The list of changes in Version 4.2:

• Fix the SWExclusions function to work if SoftwareExclusions.txt file contains only one item
• Cleanup the script’s parameters section
• Code cleanup and standardization with the master template script
• Requires PowerShell V3 or later
• Removed support for Word 2007
• Word 2007 references in help text removed
• Cover page parameter now states only Word 2010 and 2013 are supported
• Most Word 2007 references in script removed:
  • Function ValidateCoverPage
  • Function SetupWord
  • Function SaveandCloseDocumentandShutdownWord
• Function CheckWord2007SaveAsPDFInstalled removed
• If Word 2007 is detected, an error message is now given and the script is aborted
• Cleanup Word table code for the first row and background color
• Cleanup retrieving services and service startup type with Iain Brighton’s optimization
• Add Iain Brighton’s Word table functions
• Move Citrix Services table to new table functions
• Move hardware info to new table functions
• Move Citrix and Microsoft hotfix tables to new table functions
• Move Appendix A and B tables to new table function
• Add more write statements and error handling to the Configuration Logging report section
• Added beginning and ending dates for retrieving Configuration Logging data
• Add Section parameter
• Valid Section options are:
  • Admins (Administrators)
  • Apps (Applications)
  • ConfigLog (Configuration Logging)
  • Farm
  • LoadEvals (Load Evaluators)
  • Policies
  • Printers (Print Drivers and Print Driver Mappings)
  • Servers
  • Zones
  • All

Sam Jacobs found a bug in the SWExclusions function. If the SoftwareExclusions.txt file contained a single entry, the function did not work. This is now fixed.

For all the other scripts, I have added new output parameters. The parameters section was getting very ugly looking and over complicated. Turns out I was making that section much more difficult than it needed to be. After simplifying the code, the help text for the parameters, to me, looks much better. Even though this script will not get formatted text or HTML output options, the cleaner parameters section was needed.

SYNTAX
F:\XA52008_Inventory_V42.ps1 [-MSWord] [-Hardware] [-Software] [-StartDate <DateTime>] [-EndDate <DateTime>]
[-Summary] [-AddDateTime] [-Section <String>] [-CompanyName <String>] [-CoverPage <String>] [-UserName <String>]
[<CommonParameters>]

F:\XA52008_Inventory_V42.ps1 [-PDF] [-Hardware] [-Software] [-StartDate <DateTime>] [-EndDate <DateTime>]
[-Summary] [-AddDateTime] [-Section <String>] [-CompanyName <String>] [-CoverPage <String>] [-UserName <String>]
[<CommonParameters>]

I was already deep into converting all my old tables to Iain’s new Word table functions before I made the decision to stop updating this script. This script contains code from the master template script and therefore requires PowerShell version 3 or later. Also, Word 2007 is no longer supported.

This script contains the code for Iain’s new table functions and several tables had already been converted:

• Citrix Services
• Hardware Information
• Citrix Hotfixes
• Microsoft Hotfixes
• Appendix A
• Appendix B

When I was creating the DHCP and Active Directory scripts, I found out the code I was using for the header row in a Word table was too verbose. I learned how to reduce the lines of code needed to set the header row and give it a background color and make the text bold.

I am working with a group of very talented and hard-working friends to create a master template script. One of my new EMEA friends, Iain Brighton, showed me a more efficient way to get the list of services that included the startup mode. My original method required two WMI calls. Iain gets it done in one line resulting in less code and much faster execution time.

When using the new -Section parameter, the report will contain only data for the section you specify. If you need to report on Applications, that is the only data that will be in the report.

Since this script will no longer be updated, I am moving it to the Archive section of the downloads page.

You can always find this script in the Archive section by going to https://www.carlwebster.com/where-to-get-copies-of-the-documentation-scripts/

Thanks

Webster

I am doing my best to get the XenDesktop 5.x and XenDesktop 7.x documentation scripts completed, create a major update for the Active Directory script and change all the scripts to use Iain Brighton’s highly optimized Word table functions. I only have so much time in a day and since XenApp 5 is a dead product, I just don’t see the wisdom in spending all the time required to bring the XenApp 5 documentation scripts up-to-date with Iain’s work.

Sorry if this disappoints anyone but I am only one person who can only do so much with the time I have. Plus, I really believe the community would rather see the two XenDesktop documentation scripts released than the XenApp 5 scripts updated.

Thanks

Webster

New updates to all my documentation scripts will soon be released.  There are some things you need to know first.

• This is the last update for the XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2003 script.
• All other scripts now require PowerShell version 3 or later.
• All other scripts will no longer support Word 2007.

The following script updates will soon see the light of day:

• Active Directory V1.1
• DHCP V1.1
• PVS V4.2
• XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008 V4.2
• XenApp 6 V4.2
• XenApp 6.5 V4,2

Those testing the XenDesktop scripts will also receive the V0.25 update for both the XenDesktop 5.x and 7.x scripts.

Email me if you would like to be added to the testers group for any of my scripts.

There has been a ton of work going on behind the scenes.  A group of hard-working and dedicated friends have been helping me work on a master template script.  This will allow anyone who wants to create a documentation script to use the template framework and create their own documentation script for any product from any vendor.  Right now the stuff to create Word, PDF and Formatted Text are in the template.  I am not an HTML person and no one has offered to create a generic “WriteHTMLLine” type of function(s) like we have for Word.

There are at least four other people I know of, besides me, who are using the new template script as the basis for their documentation scripts.  They have been very instrumental in shaping the template script.  I am not ready to release the template script to the public yet as one person is adding an optional GUI for all the command line parameters and there is no HTML output yet.

Iain Brighton has created a set of highly optimized Word Table functions that can speed up the creation, populating and formatting of Word tables by 95% or more.  Iain has done an amazing amount of work and has produced some fantastic functions that are saving and will save those of us who are using the template script a LOT of time.  Also, those who run the scripts will see a huge time decrease in the amount of time it takes to run the scripts once all the current Word tables are converted to use Iain’s functions.  I have eight documentation scripts to change so the changes will happen gradually.

