Move computer object and set extended attribute

Question

Hello.

I'm fairy new with script on in Adaxes but like to make a business rule that moves computer to the correct OU and set an extended attribute with a numeric value.
I found that when we install a computer with Microsoft Configuration manager 2012R2 the computer account is created in AD and not Adaxes so we cannot use business rules.

Ok, I’ll make a script that I run on a schedule or interactively, maybe interactively within the instsallation process of Configruation Manager.

I make a script but it doesn’t work. I get an error that indicates that the script does not get the computer name from Adaxes.
The syntax of our computer names is. Site-Department-User-computer type. Ex. SV-IT-John-VM

import-module adaxes
$datornamn = $Context.TargetObject.Name #should return ‘SV-IT-John-VM’
$avdelning = [string]$datornamn.name.split('-')[1] #returns ’IT’
$datornamnAD = Get-AdmComputer $datornamn 
#array with OU and costID
$OuLista = @(('IT','OU=IT,OU=Stod-Support,OU=Personal,OU=Company,DC=Company,DC=se',14),
         @('dep1','OU=Fastighet,OU=Stod-Support,OU=Personal,OU=Company,DC=Company,DC=se',17),
….
        @('dep15','OU=Personal,OU=Company-Assistans,DC=Company,DC=se',99)
       )

$ou = $OuLista | where {$_[0] -match $avdelning} 
if ($ou)
    {
       Move-AdmObject $datornamnAD -TargetPath $ou[1]
       Set-AdmComputer $datornamnAD -add @{extensionattribute2=$ou[2]}
       $loggtext = $datornamn.name " should be in OU "$ou[1] " mwith cosst ID "$ou[2]
       $Context.LogMessage($loggtext, "Information") 
    }
else
    {
       $Context.LogMessage("Computer not placed in OU", "Information") 
    }

I don’t get any computer name in row 2. How do I get that.

Is there a smarter way to place computers in correct OU?

Comments

Hello,

First of all, how do you launch your script? The thing is that the $Context built-in variable represents the execution context for any script run as a part of a Business Rule, Custom Command or Scheduled Task. If you run your script outside of Adaxes, for example, directly from the Windows PowerShell Console, any calls to the $Context variable will simply return a null value. Thus, if you are running your script from the Windows PowerShell Console, this line simply doesn't return anything:

$datornamn = $Context.TargetObject.Name #should return ‘SV-IT-John-VM’

I found that when we install a computer with Microsoft Configuration manager 2012R2 the computer account is created in AD and not Adaxes so we cannot use business rules.

Adaxes doesn't have its own database of AD objects or something like that. Everything is done by Adaxes directly in AD. However, a Business Rule can be launched only if an operation is made via Adaxes service. That is, in your case, a Business Rule will be triggered only for computer accounts that are created via Adaxes. So, you can't get the Business Rule to run because you create computers via the Configuration Manager.

You have 2 options how you can achieve your task.

• As far as we know, the Configuration Manager can run PowerShell scripts. So, you can create a script that will move and update the computer object in AD using Adaxes cmdlets once you create a computer in the Configuration Manager.

• As far as we know, the Configuration Manager supports management using PowerShell and even has its own PowerShell module. So, you can do as follows:

  • Create a PowerShell script that would perform all the actions required to set up a new computer using Configuration Manager cmdlets.
  • Create a Business Rule in Adaxes that would automatically run the script after creating a new computer account.

  In this case, you can create new computers via Adaxes, and the Business Rule will automatically run the configuration script to set up the new computer. Also, the Business Rule will perform all the other actions (move the computer account to the necessary OU, add the necessary properties etc).

---

Hello and thank you for your quick answer.

I’ve tried to run the script two ways.
1. In the Powershell script editor of Adaxes pressing ‘F5’ and then selection a Computer to run the script against/on.
2. Right click a computer in the AD tree and expand ‘All task’ and then chose my script.
I get the same result – nothing.

Answer 1

OK. we've found a couple of errors in your script. Also, we've rewritten the script to use ADSI interfaces only, which will work faster. Here's a version of your script that will work:

$OuLista = @{
    "IT" = "OU=IT,OU=Stod-Support,OU=Personal,OU=Company,DC=Company,DC=se", "14";
    "dep1" = "OU=Fastighet,OU=Stod-Support,OU=Personal,OU=Company,DC=Company,DC=se", "17";
...
    "dep15" = "OU=Personal,OU=Company-Assistans,DC=Company,DC=se", "99";
}

$datornamn = $Context.TargetObject.Name # returns ‘SV-IT-John-VM’
$avdelning = $datornamn.split('-')[1] # returns ’IT’

$ou = ($OuLista[$avdelning])[0]
if (-not([System.String]::IsNullOrEmpty($ou)))
    {
       $extensionAttribValue = ($OuLista[$avdelning])[1]
       $Context.TargetObject.Put("extensionattribute2", $extensionAttribValue)
       $Context.TargetObject.SetInfoEx(@("extensionattribute2"))
       $ouObj = $Context.BindToObjectByDN("$ou")
       $ouObj.MoveHere($Context.TargetObject.AdsPath , $NULL)
       $Context.LogMessage($datornamn + " should be in OU " + $ou + " mwith cosst ID " + $extensionAttribValue, "Information")
    }
else
    {
       $Context.LogMessage("Computer not placed in OU", "Information")
    }

For more information, see:

• Moving Computer Accounts
• Modifying Computer Accounts

Comments

Hello.
Thank you for your input. I had some problems with some of your code that did not work but I’m happy camper.
$Context.TargetObject.Name returns CN=AA-BB-CC so I had to remove the ‘CN=’ bit.
$ou = ($OuLista[$avdelning])[0] did not work at all, nether in PS 3-4 or in Adaxes. I changed that to $ou = $OuLista | where {$_[0] -match $avdelning}
Really quick and relevant support. Thank you!

---

Hello,

Thank you for your good words, we really appreciate it!