Post #52,494
9/20/02 12:26:15 PM
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Windows scripting tools?
Anybody with experience using things like WinBatch? I've got a Exchange server move coming up that is going to affect about 500 remote staff. The last time we went thru this, our Exchange admin sent out instructions to the users on how to manually delete, recreate and reconfigure their Outlook user profiles. Our support calls went through the roof for a week or so afterwards. I have talked the Exchange admin into at least letting me try to automate the process with a scripting tool. What I'm looking for is something that I can use to examine the current profile, save a couple of values and then automatically do the delete, recreate and reconfigure steps using the saved values. Any ideas? Will have to work for Windows 95, win 98, win 2000 and for Outlook 98, Outlook 2000 and Outlook XP.
"Logic is a wonderful thing but doesn't always beat actual thought."
-Terry Pratchett
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Post #52,501
9/20/02 1:25:28 PM
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Cygwin: regtool
...a command line interface to the system registry. Could this do what you're looking for?
...and you mean to tell me you haven't installed [link|http://www.cygwin.com/|Cygwin] yet?
--
Karsten M. Self [link|mailto:kmself@ix.netcom.com|kmself@ix.netcom.com]
[link|http://kmself.home.netcom.com/|[link|http://kmself.home.netcom.com/|http://kmself.home.netcom.com/]]
What part of "gestalt" don't you understand?
[link|http://twiki.iwethey.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/|TWikIWETHEY] -- an experiment in collective intelligence. Stupidity. Whatever.
Keep software free. Oppose the CBDTPA. Kill S.2048 dead.
[link|http://www.eff.org/alerts/20020322_eff_cbdtpa_alert.html|[link|http://www.eff.org/alerts/20020322_eff_cbdtpa_alert.html|http://www.eff.org/...a_alert.html]]
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Post #52,970
9/24/02 7:33:12 AM
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I haven't played with this...
... but something called [link|http://www.kixtart.org/|KiXtart] is fairly popular for scripting Windows login scripts.
Wade.
"Ah. One of the difficult questions."
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Post #53,752
9/28/02 7:37:38 PM
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I've played with Kixtart
Used it to upgrade about 1700 NT workstations, complete with registry changes.
Tom Sinclair
"Everybody is someone else's weirdo."
- E. Dijkstra
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Post #53,787
9/29/02 1:54:32 AM
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Seconded.
It's a fine tool for doing NT login scripts.
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Blog]
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Post #53,195
9/25/02 12:34:23 PM
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Re: Windows scripting tools?
There are migration tools in Exchange for this sort of thing. We used them to move 40000 people in a few months, so 500 should be a snap.
-drl
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Post #53,306
9/26/02 9:13:15 AM
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Not applicable
I'm not talking about server side stuff. I'm talking about what is on the desktop. Outlook configuration needs to be changed to reflect the mailbox move. As far as I know, there are no tools in Exchange that are even remotely capable of changing users Outlook configuration files. Were you involved in this 40000 person move or is this just heresay?
"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
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Post #53,321
9/26/02 10:33:00 AM
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Re: Not applicable
No, we actually moved 40000 CCMail mailboxes scattered all over the world to a vast array of Exchange servers scattered across the WAN. I noticed while doing this that one could use to same tool for migrations of Exchange mailboxes as well. This was Exchange 5.mumble.
The Outlook client does what the Exchange server tells it to do. I don't understand your problem.
The big move mentioned also involved a lot of local Y2K patches for Windows 95 and Windows NT clients. Almost no client side activity was required (other than the usual strays).
-drl
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Post #53,329
9/26/02 11:04:12 AM
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Nope
The Outlook profile tells the client which server to go to for email. I don't think Exchange can tell Outlook to delete and recreate the profile. once the profile is recreated the clients need to have a few other settings redone, setup personal folders and address books, field users setup delivery of new mail to personal folders, etc. These are Outlook settings, not Exchange.
This is also a little more involved than just moving mailboxes to a different server. Our company is in the throes of combining/merging with several other companies. Different domains, different Exchange organizations and versions. This is one of many steps needed to get us all into the same NT domain/Exchange organization.
"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
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Post #53,357
9/26/02 1:11:01 PM
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Re: Nope
It would be funny if changing the base mail system for a worldwide corp was easier than staying with the same one. Honestly the project I worked on was as complex a mail system as I've ever seen, with special servers that did nothing but replication, some of which were on what passes as a network in Chile, Bolivia, etc.