I will also, as I convert tables to Iain’s new functions, start to add formatted text output.  This will allow you to run the scripts without having Word installed.  The DHCP script is the only script that already creates Word, PDF and Formatted Text output files.

Barry Schiffer started and we collaborated on finally fixing the bug with running the scripts on systems with multiple language operating systems and or multiple language versions of Microsoft Word.  That bug fix took a lot of detective work.  Kudos to Barry for leading me towards the solution.  The fix is already in Barry’s NetScaler V2.0 script.

Thanks

Webster

They said their managers often asked for data on how many administrators, published resources, policies, etc were used in a particular XenApp farm.  That was easy to do so I added it while waiting to speak in Philadelphia.  Some input from Mr. App-V Tim Mangan on the report layout and it was done.  I am also making this Summary Page available as a separate script.

This script has no options and no parameters.  It simply runs and creates a one-page report.

Here is a sample run from my lab XenApp 5 for Server 2008:

PS C:\webster> .\xa5_summaryreport.ps1
10/28/2013 16:44:36: Getting Farm data
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Verify farm version
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Farm OS is 2008
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Setting up Word
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Create Word comObject.  Ignore the next message.
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Running Microsoft Word 2010
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Create empty word doc
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Disable grammar and spell checking
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Return focus to main document
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Move to the end of the current document
10/28/2013 16:44:37:
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Processing Administrators
10/28/2013 16:44:37:    Retrieving Administrators
10/28/2013 16:44:37:            Processing administrator CITRIX_BUILTIN*CITRIX_ADMINISTRATORS*
10/28/2013 16:44:37:            Processing administrator XA52008\administrator
10/28/2013 16:44:37:            Processing administrator XA52008\carlwebster
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Finished Processing Administrators
10/28/2013 16:44:37:
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Processing Applications
10/28/2013 16:44:37:    Retrieving Applications
10/28/2013 16:44:37:            Processing application Notepad
10/28/2013 16:44:37:            Processing application Paint
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Finished Processing Applications
10/28/2013 16:44:37:
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Processing Servers
10/28/2013 16:44:37:    Retrieving Servers
10/28/2013 16:44:37:            Processing server XA52008
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Finished Processing Servers
10/28/2013 16:44:37:
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Processing Zones
10/28/2013 16:44:37:    Setting summary variables
10/28/2013 16:44:37:    Retrieving Zone Information
10/28/2013 16:44:37: Finished Processing Zones
10/28/2013 16:44:38:
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Processing Load Evaluators
10/28/2013 16:44:38:    Retrieving Load Evaluators
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Finished Processing Load Evaluators
10/28/2013 16:44:38:
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Processing Policies
10/28/2013 16:44:38:    Retrieving Policies
10/28/2013 16:44:38:    Processing policy Everything including the kitchen sink
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Finished Processing Policies
10/28/2013 16:44:38:
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Processing Print Drivers
10/28/2013 16:44:38:    Retrieving Print Drivers
10/28/2013 16:44:38:            Processing driver Citrix Universal Printer
10/28/2013 16:44:38:            Processing driver Citrix XPS Universal Printer
10/28/2013 16:44:38:            Processing driver HP Color LaserJet 2800 Series PS
10/28/2013 16:44:38:            Processing driver HP Color LaserJet 4500 PCL 5
10/28/2013 16:44:38:            Processing driver HP Color LaserJet 4500 PS
10/28/2013 16:44:38:            Processing driver HP LaserJet Series II
10/28/2013 16:44:38:            Processing driver Microsoft XPS Document Writer
10/28/2013 16:44:38:            Processing driver Terminal Services Easy Print
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Finished Processing Print Drivers
10/28/2013 16:44:38:
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Processing Printer Driver Mappings
10/28/2013 16:44:38:    Retrieving Print Driver Mappings
10/28/2013 16:44:38: There are no Printer Driver Mappings created
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Finished Processing Printer Driver Mappings
10/28/2013 16:44:38:
10/28/2013 16:44:38:
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Create Summary Report
10/28/2013 16:44:38: Add administrator summary info
10/28/2013 16:44:39: Add application summary info
10/28/2013 16:44:40: Add server summary info
10/28/2013 16:44:40: Add zone summary info
10/28/2013 16:44:41: Add load evaluator summary info
10/28/2013 16:44:41: Add policy summary info
10/28/2013 16:44:41: Add print driver summary info
10/28/2013 16:44:42: Add print driver mapping summary info
10/28/2013 16:44:42: Add configuration logging summary info
10/28/2013 16:44:43:    Finished Create Summary Page
10/28/2013 16:44:43:
10/28/2013 16:44:43: Finishing up Word document
10/28/2013 16:44:43: Save and Close document and Shutdown Word
10/28/2013 16:44:43: Closing Word
10/28/2013 16:44:43: System Cleanup
10/28/2013 16:44:43:
10/28/2013 16:44:43: Script has completed
10/28/2013 16:44:43:
10/28/2013 16:44:43: C:\webster\Summary Report for XA52008.docx is ready for use
10/28/2013 16:44:43:
PS C:\webster>

You can always find the most current script by going to https://www.carlwebster.com/where-to-get-copies-of-the-documentation-scripts/

I hope you find this script useful.

Thanks

Webster

The following were tested:

• XenApp 5 on Windows Server 2008 Sp2, both PowerShell V2 and V3 – script versions 2 and the in development V4.
• XenApp 6 on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, both PowerShell V2 and V3 – script versions 3 and the in development V4.
• XenApp 6.5 on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, both PowerShell V2 and V3 – script versions 3.1 and the in development V4.
• The PVS version 3 script was updated to support PVS 7.0 running on Server 2012.  Server 2012 includes PowerShell V3 so the PVS script has already been tested with PowerShell V3.

