Deployment of Automation Setup for Windows Networked PCs using Powershell

Populate ARP table of Network via pinging to each devices

• Run as Administrator in Powershell ISE

  Change -Count for faster pinging

  # Define the base IP and subnet$baseIP="10.88.18."$startRange=1$endRange=254# Loop through all possible IPs in the subnetfor ($i=$startRange; $i-le$endRange; $i++) {
  $currentIP="$baseIP$i"# Test the connection (ping) and select only the StatusCode property$pingResult=Test-Connection-ComputerName $currentIP-Count 1-Quiet
  # Check if the ping was successfulif ($pingResult) {
  Write-Output"$currentIP is reachable."
  } else {
  Write-Output"$currentIP is not reachable."
  }
  }
  

  This file stores your credentials securely and can only be decrypted by the same user on the same machine.

Powershell script to restart multiple PCs at same time

• Change IPaddress

  # Path to the file containing the list of IP addresses$ipFilePath="C:\path\to\ip.txt"# Read the IP addresses from the file into a variable$computers=Get-Content$ipFilePath# Prompt for credentials to connect to the remote machines$credential=Get-Credential# Loop through each IP address and restart themforeach ($computerin$computers) {
  try {
  # Print message to indicate restart is startingWrite-Host"Attempting to restart $computer..."# Restart the computer using the IP addressRestart-Computer-ComputerName $computer-Force -Credential $credential-ErrorAction Stop
  # Print success messageWrite-Host"$computer has been successfully restarted."
  }
  catch {
  # Print error message if restart failsWrite-Host"Failed to restart $computer. Error: $_"-ForegroundColor Red
  }
  }
  # Final messageWrite-Host"All restart commands have been sent."

  This script will restart Computer1, Computer2, and Computer3 immediately (/r for restart, /t 0 to restart with no delay).

Powershell script to Shutdown multiple PCs at the same time

• Change IPaddress

  # Path to the file containing the list of IP addresses$ipFilePath="C:\path\to\ip.txt"# Read the IP addresses from the file into a variable$computers=Get-Content$ipFilePath# Prompt for credentials to connect to the remote machines$credential=Get-Credential# Loop through each IP address and shut them downforeach ($computerin$computers) {
  try {
  # Print message to indicate shutdown is startingWrite-Host"Attempting to shut down $computer..."# Shut down the computer using the IP addressStop-Computer-ComputerName $computer-Force -Credential $credential-ErrorAction Stop
  # Print success messageWrite-Host"$computer has been successfully shut down."
  }
  catch {
  # Print error message if shutdown failsWrite-Host"Failed to shut down $computer. Error: $_"-ForegroundColor Red
  }
  }
  # Final messageWrite-Host"All shutdown commands have been sent."

  This script will shutdown the PC mentioned in the IP.txt files immediately.

Create the Excel File for IP_address & MAC_address = NetworkDevices.csv

• Find the IP address and populate the ARP table

  Change lines 3,4 : ” $startRange = 1 $endRange = 254” range if you estimate the range and save time Change line 2 : ” $baseIP = “10.88.18.” for appropriate network.

  # Output file path$outputFile="C:\Users\Octopus\Desktop\NetworkDevices.csv"# Initialize an empty array to store results$networkDevices=@()
  # Run the arp command and capture the output$arpTable= arp -a -N 10.88.18.__# Parse the output to extract IP and MAC addresses$arpTable|ForEach-Object {
  if ($_-match"(\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3})\s+([a-fA-F0-9-]{17})") {
  $macAddress=$matches[2] -replace"-",":"$device= [PSCustomObject]@{
  IP=$matches[1]
  MACAddress=$macAddress
  }
  $networkDevices+=$device
  }
  }
  # Export the results to a CSV file$networkDevices|Export-Csv-Path $outputFile-NoTypeInformation
  Write-Host"IP and MAC addresses have been saved to $outputFile"

  This Script pings each IP once; you can modify the-Countparameter to increase the number of ping attempts. The Script will not ping the network and broadcast addresses (10.88.18.0and10.88.18.255) which are typically not assigned to hosts.

  # Define the path to the IP addresses file$ipListFile="C:\Users\Helheim\Desktop\ip_addresses.txt"# Read the IP addresses from the file$ipAddresses=Get-Content-Path $ipListFile# Define the username and password$username=""$password=""# Open RDP for each IP addressforeach ($ipin$ipAddresses) {
  # Create a secure string for the password$securePassword=ConvertTo-SecureString$password-AsPlainText -Force
  # Create a credential object$credential=New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential($username,$securePassword)
  # Start RDP session
  mstsc /v:$ip
  }
  

  This script will start the RDP-GUI connection with Username and Password given..

