. All right reserved. For more information about Specops Gpupdate and other Specops products, visit www.specopssoft.com
Copyright and Trademarks Specops Gpupdate is a trademark owned by Specops Software. All other trademarks used in this document belong to their respective owners. 2
Contents Requirements 5 Installing Specops Gpupdate 6 Update License 7 Installing Specops Gpupdate 8 Executing a command 9 Execute a command using ADUC 9 Execute a command using Powershell 11 Command pinning 12 Pin a command 12 Edit pinned commands 14 Delete pinned commands 14 Scheduling 15 Add a scheduled command 16 Edit a scheduled command 17 Delete a scheduled command 17 3
About Specops Gpupdate Specops Gpupdate is a free tool that allows you to remotely administer any number of computers. Specops Gpupdate extends the functionality of Active Directory Users and Computers and can be used to instantly perform the following tasks for a selected computer, or multiple computers within an organizational unit: Refresh Group Policy settings Use Windows Software Update Service (WSUS) on remote systems to look for updates Start remote systems with Wake On Lan (WOL) Shutdown remote systems Restart remote systems Ping remote systems* Send messages to remote systems* Read the registry of remote systems* Run executable files residing on your local computer against remote systems* Run executable files residing on remote systems against remote systems* You can learn more about Specops Gpupdate and other Specops products at www.specopssoft.com. *Gpupdate Professional only 4
Requirements The computer where Specops Gpupdate will be installed should meet the following requirements: Windows XP with SP2 or Windows Server 2003 or later.net Framework 2.0 or later Note: In order to install.net Framework 3.5, you will need to run the following administrator level command prompt: dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:netfx3 /all /Source:D:\sources\sxs /LimitAccess Enterprise administrator rights in the root domain to add the ADUC display specifiers during installation. Domain or Enterprise administrator rights to add license information during installation. 5
Installing Specops Gpupdate During installation, Specops Gpupdate will launch the Setup Assistant. The Setup Assistant contains installation information for Specops Gpupdate and Specops Gpupdate Professional. You will only need to complete the installation steps for the product you plan on installing. 1. Download the Setup Assistant. 2. Save and Run the Setup Assistant locally to a machine where you administer Group Policy. Note: By default the file is extracted to C:\temp\SpecopsGpUpdate_Setup_[VersionNumber] 3. Double click Specopssoft.SetupAssistant.exe to launch the Setup Assistant. 4. If you want to install Specops Gpupdate Professional, click Update License 6
Update License* If you are installing Specops Gpupdate Professional, you will need to import your license file in the Setup Assistant. 1. Click Update License. 2. Browse to the location of the TXT file, and click Open. *Gpupdate Professional only 7
Installing Specops Gpupdate 1. Click Start Installation in the Specops Setup Assistant dialog box. 2. Verify that you have fulfilled the prerequisites. If you do not meet the pre-requisites you may need to do the following: a. Install PowerShell b. Install ADUC Menu Extensions 3. Click Install. 8
Executing a command You can access Specops Gpupdate from Microsoft Active Directory Users and Computer (ADUC) or you can execute the cmdlet s directly in PowerShell. Execute a command using ADUC 1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers. 2. Select a computer by right clicking on one or more domains, Security Groups or Computer objects. 3. Select Gpupdate in the context menu. 4. From the Execute Command tab, select a command. 5. Configure command parameters, and click Execute. 9
Available commands Command Gpupdate Read Remote Registry* Run Executable* Send Message* Start Computer Start Explorer* Start Remote Desktop* Ping* Restart Computer Run Executable Remotely* Shutdown Computer Start Event Viewer* Start Remote Assistance* Windows Update Description Refreshes local and Active Directory-based Group Policy settings, including security settings. Gets a registry value for a remote computer. Runs any executable from the administrator s computer with the remote computer as a parameter. Sends a message to a computer. Starts a computer by broadcasting a Wake on LAN message on the network. Note: The computer to be started must be configured to be able to receive WOL packages. To start a computer with WOL the computer s IP Address, Mac address, and Subnet mask must be known. By default, these values are retrieved from DHCP servers. Starts Windows Explorer to browse the files of the remote computers. Starts a Remote Desktop Session against a remote computer. Sends a ping command to a remote computer with a specified timeout value. Initiates a shutdown and a restart of a computer. Use this cmdlet to execute any command line locally on a remote computer. Initiates a shutdown of a computer. Displays the Event Viewer console on the local machine connected to a specific remote computer. Offers Remote Assistance to a user currently logged on to a remote computer. This will result in a dialog appearing on the user s desktop with information that an administrator is offering remote assistance. Requests the Windows Software Update Services on the target computer to look for updates. *Specops Gpupdate Professional only 10