All the V4 scripts are being developed exclusively with PowerShell V3.  When PowerShell V4 is released, I will retest my documentation scripts with it.

I have updated all the appropriate ReadMe files and the Where to Get Copies of the Various Documentation Scripts article.

Thanks

Webster

If you came to my presentation at the Experts to Experts Conference in Hamburg, Germany thanks for being there. This presentation is different from the Synergy San Francisco version in that I added content for:

• Server 2012 AD
• Dell vWorkspace
• RES Workspace Manager
• VMware View

I would like to thank the following people for their help in putting together the information and for verifying its accuracy and up-to-dateness.

Michael B. Smith, Exchange MVP, https://www.essential.exchange/blog/

Brian Desmond, Directory Services MVP, http://BrianDesmond.com

Andrew S. Baker, Directory Services Expert, http://about.me/Andrew.S.Baker

Jo Harder, former Citrix XenApp product architect, now at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joharder/

Bob Free, Directory Services Expert, PG&E, Enterprise Shared Technology and Services

Michel Roth, Product Manager Quest Workspace, Microsoft MVP Remote Desktop Services for information on Quest Workspace Desktop Virtualization

Scott Bowling, Pride Technologies for information on Quest Workspace Desktop Virtualization

Sander van der Hoek, IBM, RES Software Certified Professional for information on RES Workspace Manager

Andre Leibovici, View Architect, Office of CTO – End User Computing VMware for help in finding VMware View information

A special Thank You goes to Echo_S from Experts Exchange for helping me resolve an issue with generating the PDF version of this presentation.

You can always find the most current PDF by going to https://www.carlwebster.com/where-to-get-copies-of-the-documentation-scripts/

Thanks

Webster

If you came to my presentation at Synergy 2012 in Barcelona, thanks for being there.

I would like to thank the following people for their help in putting together the information and for verifying its accuracy and up-to-dateness.

Michael B. Smith, Exchange MVP, https://www.essential.exchange/blog/

Brian Desmond, Directory Services MVP, http://BrianDesmond.com

Andrew S. Baker, Directory Services Expert, http://about.me/Andrew.S.Baker

Jo Harder, former Citrix XenApp product architect, now at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joharder/

Bob Free, Directory Services Expert, PG&E, Enterprise Shared Technology and Services

You can always find the most current PDF by going to https://www.carlwebster.com/where-to-get-copies-of-the-documentation-scripts/

Thanks

Webster

If you came to my presentation at BriForum 2012 in Chicago, thanks for being there.  This presentation is different from the Synergy version in that I added content for:

• Server 2012 AD
• Quest Workspace Desktop Virtualization
• RES Workspace Manager
• VMware View

I would like to thank the following people for their help in putting together the information and for verifying its accuracy and up-to-dateness.

Michael B. Smith, Exchange MVP, https://www.essential.exchange/blog/

Brian Desmond, Directory Services MVP, http://BrianDesmond.com

Andrew S. Baker, Directory Services Expert, http://about.me/Andrew.S.Baker

Jo Harder, former Citrix XenApp product architect, now at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joharder/

Bob Free, Directory Services Expert, PG&E, Enterprise Shared Technology and Services

Michel Roth, Product Manager Quest Workspace, Microsoft MVP Remote Desktop Services for information on Quest Workspace Desktop Virtualization

Scott Bowling, Pride Technologies for information on Quest Workspace Desktop Virtualization

Sander van der Hoek, IBM, RES Software Certified Professional for information on RES Workspace Manager

Andre Leibovici, View Architect, Office of CTO – End User Computing VMware for help in finding VMware View information

You can always find the most current PDF by going to https://www.carlwebster.com/where-to-get-copies-of-the-documentation-scripts/

Thanks

Webster

If you came to my presentation at AGSI’s Post Citrix Synergy 2012 event in Charlotte, NC thanks for being there.

I would like to thank the following people for their help in putting together the information and for verifying its accuracy and up-to-dateness.

Michael B. Smith, Exchange MVP, https://www.essential.exchange/blog/

Brian Desmond, Directory Services MVP, http://BrianDesmond.com

Andrew S. Baker, Directory Services Expert, http://about.me/Andrew.S.Baker

Jo Harder, former Citrix XenApp product architect, now at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joharder/

You can always find the most current PDF by going to https://www.carlwebster.com/where-to-get-copies-of-the-documentation-scripts/

Thanks

Webster

If you came to my presentation at Citrix Synergy 2012 in San Francisco, thanks for being there.

I would like to thank the following people for their help in putting together the information and for verifying its accuracy and up-to-dateness.

Michael B. Smith, Exchange MVP, https://www.essential.exchange/blog/

Brian Desmond, Directory Services MVP, http://BrianDesmond.com

Andrew S. Baker, Directory Services Expert, http://about.me/Andrew.S.Baker

Jo Harder, former Citrix XenApp product architect, now at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joharder/

You can always find the most current PDF by going to https://www.carlwebster.com/where-to-get-copies-of-the-documentation-scripts/

Thanks

Webster

Update: I now use the Digicert Certificate Utility for Windows to sign all my scripts.

Code Signing with the DigiCert® Certificate Utility for Windows

The first thing needed is to request a code signing certificate.  At DigiCert, I clicked on Code Signing Certificates (Figure 1).

I then selected Buy Now (Figure 2).

I then selected Code Signing Cert, a Validity Period, and clicked Continue (Figure 3).

Next, I selected Microsoft Authenticode and clicked Continue (Figure 4).

Next, I filled in my Organization Details and clicked Continue (Figure 5).

I then filled in my Contact Details and clicked Continue (Figure 6).

I removed the Payment step information.  I selected I agree to the Terms of Service above and clicked Complete Order (Figure 7).

