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VBScript - For Windows Networks

Introduction to VBScript

This section provides you with free tutorials of VBScripts for Windows Server 2003/8 and XP and Windows 7.  Many of the scripts are designed to create and manipulate Windows Active Directory objects.  Each page has a tutorial explaining the methods you need to tackle a particular every-day network task.  In addition to the scripts themselves, I provide learning points to explain how the VBScript builds objects such as Users, Computers and Groups.

Please treat this page as a mini sitemap for free VBScript examples.

VBScript Sections

• Windows Server 2003/8 Active Directory Example Scripts
• Creating and Controlling Files with FSO
• WMI Scripts to automate and control your Windows network

Windows Server 2003/8 Active Directory Example Scripts

• Creating Users
• Creating Users from an Excel Spreadsheet
• Creating Users' Mailboxes
• Creating Contacts (Including from a Spreadsheet)
• Creating Contacts for Exchange (Adv)
• Creating Computers
• Creating Computers from an Excel Spreadsheet
• Resetting Passwords
• Forcing users to change password at next logon
• Enabling or disabling accounts with UserAccountControl
• Creating Groups Basic, Simple Method
• Creating Groups Advanced Method with CONST ADS_GROUP_TYPE
• Group Add Members
• Group Enumerate Members - Who is in the Group
• Group MemberOf - To which Group does the User Belong?

 ♦

Creating and Controlling Files with FSO (Scripting.FileSystemObject)

• Creating Folders - CreateFolder
• Creating Files - CreateFile
• Reading and Writing Data into Files - OpenTextFile
• Writing Filtered Event Logs to File

Registry

• RegRead - Introduction to RegRead
• RegRead - Read the Registry Advanced

WMI (Windows Management Interface)

WMI gives you the power to automatically collect hardware and software data.  View WMI as a pipe connecting magically to the secret inner cave of the Microsoft operating system.  This is a section for techies who want VBScripts to remotely control of their Windows networks.  Study root\cimv2 here:

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Why Script WMI with VBSCript?

One application for writing WMI is scripts is for hardware inventories.  For example, how many of our computers chassis are Desktops and how many are 'Pizza Boxes'? What are the cooling fans' specifications on the servers?  Who are the disk manufacturers of our servers in the Worcester office? 

For this and similar tasks, WMI has dozens of objects and hundreds of methods here are three examples:

1. Win32_SystemEnclosure - What type of chassis does your computer have?  See this week's script.
2. Win32_Keyboard - Worth a look.
3. Win32_SystemBios - See if there have been upgrades.

General Scripting Techniques

Each script has two missions:
a) A practical task that reveals properties of the Windows operating system.
b) A theoretical technique to demonstrate a pure VBScript command.

VBScript Background

VBScript in Windows Server 2003/8 conforms to the classic Object programming model.  Objects such as Users have properties for example 'givenName' and 'description'.  The most interesting part is the methods because they are used to manipulate the object, for instance, GetObject, CreateObject and ConnectObject.  More often than not, the goal of our script is to set a value for a particular properties, for example Object = User, Property = givenName, Value = Guy.

It can be hard to pin down VBScript.  There are no stand-alone executables, you do not compile VBScript as you would with C++.  How does it work, I can hear you asking.  Well VBScript works through a host WSH which reads plain scripts, compiles them and runs them.  This means what ever is in those scripts is what gets done.

WMI - Basics WMI - List Processes WMI - Start Process WMI - Terminate Process WMI - Start / Stop Services WMI - Memory

WMI Logical Disk WMI Physical Disk WMI Printers Event Log Administrator Event ID 672 Event Log Event ID 675

Author: Guy Thomas Copyright © 1999-2012 Computer Performance LTD All rights reserved.

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