PowerShell function to confirm if a module is present on a client.

PowerShell is designed to be expanded. For example, by adding the Group Policy module, you can utilize PowerShell to help manage the GPOs in your environment. Not all modules are installed on every Windows client/server. The function below is designed to help you determine if a module is present. To use it, simply call the Confirm-Module cmdlet with the name of the module as the parameter. The function will return a $TRUE if the module is present and a $FALSE if it is not.

.SYNOPSIS

Confirms if a module is available.

.DESCRIPTION

Confirms if the provided parameter is available on

the local client.

.PARAMETER ModuleName

The name of the module who’s presence is being checked.

.EXAMPLE

Confirm-Module ActiveDirectory

Checks to see if the ActiveDirectory module is

present on the local machine

Returns True is present and False if not.

.OUTPUTS

Boolean

.Link

Get-Module

.NOTES

============================================

Author: Jason A. Yoder, MCT

WebSite: www.MCTExpert.com

BlogSite: www.MCTExpert.Blogspot.com

============================================

Function Confirm-Module

{

Param ($ModuleName = $(Throw "You need to provide a module name."))

# Place the name of the module from Get-Module into

# the variable $Data

$Data = (Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name $ModuleName).name

# If the contents of $Data is equal to the variable

# $ModuleName, the module is present, return

# True. If not, return $False.

If ($Data -eq $ModuleName){Return $True}

Else {Return $False}

}

Comments

Sticky Key problem between Windows Server 2012 and LogMeIn

This week I instructed my first class using Windows Server 2012 accessed via LogMeIn and discovered a Sticky Key problem every time you press the Shift key. Here is my solution to resolve this. First off, in the Preferences of LogMeIn for the connection to the Windows Server, click General . Change the Keyboard and mouse priority to Host side user and click Apply at the bottom. On the Windows 2012 server, open the Control Panel – Ease of Access – Change how your keyboard works . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys . Click Set up Sticky Keys . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys when SHIFT is pressed five times . Click OK twice. If you are using Windows Server 2012 as a Hyper-V host, you will need to redo the Easy of Use settings on each guest operating system in order to avoid the Sticky Key Problem. Updated Information: March 20, 2013 If you continue to have problems, Uncheck Turn on Filter Keys .

Where did a User’s Account Get Locked Out?

Updated: May 15, 2015 When this article was originally published, two extra carriage returns were add causing the code to malfunction. The code below is correct. My client for this week’s PowerShell class had a really interesting question. They needed to know where an account is being locked out at. OK, interesting. Apparently users hop around clients and forget to log off, leading to eventual lock out of their accounts. The accounts can be unlocked, but are then relocked after Active Directory replication. This problem is solved in two parts. The first one is to modify the event auditing on the network. The second part is resolved with PowerShell. The first part involves creating a group policy that will encompass your Domain Controllers. In this GPO, make these changes. Expand Computer Configuration \ Policies \ Windows Settings \ Security Settings \ Advanced Audit Policy Configuration \ Audit Policies \ Account Management Double click User Account Management C...

Backup and Restore AD LDS with DSDBUTIL.exe

Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services allow you to create a directory service that allows applications to have access to user accounts, groups, and authentication similar to Active Directory Domain Services. The big advantage here is that the schema of the directory service will not be bound by the rules of an Active Directory database. Exchange 2007/2010, for example, use an instance of AD LDS on the Edge Transport Server to provide for user authentication from the internet. Because your Active Directory database is not exposed to the internet, this is more secure. Applications will handle most of the dirty work should they require AD LDS. You may want to make sure the database is being backed up and also have a restore plan in place. Should the database become corrupt, the application that uses that database will fail. This document will walk you through backing up and restoring an instance of AD LDS using the dsdbutil.exe command. Fi...

Jason Yoder, MCT

Search This Blog