Test your scripts without your profile

Many of you who have taken my PowerShell class may remember that I strongly advocate to not use person aliases in your scripts. They are fine for shell use, but not in scripts. This is for two reasons. The first reason is that they make your scripts less readable to others. These are your personal aliases that no help file exists for. The second, and most important, is that your scripts are not portable. For someone else to use a script with your custom alias in it, they would have to add to their profile the code to create your alias. If you do utilize aliases, you will want to load a PowerShell session that does not load your profile to test your script prior to delivery. This way you will know for sure if your script is portable or not with regards to aliases. To add code to make sure the other client as the modules that you need, check out my code for Confirm-Module.

To open a PowerShell session without your profile:

PowerShell.exe –NoProfile

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How to list all the AD LDS instances on a server

AD LDS allows you to provide directory services to applications that are free of the confines of Active Directory. To list all the AD LDS instances on a server, follow this procedure: Log into the server in question Open a command prompt. Type dsdbutil and press Enter Type List Instances and press Enter . You will receive a list of the instance name, both the LDAP and SSL port numbers, the location of the database, and its status.

How to run GPResult on a remote client with PowerShell

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.

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 .

Jason Yoder, MCT

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