Make the static Static IP based on the Device Name = NLUK0XXXXT0YY

• Copy and paste this Powershell script to each till and execute.

  Nothing to Change

  # Get the current computer's device name (hostname)$deviceName= [System.Net.Dns]::GetHostName()
  Write-Host"Device Name: $deviceName"# Define the IP configuration based on the device name format "NLUK0XXXXT0YY"if ($deviceName-match"^NLUK0(\d{4})T0(\d{2})$") {
  $xxxx=$matches[1] # Extract the 4-digit XXXX$yy= [int]$matches[2] # Convert YY to an integer to remove leading zeros# Construct the static IP based on the format 10.XX.XX.YY$xx1= [int]$xxxx.Substring(0,2) # First two digits of XXXX$xx2= [int]$xxxx.Substring(2,2) # Last two digits of XXXX$staticIP="10.$xx1.$xx2.$yy"$subnetMask="255.255.255.0"$defaultGateway="10.$xx1.$xx2.100"$preferredDNS="10.96.200.170"$alternateDNS="10.80.205.18"# Get all active adapters and select the top active one$ethernetAdapter=Get-NetAdapter|Where-Object { $_.Status-eq"Up" } |Select-Object-First 1if ($ethernetAdapter) {
  $interfaceIndex=$ethernetAdapter.ifIndexWrite-Host"Using Adapter: $($ethernetAdapter.Name), Interface Index: $interfaceIndex"# Check if the IP already exists on the interface$existingIP=Get-NetIPAddress-InterfaceIndex $interfaceIndex-AddressFamily IPv4 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |Where-Object { $_.IPAddress-eq$staticIP }
  if ($existingIP) {
  Write-Host"Removing existing IP address: $($existingIP.IPAddress)"Remove-NetIPAddress-InterfaceIndex $interfaceIndex-IPAddress $existingIP.IPAddress-Confirm:$false-ErrorAction Stop
  }
  # Set the static IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway for the adapterWrite-Host"Setting Static IP: $staticIP"New-NetIPAddress-InterfaceIndex $interfaceIndex-IPAddress $staticIP-PrefixLength 24-DefaultGateway $defaultGateway-ErrorAction Stop
  # Set the preferred and alternate DNS serversWrite-Host"Setting DNS Servers: $preferredDNS, $alternateDNS"Set-DnsClientServerAddress-InterfaceIndex $interfaceIndex-ServerAddresses $preferredDNS,$alternateDNS-ErrorAction Stop
  Write-Host"Static IP configuration applied to adapter: $($ethernetAdapter.Name) with IP: $staticIP"
  }
  else {
  Write-Host"No active network adapter found on $deviceName"
  }
  } else {
  Write-Host"Device name does not match the required format: NLUK0XXXXT0YY"
  }
  

  This Script will does the static IP of PC and it will disconnect from RDP.

Make the static Static IP based on the Device Name = NLUK0XXXXW00Y

• Copy and paste this Powershell script to each server and execute.

  Nothing to Change

  # Get the current server's device name (hostname)$deviceName= (Get-ComputerInfo).CsName
  # Define the regex pattern to extract XXXX from the device name "NLUK0XXXXW001"if ($deviceName-match"^NLUK0(\d{4})W001$") {
  $xxxx=$matches[1] # Extract the XXXX part# Split XXXX into two parts$xx1= [int]$xxxx.Substring(0,2) # Convert first two digits to integer to remove leading zeros$xx2= [int]$xxxx.Substring(2,2) # Convert last two digits to integer to remove leading zeros$y=52# Fixed last octet# Construct the static IP based on the format 10.XX1.XX2.Y$staticIP="10.$xx1.$xx2.$y"$subnetMask="255.255.255.0"$defaultGateway="10.$xx1.$xx2.100"# Default gateway ending in .100$preferredDNS="10.96.200.170"$alternateDNS="10.80.205.18"if ($ethernetAdapter) {
  $interfaceIndex=$ethernetAdapter.ifIndexWrite-Host"Using Adapter: $($ethernetAdapter.Name), Interface Index: $interfaceIndex"# Check if the IP already exists on the interface$existingIP=Get-NetIPAddress-InterfaceIndex $interfaceIndex-AddressFamily IPv4 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |Where-Object { $_.IPAddress-eq$staticIP }
  if ($existingIP) {
  Write-Host"Removing existing IP address: $($existingIP.IPAddress)"Remove-NetIPAddress-InterfaceIndex $interfaceIndex-IPAddress $existingIP.IPAddress-Confirm:$false-ErrorAction Stop
  }
  # Set the static IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway for the Ethernet adapterNew-NetIPAddress-InterfaceIndex $interfaceIndex-IPAddress $staticIP-PrefixLength 24-DefaultGateway $defaultGateway# Set the preferred and alternate DNS serversSet-DnsClientServerAddress-InterfaceIndex $interfaceIndex-ServerAddresses $preferredDNS,$alternateDNSWrite-Host"Static IP configuration applied: $staticIP on device $deviceName"
  } else {
  Write-Host"No active Ethernet adapter found on $deviceName"
  }
  } else {
  Write-Host"Device name does not match the required format: NLUK0XXXXW001"
  }
  

