Starting to script in live environment

I’ve been practicing in my AD test environment using powershell and practicing programming concepts like variables, loops, and arrays.

In the fast-paced world of IT helpdesk support, efficiency and automation are key. My journey into PowerShell scripting began with a simple goal: streamline user management tasks to enhance productivity and accuracy.

Tackling Real-World Challenges

Recently, I handled four tickets involving 112 users who needed attribute changes before being added to an Active Directory (AD) access group for SAP access. SAP uses ERP systems, cloud services, and data analytics.

Starting Small: Building a Strong Foundation

Like many beginners, I started by scripting for individual users. My initial scripts focused on viewing user attributes and AD group memberships. This approach allowed me to verify the accuracy of my scripts and ensure that bulk operations wouldn’t cause unexpected issues.

Progressing to Batch Processing

With a solid foundation, I developed scripts to identify users missing specific attributes or AD group memberships. I then created scripts to add or modify single attributes and manage access groups seamlessly. Gradually, I moved from handling single users to small batches of three, incorporating variables and arrays to manage multiple users efficiently.

Scaling Up: Handling Larger Batches

As my confidence grew, I scaled my scripts to handle 10, then 30 users at a time. This expansion revealed challenges, such as incorrect display names and users not present in AD. To address these issues, I enhanced my scripts to search by email instead of display name and uses my single user scripts to double check or make granular changes.

Achieving Automation and Efficiency

Today, I have a robust PowerShell script capable of managing an infinite number of users. The next step is to integrate Excel sheets for dynamic input, allowing the script to draw user data automatically. This advancement was inspired by observing other IT team members successfully using similar techniques.

Sample Scripts

Here are a few examples of the scripts I developed:

# View a user's extensionAttribute10 by display name
$displayname = "John Doe"
$user = Get-ADUser -Filter {displayname -eq $displayname} -Properties extensionAttribute10
Write-Output "extensionAttribute10 for $displayname is: $($user.extensionAttribute10)"

# Add a user to a group if not already a member
$users = @("Neo", "Morpheous", "Cypher")
$group = "access_to_zion"
foreach ($user in $users) {
    $userGroups = Get-ADUser -Identity $user -Property MemberOf | Select-Object -ExpandProperty MemberOf
    if (-not ($userGroups -contains $group)) {
        Add-ADGroupMember -Identity $group -Members $user
        Write-Output "Added $group to $user"
    } else {
        Write-Output "$user already has $group"
    }
}

Lessons Learned

This journey taught me the importance of starting small, building a strong foundation, and gradually scaling up. By leveraging PowerShell, I’ve automated repetitive tasks, minimized errors, and provided timely support to our users. Moving forward, integrating more dynamic data sources will further enhance my scripting capabilities, ensuring even greater efficiency in our helpdesk operations.

Embracing PowerShell scripting has been a transformative experience, empowering me to contribute more effectively to my team and the organization as a whole.