VBScript: Introduction for Beginners (5 day)

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Course Overview

By leveraging Windows automation technologies, organisations can lower their Total Cost of Ownership and improve administrative processes. In this hands-on course, you gain practical experience exploiting Windows scripting technologies to automate common administrative tasks, effectively manage resources and deliver solutions via the Web.

You Will Learn How To:

• Automate common Windows administrative tasks using scripting technologies
• Use VBScript and other languages in the Windows Script Host
• Automate large-scale Active Directory (AD) changes using ADSI
• Manage Windows configurations with Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
• Develop Web-based management solutions using ASP and client-side scripts
• Extend scripting solutions with widely available components

Audience

Experienced administrators seeking to more efficiently manage Windows systems. Knowledge at the level of Course 595, "Windows Server 2003 Comprehensive Introduction", and Course 597, "Deploying and Managing Windows Server 2003", is required. Scripting experience is also recommended.

Skills Gained

You gain practical experience automating administrative tasks in a Windows operating system. Exercises include:

• Publishing resources in the Active Directory
• Setting up self-populating groups
• Searching for and updating objects in the directory
• Performing a hardware inventory
• Reading, writing and rotating event logs
• Creating, sharing and securing folders programmatically
• Setting local and domain user passwords
• Documenting the shared folders on all servers

Prerequisites

Scripting experience is recommended.

Course Outline

Introduction and Overview

• Increased administrator productivity
• Improved IT service delivery
• Sophisticated custom management tools

Exploiting the Windows Script Host (WSH)

Using scripting languages with WSH

• Writing code in VBScript
• Running scripts in Cscript and Wscript
• Debugging scripts
• Adopting alternative scripting engines

Managing the file system

• Creating and managing files and folders with the FileSystemObject
• Reading and writing files
• Mapping network drives

Controlling the user interface

• Developing scripts with a graphical user interface (GUI)
• Receiving and processing arguments
• Creating command line utilities

Managing Directories using Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI)

Accessing the Active Directory

• Binding to directory objects using LDAP
• Reading and writing directory object attributes
• Manipulating objects with ADSI methods

Working with SAM databases

• Managing NT 4.0 domains with the WinNT provider
• Modifying local SAM databases, shares and services
• Resetting local user account passwords and modifying local group membership

Automating user creation and updates

• Adding and moving user objects
• Searching for users with SQL queries
• Importing user information from external sources
• Updating common user attributes

Controlling group membership

• Adding and deleting users
• Automating group updates with Scheduled Tasks

Configuring Computers with Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

Defining Windows settings

• Setting page file size
• Changing event log sizes
• Assigning volume labels

Collecting workstation information

• Performing a hardware inventory
• Querying for driver settings
• Reading Windows Installer Service configuration data

Automating computer management

• Scheduling event log rotation
• Changing network settings
• Detecting and restarting stopped services
• Installing software on remote machines
• Terminating remote processes

Responding to events

• Building a WMI subscriber
• Alerting administrators to potential problems

Delivering Solutions via the Web

Sharing data on the Web

• Saving script results as HTML
• Posting reports on the Web server

Embedding scripts within a Web page

• Enabling user account self-service
• Reconfiguring workstations with client-side JScripts

Extending Scripting Solutions

Leveraging Microsoft COM objects

• Sending e-mails using Collaboration Data Objects (CDO)
• Managing Exchange using CDO for Exchange (CDOEX)
• Modifying Windows Explorer views with the shell object
• Incorporating standard file management dialogues

Incorporating third-party COM objects

• Configuring security using SetACL
• Finding the COM objects you need

Follow On Courses

• 599 Securing Windows Server 2003
• 597 Deploying and Managing Windows Server 2003
• 559 Windows Server 2003 AD Troubleshooting
• 598 Troubleshooting Windows Server 2003 Environments
• 528 Systems Management Server 2003
• 596 Windows Server 2003 Active Directory

VBScript: Introduction for Beginners (5 day) / 558