Skip to main content

Is there a way to mark all AD objects Delete protected in mass?

By

In Windows Server 2008, a new feature is available to protect your Active Directory objects from being accidentally deleted. To view this feature:

· Open Active Directory Users and Computers

· Click View à Advanced Features

· Expand your domain.

· Right click and OU and select Properties.

· Click the Object tab.

· You will see a check box marked Protect object from accidental deletion.

The need for this protection rose from administrators accidently removed critical objects from Active Directory. With the only route to recovery being an authoritive restore from backup, this was a problem.

The question in class was how to mark all objects as protected? We attempted to select multiple objects of the same class and the open their properties. The Object tab is not available with multiple objects selected. The next idea was to turn to PowerShell.

On Windows Server 2008 R2, you have an option from the Start menu to open PowerShell Modules. This simply loads additional cmdlets into your PowerShell session. The cmdlets we were interested in are Get-ADOrganizationalUnit, Get-ADUser, Get-ADComputer, Get-ADGroups, Set-ADOrganizationalUnit, Set-ADUser, Set-ADComputer, and Set-ADGroups.

First we can enumerate the properties of the current Organizational Units and expose the setting for the ProtectFromAccidentlDeletion attribute.

Get-ADOrganizationalUnit –filter {name –like “*”} –properties ProtectFromAccidentalDeletion

This will generate a list of all the OUs and expose the current status of the ProtectFromAccidentalDeletion attribute. A setting of False means that it is turned off. To set the attribute to True for all the OUs:

Get-ADOrganizationalUnit –filter {name –like “*”} –properties ProtectFromAccidentalDeletion | where {$_.ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion –eq $false} | Set-ADOrganizationalUnit -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion $true

This command will first enumerate all the OUs in Active Directory. It then pipes the results to the Where statement. This statement filters out any OUs that has the protection attribute set to True and sends the rest to the next command. In this case, the set command changes the flag on the ProtectFromAccidentalDeletion from $False to $True. At this point, all your OUs are protected.

You would assume that running the above commands with Get-ADUser and Set-ADUser would do the same for the user objects. Even though you can expose the ProtectFromAccidentalDeletion attribute with Get-ADUser, you cannot change the attribute with Set-ADUser. By typing the following command, Get-Help Set-ADUser –Detailed you will see all the attributes that you can set with the Set-ADUser cmdlet. ProtectFromAccidentalDeletion is not listed. The same holds true for Set-ADComputer and Set-ADGroups.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd723677(WS.10).aspx

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Use the following instead
get-ADobject -filter * -searchbase "DC=yodomain,DC=co,DC=com" | Set-adobject -ProtectedFromAccidentalDeletion $true
December 12, 2012 at 12:57 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sticky Key problem between Windows Server 2012 and LogMeIn

By
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 .
6 comments
Read more

Where did a User’s Account Get Locked Out?

By
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...
18 comments
Read more

How to run GPResult on a remote client with PowerShell

By
In the past, to run the GPResult command, you would need to either physically visit this client, have the user do it, or use and RDP connection.  In all cases, this will disrupt the user.  First, you need PowerShell remoting enabled on the target machine.  You can do this via Group Policy . Open PowerShell and type this command. Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock {GPResult /r} –ComputerName <ComputerName> Replace <ComputerName> with the name of the target.  Remember, the target needs to be online and accessible to you.
Post a Comment
Read more