Function RemoveCOL {
  Disconnect-ExchangeOnline -Confirm:$false
}

###############################Msonline######################
function LaunchMSOL {

  [CmdletBinding()]
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
    $Credential
  )
  import-module msonline
  Write-Host "Enter MS Online Credentials" -ForegroundColor Green
  Connect-MsolService -Credential $Credential
}

Function RemoveMSOL {

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  Write-host "Close Powershell Window - No disconnect

available" -ForegroundColor yellow
}
#######################################################

Exchange Online Mailbox Report

Now use the above function to launch the Exchange Online shell. In
PowerShell, type LaunchEOL and supply the Exchange Online admin
userid/password. Once you are connected to Exchange Online, run the
following command to extract a mailboxes report from Office 365, which
you can see in Figure 10-5:

Figure 10-5. Showing the connection to the Exchange shell

Get-EOLMailbox -ResultSize unlimited | Select Name,Recipient

TypeDetails,PrimarySMTPAddress,UserPrincipalName,litigationhold
enabled,LitigationHoldDuration,PersistedCapabilities,Retention
HoldEnabled,RetentionPolicy,RetainDeletedItemsFor,ArchiveName,
Archivestatus,ProhibitSendQuota,ProhibitSendReceiveQuota,MaxSend
Size,MaxReceiveSize,AuditEnabled | export-csv c:\auditmbx.csv
-notypeinfo

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Chapter 10 Gluing It All Together

If you have a large tenant, use this code instead as this will not
throttle easily even with more than 50,000 users:

$allmbx=Invoke-Command -Session (Get-PSSession | Where-­

Object{$_.computerName -eq "outlook.office365.com"})
-scriptblock {Get-Mailbox -ResultSize unlimited | Select-object
Name,RecipientTypeDetails, PrimarySMTPaddress,UserPrincipalname,
AuditEnabled,litigationholdenabled,LitigationHoldDuration,
PersistedCapabilities,RetentionHoldEnabled,RetentionPolicy,
RetainDeletedItemsFor,ArchiveName,Archivestatus,ArchiveGuid,
ProhibitSendQuota,ProhibitSendReceiveQuota,MaxSendSize,Max
ReceiveSize,WhenMailboxCreated,WhenCreated,HiddenFromAddress
ListsEnabled }
$allmbx | export-csv c:\data\auditmbx.csv -notypeinfo

Exchange Online Message Tracking

In Exchange Online, extracting message tracking is not the same as it is in
Exchange on-premise, because if the results are more in number, then it
cannot be extracted using a result size unlimited parameter. The following
is a small script that will do the trick:

$index = 1
while ($index -le 1001)
{
Get-EOLMessageTrace -SenderAddress "[email protected]"
-StartDate 09/20/2019 -EndDate 09/25/2019 -PageSize 5000 -Page
$index | export-csv c:\messagetracking.csv -Append
$index ++
sleep 5
}

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Searching a Unified Log

Office 365 uses unified audit logging and you can audit all of the activities
using the Exchange Online shell (whether it is SharePoint Online or Teams
or any other product within Office 365). Here is the link for more details:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-­us/microsoft-­365/compliance/
search-­the-­audit-­log-­in-­security-­and-­compliance?WT.mc_id=M365-
MVP-5001317

Example of extracting Microsoft Teams activity:

Search-EOLUnifiedAuditLog -StartDate 1/8/2019 -EndDate

4/7/2019 -RecordType MicrosoftTeams -UserIds VikasS@sycloudpro.
com  -ResultSize:5000 |export-csv c:\VikasS.csv -notypeinfo

Example of extracting Exchange mailbox audit activity:

Search-EOLUnifiedAuditLog -StartDate 10/24/2019 -EndDate

10/25/2019 -UserIds [email protected] -recordtype "Exch
angeItemGroup","ExchangeItem","ExchangeAggregatedOperation"
-ResultSize:5000 |export-csv c:\VikasS.csv -notypeinfo

Example of adding or removing a role member:

Search-EOLUnifiedAuditLog -StartDate 4/16/2019 -EndDate

7/15/2019 -UserIds [email protected] -operations "Add
role member to role" -ResultSize:5000 |export-csv c:\VikasS.csv
-notypeinfo

A
 zure AD
I have covered practical examples of Active Directory but in today’s world
Azure AD is becoming common so here are some example from the Azure
AD world.

