Learn how to automate Windows administration step by step with hands-on instruction from a leading Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) trainer. This guide features self-paced labs, timesaving tips, and more than 100 sample scripts.
Network administrators and consultants are confronted with numerous mundane and timeconsuming activities on a daily basis. Whether it is going through thousands of users in Active Directory Users and Computers to grant dial-in permissions to a select group, or changing profile storage locations to point to a newly added network server, these everyday tasks must be completed. In the enterprise space, the ability to quickly write and deploy a Microsoft Visual Basic Script (VBScript) will make the difference between a task that takes a few hours and one that takes a few weeks.
As an Enterprise Consultant for Microsoft Corporation, I am in constant contact with some of the world's largest companies that run Microsoft software. The one recurring theme I hear is, "How can we effectively manage thousands of servers and tens of thousands of users?" In some instances, the solution lies in the employment of specialized software packagesbut in the vast majority of the cases, the solution is a simple VBScript.
In Microsoft Windows Server 2003, enterprise manageability was one of the design goals, and VBScript is one path to unlocking the rich storehouse of newly added features. Using the techniques outlined in Microsoft VBScript Step by Step, anyone can begin crafting custom scripts within minutes of opening these pages. I'm not talking about the traditional Hello World scriptI'm talking about truly useful scripts that save time and help to ensure accurate and predictable results.
Whereas in the past scripting was somewhat hard to do, required special installations of various implementations, and was rather limited in its effect, with the release of Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista, scripting is coming into its own. This is really as it should be. However, most administrators and IT professionals do not have an understanding of scripting because in the past scripting was not a powerful alternative for platform management.
However, in a large enterprise, it is a vital reality that one simply cannot perform management from the GUI applications because it is too time-constraining, too error prone, and, after a while, too irritating. Clearly there needs to be a better way, and there is. Scripting is the answer.
