Automate the installation of Active Directory tools with PowerShell

Import-Module Servermanager
Get-WindowsFeature
Add-WindowsFeature RSAT-DNS-Server -restartAdd-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS-Tools -restart
Add-WindowsFeature RSAT-AD-AdminCenter -restart
Add-WindowsFeature RSAT-SNIS -restart

Note: These features require Windows to be restarted, so be advised that Windows may restart without prompting when passing the command to add these features in through PowerShell.

SQL 2008 database Backup and Restore process

Method:
1.Full
2.Differential
3.Transaction Log
4.File and File group backup

Data critical situation level is high. We could use the backup pattern below:
Sun Mon Tue Web Thu Fri Sat
F D D D D D D
T T T T T T
F: weekly Sunday
D: daily Mon, Tue, Web, Thu, Fri, Sat
T: per office hour

Create a backup device
w/ management studio
Server object -> New backup device -> File -> input the name and the location of the backup file

w/ store procedure
use master
exec sp_addumpdevice 'disk', 'MYDATA', 'c:\backup\mydata.bak' //create
exec sp_dropdevice 'disk', 'c:\backup\mydata.bak' //delete
go

Create a backup task
w/ management studio
Server object -> backup database

Setting schedule backup
1.start the sql server agent
start -> all programs -> microsoft sql server 2008 -> configuration tools -> sql server configuration manager -> find 'sql server agent' service
-> start
-> properties -> start method -> automatic

2.start agent xps option
sp_configure 'show advanced options',

go
reconfigure
go
sp_configure 'Agent XPs', 1
go
reconfigure
go

3. create schedule task for automatic backup
w/ management studio
Manage -> Maintenance plan -> maintenance plan wizard -> next -> name 'weekly full', schedule 'change' -> setup the date you need to do the full backup -> choose backup method 'full' -> next -> choose the database you need to backup, check verify backup integrity -> finish.

w/ T-sql
backup database AdventureWorks
to mybackup
with stats = 20

with options
blocksize = if you need to burn the file on a CD, set to 2048, use with format
name = backup set name
description = set backup description
differential: do the differential only, if not set this parameter, full as default
format | no format: set if overwrite the existing backup
compression | no_compression: if need to compress the backup or not, not set as system default value
nounload | unload: set when backup is finished, need to unload the tape or not
restart: if there is a power failure when doing backup, set this option to restart the backup job
stats: sql server is 10% by default, view the backup process percentage frequency

Basic Windows PowerShell commands you should already know

1: Get-Help

The first PowerShell cmdlet every administrator should learn is Get-Help. You can use this command to get help with any other command. For example, if you want to know how the Get-Process command works, you can type:

Get-Help -Name Get-Process

and Windows will display the full-command syntax.

You can also use Get-Help with individual nouns and verbs. For example, to find out all the commands you can use with the Get verb, type:

Get-Help -Name Get-*

2: Set-ExecutionPolicy

Although you can create and execute PowerShell scripts, Microsoft has disabled scripting by default in an effort to prevent malicious code from executing in a PowerShell environment. You can use the Set-ExecutionPolicy command to control the level of security surrounding PowerShell scripts. Four levels of security are available to you:

• Restricted — Restricted is the default execution policy and locks PowerShell down so that commands can be entered only interactively. PowerShell scripts are not allowed to run.


• All Signed — If the execution policy is set to All Signed then scripts will be allowed to run, but only if they are signed by a trusted publisher.


• Remote Signed — If the execution policy is set to Remote Signed, any PowerShell scripts that have been locally created will be allowed to run. Scripts created remotely are allowed to run only if they are signed by a trusted publisher.



• Unrestricted — As the name implies, Unrestricted removes all restrictions from the execution policy.

You can set an execution policy by entering the Set-ExecutionPolicy command followed by the name of the policy. For example, if you wanted to allow scripts to run in an unrestricted manner you could type:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

3: Get-ExecutionPolicy

If you’re working on an unfamiliar server, you’ll need to know what execution policy is in use before you attempt to run a script. You can find out by using the Get-ExecutionPolicy command.

4: Get-Service

The Get-Service command provides a list of all the services that are installed on the system. If you are interested in a specific service, you can append the -Name switch and the name of the service (wildcards are permitted). When you do, Windows will show you the service’s state.

5: ConvertTo-HTML

PowerShell can provide a wealth of information about the system, but sometimes you need to do more than just view the information onscreen. Sometimes, it’s helpful to create a report you can send to someone. One way of accomplishing this is by using the ConvertTo-HTML command.

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To use this command, simply pipe the output from another command into the ConvertTo-HTML command. You will have to use the -Property switch to control which output properties are included in the HTML file and you will have to provide a filename.