I then received an e-mail from DigiCert Support asking me to verify that I did request a Code Signing Certificate.  After I replied to the e-mail in the affirmative, I received another e-mail with a link to create the code-signing certificate (Figure 8).

Clicking the link in the e-mail opens my Internet browser with the following popup (Figure 9).  I clicked Yes.

Which then took me to the web site shown in Figure 10.  I then clicked Generate Certificate.

Which then took me to the web page shown in Figure 11.

I verified in Internet Explorer that the certificate is installed (Figure 12 and Figure 13).

On the computer where the Code Signing Certificate was installed, I started a PowerShell session running as Administrator.  Using the information from Don Jones’ Windows PowerShell 2.0 TFM book on page 149, I entered the following PowerShell command (should be one long line):

Set-AuthenticodeSignature `
"C:\Users\cwebster\Documents\carlwebster.com\Documenting a Citrix XenApp 6 Farm with Microsoft PowerShell\XA6_Inventory_Signed.ps1" `
-TimestampServer "http://timestamp.digicert.com/" @(Get-Childitem cert:\CurrentUser\My -codesigning)[0]

Which then returns a successful signing (Figure 14).

Opening my script shows the added signature block (Figure 15).

To verify the newly signed script, I went to my XenApp 6 server, copied the signed script to the C:\PSScripts folder, started a PowerShell session as Administrator, and changed to the C:\PSScripts folder.  I then set the PowerShell script execution policy to AllSigned (Figure 16).

I then tried to run the original unsigned script (Figure 17).  The script would not run because it is not digitally signed.

I then tried to run the signed script (Figure 18).

I answered A to Always run scripts signed by me (Figure 19) and the script runs successfully.

By answering Always run my code signing certificate was installed on the server in the Trusted Publishers store (Figure 20).

The next time I run the signed script, the script automatically runs (Figure 21).

What I learned is that digitally signing PowerShell scripts is simple to do.  It is not cheap, but it is simple.

All current documentation scripts create a Microsoft Word 2010,  2013, or 2016/2019/O365 document.

Word 2016, Word 2019 and the Office 365 version of Word have the same version number of 16. All documentation scripts will work with Word 2019 and Word Office 365 with no changes.

*****All the scripts run best on PowerShell Version 5*****

Many people have asked me where they can get copies of the various PowerShell documentation scripts. To make it easier to find, I have linked to all of them in this one article.

All scripts have been moved to the new Downloads page.

I am leaving this landing page here so I don’t break all the existing links people have to this page.

Thanks

Webster

Being fairly new to PowerShell, but having a software development background, I knew this should be a very simple script to produce.  The client simply wanted a list of XenApp servers so they could look at the license server name and product edition.  The basics of the script are shown here (lines may wrap):

$Farm = Get-XAFarmConfiguration
$Servers = Get-XAServer
ForEach($Server in $Servers)
{
        $ServerConfig = Get-XAServerConfiguration -ServerName $Server.Servername
        Echo "Zone: " $server.ZoneName
        Echo "Server Name: " $server.ServerName
        Echo “Product Edition: “  $server.CitrixEdition
        If( $ServerConfig.LicenseServerUseFarmSettings )
        {
               Echo "License server: " $Farm.LicenseServerName
        }
        Else
        {
               Echo "License server: " $ServerConfig.LicenseServerName
        }
        Echo “”
}

Note: This script is only valid for XenApp 5 for both Server 2003 and Server 2008.  In XenApp 5, it is possible to edit each XenApp server and set a specific Citrix license server.  You could, in fact, have every XenApp server in a XenApp farm configured to use its own Citrix license server.  In XenApp 6, you can do the same thing but that would require the use of Citrix Computer polices, one for each server.

While the above script worked, it was almost useless.  With an extremely large number of servers, the output produced was unwieldy.  The customer gave me the product edition and license server name they wanted to validate against.  I updated the script with that new information and needed a way to filter the data.  PowerShell uses the traditional programming “If” statement to allow filtering the data as it is processed.  I added a variable for the license server name and an “If” statement to the script as shown below (PowerShell uses the character for line continuation. ):
<pre>$LicenseServerName = NEWLICCTX01.WEBSTERSLAB.COM
$Farm = Get-XAFarmConfiguration
$Servers = Get-XAServer
ForEach($Server in $Servers)
{
$ServerConfig = Get-XAServerConfiguration -ServerName $Server.Servername
If(($Server.CitrixEdition -ne "Platinum") -or
($ServerConfig.LicenseServerUseFarmSettings -eq $False `
–and $ServerConfig.LicenseServerName -ne $LicenseServerName))
{
<snip>
}
}
The “If” statement says:

• If the server’s product edition is not equal to “Platinum”
• Or, the server is not configured to use the farm settings for the license server and the server’s license server name is not equal to NEWLICCTX01.WEBSTERSLAB.COM
• Output the server’s information
• If neither condition is met, skip to the next entry in the list of servers

The new script allowed me to output just the XenApp servers matching the client’s criteria.

Sample output:

Zone: ZONE1
Server Name: Z1DCCTXSSO01A
Product Edition: Platinum
License server: oldlicctx01
Zone:  ZONE7
Server Name: Z7DCTRMCTX03J
Product edition: Enterprise
License server: NEWLICCTX01.WEBSTERSLAB.COM

Note:  The license server names shown in the sample output reflect the entry in the License Server name field for each XenApp server.  XenApp allows as valid entries the NetBIOS name, Fully Qualified Domain Name or IP Address.

Sweet, I have what the client needs, now let me just output this to HTML and I am done.

M:\PSScripts\Get-ServerInfo.ps1 | ConvertTo-Html | Out-File M:\PSScripts\MismatchedServers.html

This produced the following:

What the…?

