Reading and Resolving PowerShell Errors

Reading and Resolving PowerShell Errors - Part 8

This is part 8 of my series of the most common PowerShell errors that are made in my PowerShell classes. I will be posting one a day to help you understand why an error occurred and what the error’s meaning is.

Today’s error: No data returned from a remote command

Here is our starting code:

Invoke-Command -ComputerName DC, SVR1 -ScriptBlock {

Param ($ID, $MT)

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Logicaldisk |

Where {$_.DeviceID -eq $ID -and $_.MediaType -eq $MT}

} -ArgumentList 12,"C:"

And here is the full error:

There is no error except nothing comes back.

Resolution:

Change the order of the arguments.

In this example, we are passing information from the local device to the remote device. The problem is in order of information being passed from the –ArgumentList to the PARAM() variables. They are being passed in the wrong order. The first item in the –ArgumentList will be past to the first variable in the PARAM() list. The second to the second and so on and so forth.

I have had people argue with me that they should be able to choose which value is saved to which variable. Well, you do. This is an ordered list. Order it correctly.

Invoke-Command -ComputerName DC, SVR1 -ScriptBlock {

Param ($ID, $MT)

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Logicaldisk |

Where {$_.DeviceID -eq $ID -and $_.MediaType -eq $MT}

} -ArgumentList "C:",12

DeviceID DriveType ProviderName VolumeName Size FreeSpace PSComputerName

-------- --------- ------------ ---------- ---- --------- --------------

C: 3 10368315392 1352790016 DC

C: 3 10368315392 2048032768 SVR1

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