Table Of Content1
Windows Server 2019
Automation with
PowerShell Cookbook
Third Edition
Powerful ways to automate and manage Windows
administrative tasks
Thomas Lee
BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Windows Server 2019 Automation with
PowerShell Cookbook
Third Edition
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First published: March 2013
Second edition: September 2017
Third edition: February 2019
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ISBN 978-1-78980-853-7
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Foreword
"Take my money!"
"I'll buy it now!"
I was confused.
I was in front of a couple of hundred people presenting Monad (what later became
PowerShell) and some guy in the back of the room shouting, "Take my money!". That is how
I met Thomas Lee. After the talk, Thomas comes up to me and gave me a $20 bill with his
name on it and said that Monad was exactly what Windows administrators needed and it
was going to revolutionize the world and that he wanted to be the first person in line to buy it.
When I explained that it was going to be included as a free feature of Windows, Thomas said
that he didn't care, he wanted to be the first to buy it anyway.
I just double checked and I still have that $20 bill in my wallet. I've kept it with me for the last
17 years to remind myself what Thomas saw so clearly that day – PowerShell is a critically
important tool for every professional Windows administrator. I use the adjective "professional"
because there really are two different types of Windows administrators: professional and
non-professional. One of the reasons why Windows is so wildly successful is because non-
professional administrators could successfully set up and run it to for simple scenarios. If
you can click the Next button, then chances are that you can set up Windows successfully.
What Thomas correctly saw was that the world of "click-next" administration was limited and
that there was an increasing need for professional administrators that could understand
the specific needs of their scenario and could craft Windows to meet those needs. That task
needed a new tool. That task needed PowerShell.
If you are a professional administrator (or just a passionate power user), then you need to be
skilled in PowerShell and you need to know how the specific version of the operating system
you are working with is managed by PowerShell. Every version of Windows has added new
capabilities that can be managed by PowerShell. In this book, Thomas shows you how to get
the most of out your investment in Windows Server 2019 by explaining how to manage and
automate it using PowerShell. Automation means that you can figure out how to manage one
server and then use that script to manage 10s, 100s, 100,000s of other servers. It means
consistency, repeatability, and productivity. It is all about professional administration.
Over the years, I have had so many administrators thank me for PowerShell and tell me their
success stories. They were able to do things that saved the day, that their companies only
dreamed was possible and that their click-next co-workers could not. They were rewarded
with bonuses, raises, promotions, new jobs. I've had quite a few people tell me that they have
tripled their salaries because of learning PowerShell.
PowerShell makes YOU powerful.
Thomas was the first one to understand this with absolute clarity and has been with the team
from the beginning actively providing us feedback on what professional administrators needed
from PowerShell. Thomas's views of administration are very much reflected in PowerShell you
see today so I can think of few people better equipped to help you understand how to use this
wonderful tool to manage Windows Server 2019 so that you can deliver great value to your
company and get rewarded because of it.
Jeffrey Snover
Microsoft Technical Fellow
Contributors
About the author
Thomas Lee is a consultant/trainer/writer from England and has been in the IT business
since the late 1960's. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, Thomas joined
ComShare where he was a systems programmer building the Commander II time-sharing
operating system, a forerunner of today's Cloud computing paradigm. In the mid 1970's he
moved to ICL to work on the VME/K operating system. After a sabbatical in 1980/81, he
joined what is today known as Accenture, leaving in 1988 to run his own consulting and
training business, which is still active today.
Thomas holds numerous Microsoft certifications, including MCSE (one of the first in the world)
and later versions, MCT (25 years), and was awarded Microsoft's MVP award 17 times. He
lives today in a cottage in the English countryside with his family, a nice wine cellar, and a
huge collection of live recordings by The Grateful Dead and The Jerry Garcia band.
I'd first like to thank Jeffrey Snover of Microsoft for the invention of
PowerShell. I was lucky enough to be in the room the very first time he
presented what was then called Monad. His enthusiasm was infectious, and
over 15 years later I am still excited.
A huge thank you has to go to the Packt team: Meeta Rajani, Abhishek
Jadhav, Mohd Riyan Khan, and Danish Shaikh. You guys did a great job
getting this book out of the door and dealing with the issues that arose
during the writing. And thanks too to our most excellent tech reviewer
Alexander Wittig. Your reviews were always commendable.
As each recipe evolved, I would sometimes hit problems. I got a lot of help
from the Spiceworks community. Their PowerShell forum is a great source of
information and encouragement. If you have problems with PowerShell, this
is a great place to get a solution.
And finally, I have to thank my wonderful wife, Susan. She has been patient
as things progressed, she put up with my bad moods when progress was
not as smooth as desirable, and kept me sane when all around me was
craziness.
About the reviewer
Alex Wittig is a U.S. based Systems Engineer from Germany. He is a Spiceworks Hero
Award winner and Moderator at PowerShell. He holds a BSc in IT Security and about half a
pound worth of professional IT certifications. Coffee maven, cat stroker, internet fanatic and
lifelong learner.
He can be found on Twitter @alexvvittig.
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Table of Contents
Preface v
Chapter 1: Establishing a PowerShell Administrative Environment 1
Introduction 2
Installing RSAT tools on Window 10 and Windows Server 2019 2
Exploring package management 12
Exploring PowerShellGet and the PSGallery 16
Creating an internal PowerShell repository 25
Establishing a code-signing environment 30
Implementing Just Enough Administration 36
Chapter 2: Managing Windows Networking 45
Introduction 45
New ways to do old things 46
Configuring IP addressing 54
Installing and authorizing a DHCP server 57
Configuring DHCP scopes 59
Configuring IP addresses from static to DHCP 62
Configuring DHCP failover and load balancing 64
Configuring DNS servers, zones, and resource records 67
Chapter 3: Managing Windows Active Directory 75
Introduction 75
Installing Active Directory with DNS 76
Creating and managing AD users, groups, and computers 82
Adding users to AD via a CSV file 89
Creating a group policy object 92
Reporting on AD users 96
Finding expired computers and disabled users in AD 100
i