I needed to find out what was going on here.  I typed in Get-ServerInfo.ps1 | Get-Member

TypeName: System.String

Name       MemberType            Definition
----             ----------            ----------
Clone            Method                System.Object Clone()
CompareTo        Method                int CompareTo(System.Object value), int CompareTo(string strB)
Contains         Method                bool Contains(string value)

<snip>

Next, I typed in Get-Help ConvertTo-HTML:

PS Z:\> Get-Help ConvertTo-HTML

NAME
ConvertTo-Html

SYNOPSIS
Converts Microsoft .NET Framework objects into HTML that can be displayed in a Web browser.

<snip>

What I see from these two pieces of information is that my script is outputting String (or text) and ConvertTo-Html is expecting an Object as input.

Oh, now I get it.  The light-bulb finally went off:  PowerShell wants OBJECTS, not Text.  DOH!!!

OK, so how do I change this script to output objects instead of text?  I found what I needed in Chapter 19 of Don Jones’ book Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches.  This is going to be a lot easier than I thought because I am only working with four pieces of data.

All I had to do was change:

Echo "Zone: " $server.ZoneName
Echo "Server Name: " $server.ServerName
Echo “Product Edition: “  $server.CitrixEdition
If( $ServerConfig.LicenseServerUseFarmSettings )
{
       Echo "License server: " $Farm.LicenseServerName
}
Else
{
       Echo "License server: " $ServerConfig.LicenseServerName  
}
Echo “”

To:

$obj = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
$obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty `
-Name ZoneName -Value $server.ZoneName
$obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty `
-Name ServerName -Value $server.ServerName
$obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty `
-Name ProductEdition -Value $server.CitrixEdition
If($ServerConfig.LicenseServerUseFarmSettings)
{
       $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty `
    -Name LicenseServer -Value $Farm.LicenseServerName
}
Else
{
       $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty `
    -Name LicenseServer -Value $ServerConfig.LicenseServerName                    
}
Write-Output $obj

Running the command M:\PSScripts\Get-ServerInfo.ps1 | ConvertTo-Html | Out-File M:\PSScripts\MismatchedServers.html, now gives me the following results (Figure 1).

Perfect.  Now that the script is using objects for output, any of the ConvertTo-* or Export-To* cmdlets can be used.  But I wanted to take this adventure one step further.  The script uses a hard-coded license server name and product edition.  I want to turn the script into one that can be used by anyone and also make it an advanced function.

The first thing needed is a name for the function.  The purpose of the function is to Get XenApp Mismatched Servers.  Following the naming convention used by Citrix, Get-XANoun, the name could be Get-XAMismatchedServer.  Why XAMismatchedServer and not XAMismatchedServers?  PowerShell convention is to use singular and not plural.

Function Get-XAMismatchedServer
{
#PowerShell statements
}

There is more functionality that needs to be added to make this a more useful function.  Additionally, I want to learn how to turn this function into a proper PowerShell advanced function.  Some of the additions needed are:

1. Prevent the function from running on XenApp 6+
2. Allow the use of a single XenApp Zone to restrict the output
3. Validate the Zone name entered
4. Change the function to use parameters instead of hardcoded values
5. Add debug and verbose statements
6. Add full help text to explain the function

For the basis of turning this simple function into an advanced function, I am using Chapter 48 of Windows PowerShell 2.0 TFM by Don Jones and Jeffery Hicks.

The first thing I need to add to the function is the statement that tells PowerShell this is an advanced function.

Function Get-XAMismatchedServer
{
    [CmdletBinding( SupportsShouldProcess = $False, `
    ConfirmImpact = "None", DefaultParameterSetName = "" ) ]
}

Even though all parameters in CmdletBinding() are the defaults, I am including them solely for the learning exercise.

I will also need two “helper” functions.  One to verify the version of XenApp the script is being run under and the other for validating the Zone name entered (if one was entered).  These two functions need to be declared before they are used.  This means they need to be at the top of the script.

The function to verify if the script is running under XenApp 5:

Function IsRunningXenApp5
{
   Param( [string]$FarmVersion )
   Write-Debug "Starting IsRunningXenApp5 function"
   $XenApp5 = $false
   If($Farm.ServerVersion.ToString().SubString(0,1) -ne "6")
   {
     #this is a XenApp 5 farm, script can proceed
     $XenApp5 = $true
   }
   Else
   {
     #this is a not XenApp 5 farm, script cannot proceed
     $XenApp5 = $false
   }
   Write-Debug "Farm is running XenApp5 is $XenApp5"
   Return $XenApp5
}

Result of function under XenApp 5 (Figure 2).

Result of function under XenApp 6 (Figure 3).

The function to verify that if a zone name is entered, it is valid:

Function IsValidZoneName
{
   Param( [string]$ZoneName )
   Write-Debug "Starting IsValidZoneName function"
   $ValidZone = $false
   $Zones = Get-XAZone -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
   If( -not $? )
   {
     Write-Error "Zone information could not be retrieved"
     Return $ValidZone
   }
   ForEach($Zone in $Zones)
   {
     Write-Debug "Checking zone $Zone against $ZoneName"
     Write-Verbose "Checking zone $Zone against $ZoneName"
     If($Zone.ZoneName -eq $ZoneName)
     {
        Write-Debug "Zone $ZoneName is valid $ValidZone"
        $Zones = $null
        $ValidZone = $true
     }
   }
   $Zones = $null
   Return $ValidZone
}

Result of the function (Figure 4).

