Administration

Administrating Specops GPUpdate

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.

Available commands

Command Description
GPUpdate Refreshes local and Active Directory-based Group Policy settings, including security settings.
Read Remote Registry* Gets a registry value for a remote computer.
Run Executable* Runs any executable from the administrator’s computer with the remote computer as a parameter.
Send Message* Sends a message to a computer.
Start 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.
Start Explorer* Starts Windows Explorer to browse the files of the remote computers.
Start Remote Desktop* Starts a Remote Desktop Session against a remote computer.
Ping* Sends a ping command to a remote computer with a specified timeout value.
Restart Computer Initiates a shutdown and a restart of a computer.
Run Executable Remotely* Use this cmdlet to execute any command line locally on a remote computer.
Shutdown Computer Initiates a shutdown of a computer.
Start Event Viewer* Displays the Event Viewer console on the local machine connected to a specific remote computer.
Start Remote Assistance* 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.
Windows Update Requests the Windows Software Update Services on the target computer to look for updates.

* GPUpdate Professional only

Execute a command using PowerShell

Specops GPUpdate is built on PowerShell and all commands can be executed through PowerShell cmdlets.

  1. Open Windows PowerShell.
  2. Run the following:

Add-PSSnapin Specops.Adx
Add-PSSnapin Specops.Gpupdate
Add-PSSnapin Specops.GpupdatePro

  1. Run the desired cmdlet.
Name Module
Update-SpecopsGroupPolicy Specops GPUpdate (ADUC)
Stop-SpecopsComputer Specops GPUpdate
Start-SpecopsComputer Specops GPUpdate
Get-SpecopsRemoteRegistry Specops GPUpdate Pro
Send-SpecopsMessage Specops GPUpdate Pro
Invoke-SpecopsCommand Specops GPUpdate Pro
Invoke-SpecopsRemoteCommand Specops GPUpdate Pro
Ping-SpecopsComputer Specops GPUpdate Pro
Start-SpecopsEventViewer Specops GPUpdate Pro
Start-SpecopsExplorer Specops GPUpdate Pro
Start-SpecopsRemoteAssistance Specops GPUpdate Pro
Start-SpecopsRemoteDesktop Specops GPUpdate Pro
Get-SpecopsADComputer Specops Adx
Update-SpecopsWsus Specops GPUpdate
Restart-SpecopsComputer Specops GPUpdate

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.

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.

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.

Scheduling ( GPUpdate Professional only)

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.

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.

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.