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Chapter 10 Gluing It All Together

For Azure AD, you need to use connect-AzureAD first to connect, and
for MS Online you can use Connect-MsolService. Once connected, you
will be able to use the following examples by updating the variables.

 dding Users to an Azure AD Group From a Text

A
File of UPN
$group1 = "93345231-7454-4629-943b-e4245426bf" #
Get-Content C:\users.txt | ForEach-Object{$user=$_.
trim();$user;$upn= $user
$getazureaduser = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "userprincipalname eq
'$($upn)'"
Add-AzureADGroupMember -ObjectId $group1  -RefObjectId
$getazureaduser.ObjectId
}

 emoving Users in an Azure AD Group

R
from a Text File of UPN
$group1 = "93345231-7454-4629-943b-e4245426bf" #
Get-Content C:\users.txt | ForEach-Object{$user=$_.
trim();$user;$upn= $user
$getazureaduser = Get-AzureADUser -Filter "userprincipalname eq
'$($upn)'"
Remove-AzureADGroupMember -ObjectId $group1  -MemberId
$getazureaduser.ObjectId
}

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 hecking If a User Is Already a Member

C
of a Group
$group1 = "93345231-7454-4629-943b-e4245426bf" #
$getazmembership = Get-AzureADUserMembership  -ObjectId
"UserObjectId"
if($getazmembership.objectId -contains $group1){
write-host  "User is already member of the group group1"
}

Adding Administrators to a Role

Get-MsolRole | Sort Name | Select Name,Description #check role name
$roleName = "Lync Service Administrator"
Get-content c:\users.txt | foreach-object{$_;
Add-MsolRoleMember -RoleMemberEmailAddress $_ -RoleName
$roleName
}

Checking for Azure AD User Provisioning Errors

Get-MsolUser -HasErrorsOnly | ft
DisplayName,UserPrincipalName,@{Name="Error";Expression={($_.
errors[0].ErrorDetail.objecterrors.errorrecord.
ErrorDescription)}} -AutoSize

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In a similar fashion, you can connect to any Microsoft product by

checking their documentation. As for other Azure products, there is a
command named Connect-AzAccount for a connection to Azure. Just
make sure that the modules are installed on your machines for whichever
product you want to connect to in the cloud.

Text/CSV File Operations

Remove the header line from a CSV file
Method 1:

Get-Content .\abc.csv | select -skip 1 | Set-Content .\abc1.csv

Method 2:

$a = import .\abc.csv
$a |ForEach-Object{
  $Con_string = $null
  $Con_string = $_.ID, $_.GrpName -join ','
  Write-Host $Con_string
  Add-Content .\abc6.csv $Con_string
}

Method 3 (avoids CRLF):

$text = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllText("$pwd\file.csv") -replace

'^[^\r\n]*\r?\n'
[System.IO.File]::WriteAllText("$pwd\newFile.csv", $text)

Method 4 (avoids CRLF):

$file = Get-Item .\example_test.csv

$reader = $file.OpenText()
# discard the first line
$null = $reader.ReadLine()

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# Write the rest of the text to the new file

[System.IO.File]::WriteAllText("$pwd\newFile.csv", $reader.
ReadToEnd())
$reader.Close()

Adding a header line to a text file:

For example, you have list of employee IDs in a text file:

14562

67578

65888

$filep = "c:\file.txt"
$getNetworkID = Get-Content $filep | where { $_ -ne "" }
@("Employeeid") +  $getNetworkID | Set-Content  $filep -Force
#add emplyeeidheader

R
 egex
There are situations where you need to use regex for performing certain
match operations inside your scripts.

Tip You can use https://regex101.com/ to test any regex

before using it.

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Chapter 10 Gluing It All Together

This is how you use it in PowerShell and it will be used mainly with
match operators. See Figures 10-6 and 10-7.

$regexemail = "^\w+([-+.']\w+)*@\w+([-.]\w+)*\.\w+([-.]\w+)*$"
"[email protected]" -match $regexemail

Figure 10-6. Showing regular expression testing

Figure 10-7. Showing a regular expression operation in

PowerShell

130
 Chapter 10 Gluing It All Together

Sno. Regex Cheat Comments

1 Receipt_[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9] Contains Reciept_7didgit

[0-9][0-9][0-9]\.doc number.doc
2 (Tickets issued to)(.*)(for Tickets issued to Vikas Sukhija for
travel) travel
3 (.*)Aborted_payment_(.*) Tell Aborted_payment_(Y075958)
4 (.*)(\([A-Z][0-9][0-9][0-9] (Y782714)
[0-9][0-9][0-9])\)
5 (.*)[0-9]{2}[A-Z]{1}[0-9]{6} Critical_alert_-_36B881478
6 (?<=V0)(.*)(?=a) V01234a
7 ^\d+$ For finding an integer
8 ^0+$ For finding an integer with 000000
9 ^\w+([-+.']\w+)*@\w+([-.]\ For email
w+)*\.\w+([-.]\w+)*$

S
 ummary
This is the last chapter of this book and it was all about how you can
combine different snippets and make a script that can do a bulk load of
work. I have shared different product examples that can be used by system
administrators in their daily work. More scripts and hundreds of examples
are available at https://techwizard.cloud/downloads/.