Adding parameters to the main function:

Function Get-XAMismatchedServer
{
   [CmdletBinding( SupportsShouldProcess = $False,
   ConfirmImpact = "None", DefaultParameterSetName = "" ) ]

   Param( 
   [parameter(Position = 0,Mandatory=$true,
   HelpMessage = "Citrix license server name to match" )]
   [Alias("LS")]
   [string]$LicenseServerName,
   [parameter(Position = 1, Mandatory=$true,
   HelpMessage = "Citrix product edition to match: `
   Platinum, Enterprise or Advanced" )]
   [Alias("PE")]
   [ValidateSet("Platinum", "Enterprise", "Advanced")]
   [string]$ProductEdition,
   [parameter(Position = 2,Mandatory=$false, `
   HelpMessage = "XenApp zone to restrict search.  `
   Blank is all zones in farm." )]
   [Alias("ZN")]
   [string]$ZoneName = '' )
}

Three parameters have been added: $LicenseServerName, $ProductEdition and $ZoneName.  These parameter names were chosen because they are what the Citrix cmdlets use.

All three parameters are positional.  This means the parameter name is not required.  The function could be called as either:

Get-XAMismatchedServer -LicenseServerName CtxLic01 -ProductEdition Platinum -ZoneName EMEA

Or

Get-XAMismatchedServer CtxLic01 Platinum EMEA

The LicenseServerName and ProductEdition parameters are mandatory (Figure 5).

A help message has been entered so that if a parameter is missing, help text can be requested to tell what needs to be entered (Figure 6).

Complete function (lines may wrap):

Function IsRunningXenApp5
{
   Param( [string]$FarmVersion )
   Write-Debug "Starting IsRunningXenApp5 function"
   $XenApp5 = $false
   If($Farm.ServerVersion.ToString().SubString(0,1) -ne "6")
   {
     #this is a XenApp 5 farm, script can proceed
     $XenApp5 = $true
   }
   Else
   {
     #this is not a XenApp 5 farm, script cannot proceed
     $XenApp5 = $false
   }
   Write-Debug "Farm is running XenApp5 is $XenApp5"
   Return $XenApp5
}

Function IsValidZoneName
{
   Param( [string]$ZoneName )
   Write-Debug "Starting IsValidZoneName function"
   $ValidZone = $false
   $Zones = Get-XAZone -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
   If( -not $? )
   {
     Write-Error "Zone information could not be retrieved"
     Return $ValidZone
   }
   ForEach($Zone in $Zones)
   {
     Write-Debug "Checking zone $Zone against $ZoneName"
     Write-Verbose "Checking zone $Zone against $ZoneName"
     If($Zone.ZoneName -eq $ZoneName)
     {
        Write-Debug "Zone $ZoneName is valid $ValidZone"
        $Zones = $null
        $ValidZone = $true
     }
   }
   $Zones = $null
   Return $ValidZone
}

Function Get-XAMismatchedServer
{
   <#
   .Synopsis
   Find servers not using the correct license server or
   product edition.
   .Description
   Find Citrix XenApp 5 servers that are not using the Citrix license
   server or product edition specified.  Can be restricted to a
   specific XenApp Zone.
   .Parameter LicenseServerName
   What is the name of the Citrix license server to validate servers
   against.  This parameter has an alias of LS.
   .Parameter ProductEdition
   What XenApp product edition should servers be configured to use.
   Valid input is Platinum, Enterprise or Advanced.
   This parameter has an alias of PE.
   .Parameter ZoneName
   Optional parameter.  If no XenApp zone name is specified, all zones
   in the farm are searched.
   This parameter has an alias of ZN.
   .Example
   PS C:\ Get-XAMismatchedServerInfo
   Will prompt for the Citrix license server name and product edition.
   .Example
   PS C:\ Get-XAMismatchedServerInfo -LicenseServerName CtxLic01 -ProductEdition Platinum
   Will search all XenApp zones in the XenApp 5 farm that the current XenApp 5 server
   is a member.  Any XenApp 5 server that is manually configured to use a different license
   server OR product edition will be returned.
   .Example
   PS C:\ Get-XAMismatchedServerInfo -LicenseServerName CtxLic01 -ProductEdition Platinum -ZoneName EMEA
   Will search the EMEA zone in the XenApp 5 farm that the current XenApp 5 server
   is a member.  Any XenApp 5 server that is manually configured to use a different license
   server OR product edition will be returned.
   .Example
   PS C:\ Get-XAMismatchedServerInfo -LS CtxLic01 -PE Enterprise -ZN Russia
   Will search the Russia zone in the XenApp 5 farm that the current XenApp 5 server
   is a member.  Any XenApp 5 server that is manually configured to use a different license
   server OR product edition will be returned.
   .Example
   PS C:\ Get-XAMismatchedServerInfo CtxNCC1701J Enterprise Cardassian
   Will search the dangerous Cardassian zone in the XenApp 5 farm that the current XenApp 5
   server is a member.  Any XenApp 5 server that is manually configured to use an inferior
   license server OR unworthy product edition will be returned (hopefully in one piece).
   .ReturnValue
   [OBJECT]
   .Notes
   NAME:         Get-XAMismatchedServerInfo
   VERSION:      .9
   AUTHOR:       Carl Webster (with a lot of help from Michael B. Smith)
   LASTEDIT:   May 16, 2011
   #Requires -version 2.0
   #Requires -pssnapin Citrix.XenApp.Commands
   #>
   [CmdletBinding( SupportsShouldProcess = $False, ConfirmImpact = "None", DefaultParameterSetName = "" ) ]
   Param(       [parameter(
   Position = 0,
   Mandatory=$true,
   HelpMessage = "Citrix license server name to match" )]
   [Alias("LS")]
   [string]$LicenseServerName,
   [parameter(
   Position = 1,
   Mandatory=$true,
   HelpMessage = "Citrix product edition to match: Platinum, Enterprise or Advanced" )]
   [Alias("PE")]
   [ValidateSet("Platinum", "Enterprise", "Advanced")]
   [string]$ProductEdition,
   [parameter(
   Position = 2,
   Mandatory=$false,
   HelpMessage = "XenApp zone to restrict search.  Blank is all zones in farm." )]
   [Alias("ZN")]
   [string]$ZoneName = '' )
   Begin
   {
     Write-Debug "In the BEGIN block"
     Write-Debug "Retrieving farm information"
     Write-Verbose "Retrieving farm information"
     $Farm = Get-XAFarm -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
     If( -not $? )
     {
        Write-Error "Farm information could not be retrieved"
        Return
     }
     Write-Debug "Validating the version of XenApp"
     $IsXenApp5 = IsRunningXenApp5 $Farm.ServerVersion
     If( -not $IsXenApp5 )
     {
        Write-Error "This script is designed for XenApp 5 and cannot be run on XenApp 6"
        Return
     }
     If($ZoneName -ne '')
     {
        Write-Debug "Is zone name valid"
        Write-Verbose "Validating zone $ZoneName"
        $ValidZone = IsValidZoneName $ZoneName
        If(-not $ValidZone)
        {
          Write-Error "Invalid zone name $ZoneName entered"
          Return
        }
     }
   }
   Process
   {
     Write-Debug "In the PROCESS block"
     If($ZoneName -eq '')
     {
        Write-Debug "Retrieving server information for all zones"
        Write-Verbose "Retrieving server information for all zones"
        $Servers = Get-XAServer -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | `
        sort-object ZoneName, ServerName
     }
     Else
     {
        Write-Debug "Retrieving server information for zone $ZoneName"
        Write-Verbose "Retrieving server information for zone $ZoneName"
        $Servers = Get-XAServer -ZoneName $ZoneName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | `
        sort-object ZoneName, ServerName
     }
     If( $? )
     {
        ForEach($Server in $Servers)
        {
          Write-Debug "Retrieving server configuration data for server $Server"
          Write-Verbose "Retrieving server configuration data for server $Server"
          $ServerConfig = Get-XAServerConfiguration -ServerName $Server.Servername `
          -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
          If( $? )
          {
             If($Server.CitrixEdition -ne $ProductEdition -or `
              ($ServerConfig.LicenseServerUseFarmSettings -eq $False -and `
              $ServerConfig.LicenseServerName -ne $LicenseServerName))
             {
               Write-Debug "Mismatched server $server"
               Write-Verbose "Mismatched server $server"
               $obj = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
               $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty `
                  -Name ZoneName -Value $server.ZoneName
               $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty `
                  -Name ServerName -Value $server.ServerName
               $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty `
                  -Name ProductEdition -Value $server.CitrixEdition
               If($ServerConfig.LicenseServerUseFarmSettings)
               {
                  $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty `
                    -Name LicenseServer -Value $Farm.LicenseServerName
               }
               Else
               {
                  $obj | Add-Member -MemberType `
                    NoteProperty -Name LicenseServer `
                    -Value $ServerConfig.LicenseServerName
               }
               Write-Debug "Creating object $obj"
               write-output $obj
            }
          }
          Else
          {
             Write-Error "Configuration information for server `
                   $($Server.Servername) could not be retrieved"
          }
        }
     }
     Else
     {
        Write-Error "Information on XenApp servers could not be retrieved"
     }
   }
   End
   {
     Write-Debug "In the END block"
     $servers = $null
     $serverconfig = $null
     $farm = $null
     $obj = $null
   }
}

