Thursday, March 24, 2016

Cisco switches/routers : automate configuration backup

Hi mates,
a customer asked me how to automate the configuration backup for the internal switches. There are some 2950, 3750 , 3560 and so on.
Unfortunately there are a lot of non-free solutions but searching a little bit deeper I discovered that Cisco provides at least two different ways to do this.
So first of all you have to identify the server that will host the backup files.
Second identify which protocol you want to use to send, over the network, the backup to the selected server.
In my situation I've choose TFTP. There's a free TFTP server solution from Solarwind that is simple and works.
I've explained, briefly, two different solution : Kron and Archive.

With Kron you schedule an action to be done periodically. Kron does accept only EXEC CLI commands and, practically speaking, you will configure two different processes : a policy (that includes commands) and the scheduling (specifying the interval).

Friday, March 18, 2016

Powershell --> Powerquick : get (some) important remote pc info

Hi mates,
here again with a quick Powershell script that could help you during the day by day routine.
Some info to retrieve from a remote pc that could be useful for a massive software installation, to group specific computer with specific software installed, to......it's up to your fantasy.
Obviously you can find thousand of this kind of script on the internet but I feel the need to share, share and share......
Improve it without any limit.....

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Powershell --> Powerquick : change Active Directory attributes for a specific group of users

Hi mates,
quick and dirty tips : change Active Directory user account attributes......I needed to do it for and old Exchange 2003 environment.
Only to give you a fast and reliable solution.....nothing more.
Here you are :

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Powershell : manipulate Excel files

Hi mates,
I needed to manipulate some Excel files and merge some data with my customer's Active Directory.
The main goals were to :
1. be sure that the files were consistent
2. correct eventual anomalies
3. merge part of its contents with some specific fields of the Active Directory
Theoretically this is something that is usually made in accordance with the HR dept. In particular when they use a system the is totally different or separated from our main directory.
The fact is that for several purposes some fields needs to be populated : for example to assign budget or to split some costs between different sub-companies.