131
Index
A, B installation, 53
LaunchSPO, 57
Active Directory module
on-premise commands, 55
attributes, 111
on-premise server, 57
components, 109
password encryption
excel reporting, 111–117
active directory module, 64
exporting group members, 110
CSV file, 62
module, 118
get-auth source code, 60, 61
Quest management shell, 109,
Get-IniContent, 62, 63
110, 117
INI file, 62
remove members, 118, 119
PS credentials, 61
scripting, 109
random password, 63
Azure Active Directory (AD), 125
save-encrypted command,
administrators, 127
59, 60
checking process, 127
SharePoint online, 57
provisioning errors, 128
source code, 57, 58
remove option, 126
system admin functions, 54
user adding, 126
write-log function, 58, 59
Comma-separated values (CSV)
Compare-Object, 98
C reports, 77–80
Cheat module (vsadmin) Compare-Object
authentication prompt, 56 arrays, 94
commands, 54 cheat code, 94
features, 52 CSV files, 98
files, 53 remove operation, 95
Get-MailBox command, 56 synchronizing code, 96, 97

© Vikas Sukhija 2022 133

V. Sukhija, PowerShell Fast Track, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-7759-1
Index

D I, J, K
Date/log files Import-CSV (comma-separated
folder structure, 21, 22 values)
formatting option, 18 array, 36
get-date command, 17 dot sourcing option, 34
log (see Log files) source code, 33
manipulation, 19, 20 text files, 35, 36
ready-made (see Ready-­made Interactive input, 37
functions) read-host operation, 37–39
source code, 18 GUI button, 40–44
types, 17 parameters, 39
script execution, 39
Yes/No operation, 45–47
E, F, G
Email sending
formatted message L
body, 66, 67 Log files, Write-Log function, 27
HTML, 67–69
source code, 65
Error reporting, 71 M, N
email, 71 Microsoft exchange
error logging, 76 active sync stats, 106
log errors/text file, 75, 76 clean database, 105
send-email function, 72–74 disconnected mailboxes, 105
transcript logging, 74, 75 exchange quota
Excel reporting, 80–85 report, 107, 108
extract message, 106
message tracking, 106
H search mailbox/delete
Hypertext Markup Language messages, 107
(HTML), 67–69, 86–90 set quota, 109

134
 Index

Modules variables, 4
cheat codes, 52 loops, 8
definition, 50 do-while, 12
gallery, 50 for loops, 9–12
list of, 52 foreach loop, 9
module path, 51 while, 12–14
products, 50 variable/printing, 2–4
upgrade option, 51 write-host variable, 3

O R
Office 365 Ready-made functions
mailbox report, 123, 124 set-recyclelogs function, 27–31
message tracking, 124 start-ProgressBar
unified audit logging, 125 function, 31, 32
vsadmin/separate functions, timeout cmdlet, 32
119–123 write-log function, 22–27
Regex, 129–131
Regular expression
P, Q testing, 130
split keyword, 91, 92 Replace operation, 93
PowerShell versions Reporting, 77
array illustration, 3 cheat code, 81
definition, 1 CSV
email sending, 65 execution result, 79
functions, 14–16 multiple sources, 78
if/else/switch multi-value attributes, 80
conditional/logical on-premise shell, 78
operators, 6 scripting code, 77
greater than operator, 4 transport logs, 80
-gt variable, 5 CSV-to-Excel conversion, 84
less than operator, 5 excel module, 80–85
logical operators, 7, 8 HTML dashboards, 85–90
-lt variable, 6 import-excel module, 85

135
Index

S actual operation, 101

ADDUserstoGroup
Scripting, see Email sending
FromText.ps1, 104
Select-String operation, 94, 95
cheat code template, 102–104
Snapins, 47
headers, 100
exchange sever, 47
production environment, 104
get-pssnapin, 49
source code, 100
management shell, 48
users text file, 99
script/session, 49
vsadmin module, 100

T, U
Text/CSV file operations, 128 V, W, X, Y, Z
Text file Vsadmin module, see Cheat
account names, 99 module (vsadmin)

136