Again I'll state that the Outlook client could be controlled, in the sense of what the user sees and can do, from the Exchange server, and we never needed to touch a client. Now if that's not how you are set up, I don't know what to say other than your mailmen are sleeping. Even something as bloated and grungy as Exchange is not completely crazy, which it would be if you were forced to touch all the clients, for any reason.
-drl
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Post #53,366
9/26/02 2:02:43 PM
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ZZZZzzzzzzzz
I guess they must be sleeping. We will indeed have to touch every client (or have the users do it).
"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
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Post #53,409
9/26/02 8:03:07 PM
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Then Install SMS
-drl
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Post #53,412
9/26/02 8:19:54 PM
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Don't be silly.
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Blog]
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Post #53,487
9/27/02 9:54:20 AM
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It's on its way, but for other reasons.
"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
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Post #53,488
9/27/02 10:01:01 AM
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My Condolences
Just kidding. SMS can work well provided you roll enough bones and sacrifice the occasional fatted calf.
-drl
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Post #53,496
9/27/02 10:22:51 AM
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I know, I've warned our networking staff
You need to plan for sms even more intensively than for Active Directory (IMHO).
"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
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Post #53,510
9/27/02 11:15:58 AM
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OT
Where did you get that nifty HST quote?
-drl
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Post #53,513
9/27/02 11:24:25 AM
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He did an interview with an OZ paper
I picked up the quote itself at Bartcop.com. A little later, Ashton was kind enough to provide the link to the interview, [link|http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/stories/s659555.htm|link].
"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
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Post #53,521
9/27/02 12:09:00 PM
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Thanks, good to see HST is as bilious as ever
-drl
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Post #53,653
9/28/02 1:14:37 AM
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Oz Radio Station, actually.
"Ah. One of the difficult questions."
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Post #53,658
9/28/02 2:14:22 AM
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Whoopsie
If I read it on the net it's a paper. I know that's anachronistic but hell, I saw words printed out. I'm used to calling that experience "reading" and the source of those words gets called a "paper" no matter how far from newsprint is the original. I have a few habits I find it not worth the effort to break.
"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
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Post #53,673
9/28/02 5:51:42 AM
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Not a problem.
I actually heard it broadcast :-) but it was so good I found the transcript on their web site and posted a link. (It was a program I often listen to, and they always promote their web transcript so I knew it was there.)
Wade.
"Ah. One of the difficult questions."
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Post #53,410
9/26/02 8:06:46 PM
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You Know..
..this actually sounds like a fun problem.
-drl
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Post #53,324
9/26/02 10:46:55 AM
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Group Policy
I suspect (but do not know) that if you're running a Windows 2000 AD network, you can use Group Policy to enforce the changes in email setup. However, this will depend on you having clients that are aware of AD - i.e. no NT - and a version of Outlook >=2000.
ISTR that we had a script that a logged-in user could double-click and it would set up a simple Outlook profile connecting them to the Exchange server, based on the currently logged-in user. However, it stopped working in Outlook 2002.
I shall investigate this and let you know.
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Blog]
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Post #53,327
9/26/02 10:56:24 AM
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No AD
This is a NT network with Exchange 5.5 and various Outlook clients (95, 98, 2000 and XP) running on a variety of OSs; 95, 98, nt4, 2k and a very few ME and XP boxen.
"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
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Post #53,333
9/26/02 11:29:49 AM
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Re: No AD
email me at pwhysall@technology.serco.com : I may have something for you.
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Blog]
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Post #53,340
9/26/02 11:59:19 AM
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email on it's way
"A civilian gang of thieving lobbyists for the military industrial complex is running the White House. If to be against them is considered unpatriotic -- Hell, then call me a traitor."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
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Post #53,345
9/26/02 12:15:29 PM
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Response en route
Peter
[link|http://www.debian.org|Shill For Hire]
[link|http://www.kuro5hin.org|There is no K5 Cabal]
[link|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org|Blog]
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Post #53,261
9/25/02 6:45:03 PM
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And of course...
Several scripting languages, including Perl and Python, have hooks into various Windows APIs. Some people have used this to script a lot of Windows administration stuff. (Not I - I have been lucky enough to not have to do a lot of Windows administration...)
Cheers,
Ben
"Career politicians are inherently untrustworthy; if it spends its life buzzing around the outhouse, it\ufffds probably a fly."
- [link|http://www.nationalinterest.org/issues/58/Mead.html|Walter Mead]
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