• Hide these specified drives in My Computer
• Prevent access to drives from My Computer

When these options are enabled, there is a drop-down box that allows the selection of various drive combinations.  What if the drives you need hidden are not on the list?  This article will show you three ways to add any combination of drive letters to be hidden or denied access:

1. Modify System.adm
2. Create a new ADM file
3. Use the ICAClient.adm file provided by Citrix

Why bother with either manual process when there is a 3rd Party utility called GPDrivesOptions that automates the creation of the necessary information?  There are places that do not allow 3^rd Party utilities to be run on Domain Controllers or Management Stations.  Also, if Change Management is used, it may take longer to go through the approval process to modify System.adm than it takes to create a new ADM file and use it for your Group Policy.

Update February 26, 2015: The GPDrivesOptions article no longer exists on Petri.com.

Microsoft has KB article 231289 that explains the process to add custom drive letter combinations.  Using KB231298, if you wanted to hide access to drives A, B, D, E, G, P, and R:

The 26-bit string of drive letters is represented as:

11111111111111111111111111
ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

If you prefer to not work in Binary, the decimal value for each drive letter is:

Putting “0”s for the drives to not be hidden results in:

00000000101000000001011011
ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

The binary string is 101000000001011011.  Converted to decimal is 163,931.

If you prefer to work with decimal, add up the value for each drive letter:

Method 1 — Modify System.adm:

To change System.adm, go to a command prompt and type in the following commands:

• CD %SYSTEMROOT%\INF and press Enter
• COPY SYSTEM.ADM SYSTEM_BACKUP.ADM and press Enter
• Notepad system.adm

With Notepad open, press Ctrl-F and Find [strings].  Add this line to the [strings] section:

ABDEGPR_Only=”Restrict A, B, D, E, G, P and R drives only”

Press Ctrl-Home to return to the top, then press Ctrl-F and Find !!NoDrives.  Add this entry in the ITEMLIST section for !!NoDrives:

NAME !!ABDEGPR_Only                  VALUE NUMERIC                  163931

Scroll down just a little until you see the !!NoViewOnDrive Policy.  Add this entry in the ITEMLIST section for !!NoViewOnDrive  Save the System.adm file and exit Notepad.

NAME !!ABDEGPR_Only                  VALUE NUMERIC                  163931

See Figures 1 and 2 for system.adm before changes and Figures 3 and 4 for system.adm after changes.

Save the System.adm file, exit Notepad and exit the command prompt.  In the Group Policy Object Editor, right-click Administrative Templates in the User Configuration section and select Add/Remove Templates… (Figure 5).

Click system and then the Remove button (Figure 6).

Click the Add… button, scroll to find system.adm, click system.adm, and then click Open (Figure 7).