Execute a command using Powershell* Specops Gpupdate is built on PowerShell and all commands can be executed through PowerShell cmdlets. You will need Gpupdate Professional to run the below cmdlets. 1. Open Windows PowerShell. 2. Run the following: Add-PSSnapin Specops.Adx Add-PSSnapin Specops.Gpupdate Add-PSSnapin Specops.GpupdatePro 3. Run the desired cmdlet. Available PowerShell cmdlets Name Update-SpecopsGroupPolicy Stop-SpecopsComputer Start-SpecopsComputer Get-SpecopsRemoteRegistry Send-SpecopsMessage Invoke-SpecopsCommand Invoke-SpecopsRemoteCommand Ping-SpecopsComputer Start-SpecopsEventViewer Start-SpecopsExplorer Start-SpecopsRemoteAssistance Start-SpecopsRemoteDesktop Get-SpecopsADComputer Update-SpecopsWsus Restart-SpecopsComputer Module Specops.Gpupdate Specops.Gpupdate Specops.Gpupdate Specops.GpupdatePro Specops.GpupdatePro Specops.GpupdatePro Specops.GpupdatePro Specops.GpupdatePro Specops.GpupdatePro Specops.GpupdatePro Specops.GpupdatePro Specops.GpupdatePro Specops.Adx Specops.Gpupdate Specops.Gpupdate *Gpupdate Professional only 11
Command pinning Pinned commands are shortcuts to your most used commands. The commands are available in the context menu in the Active Directory Users and Computers Console. A pinned command is not only a shortcut to the command itself, but also the parameters of the command. A pinned command can be saved for the current user or for all users who run Specops Remote Admin on the same computer. Note: Specops Gpupdate (free version) contains pre-pinned commands installed by default. Pin a command There are two ways to pin a command. Pin a command from the Pinned Commands tab 1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers. 2. Select a computer by right clicking on one or more domains, Security Groups or Computer objects. 3. Select Gpupdate in the context menu. 4. From the Pinned Commands tab, click New Pinned Command. 5. Enter the display name of the pinned command that will appear in the context menu in the Active Directory Users and Computers Console. 6. From the Based on command drop down list, select a command. 7. Specify if the pinned command should be stored for the current user or for all users. 8. Configure the pinned command parameters, and click Save. 12
Pin a command from the Command Action menu from the command parameter page 1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers. 2. Select a computer by right clicking on one or more domains, Security Groups or Computer objects. 3. Select Gpupdate in the context menu. 4. From the Execute Command tab, select a command. 5. Configure command parameters. 6. From the Command Actions menu, select Pin Command. 7. Enter a display name for the pinned command, and click OK. 13
Edit pinned commands 1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers. 2. Select a computer by right clicking on one or more domains, Security Groups or Computer objects. 3. Select Gpupdate in the context menu. 4. From the Pinned Commands tab, select the command you want to edit by clicking its name. 5. Modify the settings, and click Save. Delete pinned commands 1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers. 2. Select a computer by right clicking on one or more domains, Security Groups or Computer objects. 3. Select Gpupdate in the context menu. 4. From the Pinned Commands tab, locate the command, and click Delete. 14
Scheduling* All commands in Specops Gpupdate Professional can be scheduled to execute regularly. A scheduled command in Specops Gpupdate Professional is a PowerShell script saved to a file. The script will be executed from within PowerShell. You can also specify a log file for the command. The PowerShell script will then save the output from the command execution to that log file. The scheduling feature of Specops Gpupdate Professional utilizes the built in Windows Task Scheduler. *Gpupdate Professional only 15
Add a scheduled command 1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers. 2. Select a computer by right clicking on one or more domains, Security Groups or Computer objects. 3. Select Gpupdate in the context menu. 4. From the Execute Command tab, select a command. 5. Configure command parameters. 6. From the Command Actions menu, click Schedule Command. 7. In the Path to script field, click Browse to identify the path to the PowerShell script file that will be created. 8. In the Path to log file field, click Browse to identify the path to the log file that will be generated when the script is executed from the Task Scheduler. 9. Click OK. 10. From the Task tab in task scheduler dialog box, specify the user account that will be used to run the command in the Run as text field. Note: You should use an account that has access to the path where you specify the script to be saved. If you specify a log file, the account you select for the scheduled job must have write access to this file. 11. Click Apply. 12. From the Schedule tab, specify the schedule for the command, and click Apply. 13. Configure any additional settings, and click OK. 16
Edit a scheduled command You can edit a scheduled command from the Windows Task Scheduler console. 1. Open the Windows Scheduler console. 2. Double-click the scheduled command from the task list. 3. In the task scheduler dialog box, make the necessary changes, and click OK. Delete a scheduled command You can delete a scheduled command from the Windows Task Scheduler console. 1. Open the Windows Scheduler console. 2. Right-click the scheduled command from the task list, and select Delete. 17
Support Congratulations! You have successfully installed and configured Specops Gpupdate. For more information, you can visit the Specops Gpupdate FAQ page at: www.specopssoft.com/documentation/specops-gpupdate-professional-documentation/specopsgpupdate-faq. If you are unable to resolve a product related issue, contact Specops Support for assistance. Online We recommend submitting your case directly on our website at: www.specopssoft.com/support. Telephone International +46 8 465 012 50 Monday - Friday: 09:00-17:00 CET North America +1-877-SPECOPS (773-2677) Monday - Friday: 09:00-17:00 EST 18