To see how this command might be used, think back to the previous section, where we typed Get-Service to create a list of every service that’s installed on the system. Now imagine that you want to create an HTML report that lists the name of each service along with its status (regardless of whether the service is running). To do so, you could use the following command:

Get-Service | ConvertTo-HTML -Property Name, Status > C:\services.htm

6: Export-CSV

Just as you can create an HTML report based on PowerShell data, you can also export data from PowerShell into a CSV file that you can open using Microsoft Excel. The syntax is similar to that of converting a command’s output to HTML. At a minimum, you must provide an output filename. For example, to export the list of system services to a CSV file, you could use the following command:

Get-Service | Export-CSV c:\service.csv

7: Select-Object

If you tried using the command above, you know that there were numerous properties included in the CSV file. It’s often helpful to narrow things down by including only the properties you are really interested in. This is where the Select-Object command comes into play. The Select-Object command allows you to specify specific properties for inclusion. For example, to create a CSV file containing the name of each system service and its status, you could use the following command:

Get-Service | Select-Object Name, Status | Export-CSV c:\service.csv

8: Get-EventLog

You can actually use PowerShell to parse your computer’s event logs. There are several parameters available, but you can try out the command by simply providing the -Log switch followed by the name of the log file. For example, to see the Application log, you could use the following command:

Get-EventLog -Log "Application"

Of course, you would rarely use this command in the real world. You’re more likely to use other commands to filter the output and dump it to a CSV or an HTML file.

9: Get-Process

Just as you can use the Get-Service command to display a list of all the system services, you can use the Get-Process command to display a list of all the processes that are currently running on the system.

10: Stop-Process

Sometimes, a process will freeze up. When this happens, you can use the Get-Process command to get the name or the process ID for the process that has stopped responding. You can then terminate the process by using the Stop-Process command. You can terminate a process based on its name or on its process ID. For example, you could terminate Notepad by using one of the following commands:

Stop-Process -Name notepad

Stop-Process -ID 2668

Keep in mind that the process ID may change from session to session.

Backdoor ways to reboot a Windows server

When you need to reboot a Windows server, you’ll occasionally encounter obstacles to making that happen. For instance, if remote desktop services aren’t working, how can you reboot the server? Here is a list of tricks I’ve collected over the years for rebooting or shutting down a system when I can’t simply go to the Start Menu in Windows.

• The shutdown.exe command: This gem will send a remote (or local) shutdown command to a system. Entering shutdown /r /m \\servername /f /t 10 will send a remote reboot to a system. Shutdown.exe is current on all modern Windows systems; in older versions, it was located on the Resource Kit. For more details, read this Microsoft KB article on the shutdown.exe command.



• PowerShell Restart-Computer: The equivalent of the command above in PowerShell is:
  
  Start-Sleep 10
  
  Restart-Computer -Force -ComputerName SERVERNAME


• Hardware management device: If a device such as an HP iLO or Dell DRAC is in use, there is a virtual power button and remote screen console tool to show the system’s state regardless of the state of the operating system. If these devices are not configured with new servers, it’s a good idea to have them configured in case the mechanisms within the operating system are not available.


• Virtual machine power button: If the system in question is a virtual machine, all hypervisors have a virtual power button to reset the system. In VMware vSphere, be sure to select the option to Shut Down The Guest Operating System instead of the Power Off; this will make the call to VMware Tools to make it a clean shutdown. If that fails, the Power Off button will be the next logical step.



• Console walkthrough: In the situation where the server administrator does not have physical access to the system, walking someone through the process may be effective. For security reasons, basically a single user (domain or locally) can be created with the sole permission of rebooting the server. That person could log on as this temporary user, and then it is immediately destroyed after the local shutdown command is issued. Further, that temporary user could be created with a profile to run the reboot script on their logon to not have any interaction by the person assisting the server administrator.


• Configure a scheduled task through Group Policy: If you can’t access the system in any other mainstream way — perhaps the Windows Firewall is turned on and you can’t get in to turn it off — set a GPO to reconfigure the firewall state and slip in a reboot command in the form of the shutdown.exe command executing locally (removing the /m parameter from above). The hard part will be getting the GPO to deploy quickly.


• Enterprise system management packages: Packages such as Symantec’s Altiris and Microsoft System Center agents communicate to the management server and can receive a command to reboot the server.



• Pull the plug: This is definitely not an ideal approach, but it is effective. For physical servers, if a managed power strip with port control is available, a single system can have its power removed and restored.

What other backdoor ways have you used to reboot a Windows server? Share your comments in the discussion.

Ref: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/datacenter/?p=3562&tag=nl.e071