Click Close (Figure 8).

Expand Administrative Templates, expand Windows Components, click Windows Explorer and double-click Hide these specified drives from My Computer (Figure 9).

Click the Dropdown box, the new drive restriction selection is now available (Figure 10).

Select the new drive restriction and repeat for the Prevent access to drives from My Computer policy setting (Figure 11).

Exit editing the GPO and the new drive restrictions have been added to your GPO.

Method 2 — Create a new ADM file:

Why use Method 2?  If changes are not allowed to be made or Change Control processes must be followed to make changes to files installed by the Operating System, then Method 2 is an easy option.  It should take less than five minutes to complete Method 2.

To create a new ADM file, go to a command prompt and type in the following commands:

• CD %SYSTEMROOT%\INF and press Enter
• Notepad HideDrives.adm
• Answer Yes to the Do you want to create a new file? popup

Enter, or copy and paste, the following text into the new HideDrives.adm file:

#if version >= 3
CLASS USER
CATEGORY !!WindowsComponents
	CATEGORY !!WindowsExplorer
		KEYNAME "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer"
		POLICY !!NoDrives
			EXPLAIN !!NoDrives_Help
			PART !!NoDrivesDropdown       DROPDOWNLIST NOSORT REQUIRED
			VALUENAME "NoDrives"
				ITEMLIST
					NAME !!ShowAll       VALUE NUMERIC       0
					NAME !!HideAll       VALUE NUMERIC       67108863 DEFAULT
					NAME !!ABDEGPR_Only       VALUE NUMERIC       163931
				END ITEMLIST
			END PART
		END POLICY
		POLICY !!NoViewOnDrive
			EXPLAIN !!NoViewOnDrive_Help
			PART !!NoViewOnDriveDropdown       DROPDOWNLIST NOSORT REQUIRED
			VALUENAME "NoViewOnDrive"
				ITEMLIST
					NAME !!ShowAll       VALUE NUMERIC       0
					NAME !!HideAll       VALUE NUMERIC       67108863 DEFAULT
					NAME !!ABDEGPR_Only       VALUE NUMERIC       163931
				END ITEMLIST
			END PART
		END POLICY
	END CATEGORY ; WindowsExplorer
END CATEGORY ; WindowsComponents
#endif
[strings]
NoDrives="Show only certain drives in My Computer"
NoDrives_Help="Removes the icons representing all but selected hard drives from My Computer"
NoDrivesDropdown="Pick one of the following combinations"
NoViewOnDrive="Prevent access to drives from My Computer."
NoViewOnDrive_Help="Prevents users from using My Computer to gain access to the content of selected drives."
NoViewOnDriveDropdown="Pick one of the following combinations"
WindowsComponents="Windows Components"
WindowsExplorer="Windows Explorer"
ShowAll="Show all drives"
HideAll="Hide all drives"
ABDEGPR_Only="Restrict A, B, D, E, G, P and R drives only"

Save the HideDrives.adm file, exit Notepad, and exit the command prompt.  In the Group Policy Object Editor, create a New Group Policy Object (GPO), name it Hide Server Drives. Edit the Hide Server Drives GPO, right-click Administrative Templates in the User Configuration section, and select Add/Remove Templates… (Figure 12).

Update 10-Jan-2014.  To keep you from having weird characters placed in your text file by Copy & Paste, I have placed a copy of HideDrives.adm here.

In this GPO, the only policies used are:

• Hide these specified drives in My Computer
• Prevent access to drives from My Computer

To remove excess policies for this single purpose group policy, remove the other five Policy Templates (Figure 13):

• conf
• inetres
• system
• wmplayer
• wuau

Click Add…, click HideDrives.adm, and then click Open (Figure 14).

Click Close (Figure 15).

Expand Administrative Templates, expand Windows Components, click Windows Explorer and double-click Hide these specified drives from My Computer (Figure 16).

Click Enabled and from the drop-down box select the new Restrict A, B, D, E, G, P and R drives only option (Figure 17).

Repeat for the Prevent access to drives from My Computer policy setting (Figure 18).

Exit editing the GPO and the new drive restrictions have been added to your GPO.

Method 3 — Use the ICAClient.adm file provided by Citrix:

If you are using Citrix XenApp and are also using the ICA Client version 10.x or higher than Citrix (akes available ICAClient.adm.  Using this ADM file allows you to specify any combination of drive letters with no math involved.  Also, this ADM file is fully supported by Citrix if it has not been altered.  Citrix recommends using ICAClient.adm as the preferred way of controlling drives.  This GPO, in conjunction with the client-side XenApp plug-in, controls access to the specified drive letters.

Either download ICAClient.adm.zip and extract the ICAClient.adm file to c:\Windows\inf or copy the file from C:\Program Files\Citrix\ICA Client\Configuration.  In the Group Policy Object Editor, create a New Group Policy Object (GPO), name it ICAClient Hide Server Drives. Edit the Hide Server Drives GPO, right-click Administrative Templates in the User Configuration section, and select Add/Remove Templates… (Figure 19).

In this GPO, the only policy that will be used is Client drive mapping.

To remove excess policies for this single purpose group policy, remove the other five Policy Templates (Figure 20):

• conf
• inetres
• system
• wmplayer
• wuau

Click Add…, click icaclient.adm, and then click Open (Figure 21).

Click Close (Figure 22).

Expand Administrative Templates, expand Citrix Components, expand Presentation Server Client, click Remoting client devices, and double-click Client drive mapping (Figure 23).

Click Enabled, make sure Enable client drive mapping is checked and enter ABDEGPR in the box for Do not map drives: and click OK (Figure 24).

Exit editing the GPO and the new drive restrictions have been added to your GPO.

In this article, you learned three methods of adding additional drive letters to hide or prevent access for use on your Terminal or XenApp Servers.

Thanks

Webster