  This Script will does the static IP of server and it will disconnect from RDP.

Installs necessary modules on the Host machine = prerequisite.ps1

💡

Run this script with ADMIN privileges.

• SetupPrerequisite.ps1

  # Check if running as AdministratorIf (-NOT ([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal] [Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole] "Administrator"))
  {
  Write-Warning"You do not have Administrator rights to run this script!`nPlease re-run this script as an Administrator!"exit
  }
  # Install ImportExcel moduleWrite-Host"Installing ImportExcel module..."Install-Module-Name ImportExcel -Scope CurrentUser -Force -Confirm:$false-SkipPublisherCheck
  # Install Selenium moduleWrite-Host"Installing Selenium module..."Install-Module-Name Selenium -Scope CurrentUser -Force -Confirm:$false-SkipPublisherCheck
  # Download Microsoft Edge WebDriverWrite-Host"Downloading Microsoft Edge WebDriver..."$webDriverUrl="https://msedgedriver.azureedge.net/114.0.1823.79/edgedriver_win64.zip"$outputPath="C:\WebDriver"$outputFile="$outputPath\edgedriver.zip"# Create directory for WebDriver if it doesn't existif (-Not (Test-Path-Path $outputPath)) {
  New-Item-ItemType Directory -Path $outputPath
  }
  Invoke-WebRequest-Uri $webDriverUrl-OutFile $outputFileWrite-Host"Extracting WebDriver..."Expand-Archive-Path $outputFile-DestinationPath $outputPath-Force
  # Add WebDriver to system PATH$env:Path+=";$outputPath"
  [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path",$env:Path, [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine)
  Write-Host"Setup completed successfully!"

  

  This output should you get!

Create the PreDeployment Script = PreDeployScript.ps1

• For installing Prerequisite on the desired IP address (always modify the file NetworkDevices.csv )

  It is easy to put all the files in one folder. Change line 4: path to NetworkDevices.csv Change line 8: path to prerequisite.ps1 Change line 11: path to credentials.xml

  # Import the ImportExcel moduleImport-Module ImportExcel
  # Path to the Excel file$excelFilePath="C:\path\to\NetworkDevices.csv"# Path to the setup script$setupScriptPath="C:\path\to\prerequisite.ps1"# Path to the credentials file$credFilePath="C:\path\to\credentials.xml"# Import credentials$cred=Import-CliXml-Path $credFilePath# Read the IP addresses from the Excel file$ipAddresses=Import-Excel-Path $excelFilePath|Select-Object-ExpandProperty IP
  # Loop through each IP address and run the setup scriptforeach ($ipin$ipAddresses) {
  Write-Host"Deploying to $ip..."Invoke-Command-ComputerName $ip-Credential $cred-ScriptBlock {
  param($setupScriptPath)
  # Ensure the execution policy is setSet-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser -Force
  # Execute the setup script&$setupScriptPath
  } -ArgumentList $setupScriptPath-ErrorAction Stop
  }
  Write-Host"Deployment completed on all machines."

  Script reads the IP addresses from the Excel file : NetworkDevices.csv , retrieves the stored “IP_address” , and executes prerequisite.ps1 on each remote machine.

Execute the Deployment

💡Run the Deployment Script

• Open PowerShell as an administrator.
• Execute the deployment script:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
.\PreDeployScript.ps1

Summary

• Credentials: Stored securely in credentials.xml for remote access.
• Setup Script: prerequisite.ps1 installs necessary modules.
• Deployment Script: PreDeployScript.ps1 automates the execution of prerequisite.ps1 on each machine listed in the Excel file using the stored credentials on credentials.xml.
• Execution: Run the DeployScript.ps1 to deploy the setup script across multiple machines, using IP addresses from the Excel file.