Quick-Start: Your First Automation in 30 Minutes

Welcome to the PowerShell Enterprise Automation Platform! This guide will walk you through a minimal, secure deployment to get your first automation running in under 30 minutes.

Table of Contents

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

  • Windows Server 2019+ or Windows 10/11 Pro+
  • PowerShell 7.0+ recommended.
  • Git installed.
  • Local Administrator privileges on the machine.

Step 1: Clone the Repository

Open a PowerShell terminal and clone the project repository from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/lucchesi-sec/powershell-automation.git
cd powershell-automation

You now have a local copy of the platform.

Step 2: Configure Your Environment

For this quick-start, we will configure email notifications to send a report.

  1. Navigate to the config directory:

    cd config

  2. Create the Email Configuration: Create a file named email.json and add the following content, replacing the placeholder values with your actual SMTP server details.

    {
    "From": "automation@your-domain.com",
    "SmtpServer": "smtp.your-domain.com",
    "Port": 587,
    "UseSsl": true,
    "Credential": true,
    "Recipients": {
        "Administrators": ["your-email@your-domain.com"]
    }
}

    Note: For this quick-start, you will be prompted for credentials when the script runs.

Step 3: Run Your First Health Check

Now, let's run a simple script to monitor critical services and get a report.

  1. Navigate to the scripts/maintenance directory:

    cd ../scripts/maintenance

  2. Execute the Monitor-CriticalServices.ps1 script: This script will check for standard services like WinRM and Spooler.

    ./Monitor-CriticalServices.ps1 -Services "WinRM", "Spooler" -SendEmail

  3. Check Your Inbox: You should receive an email report shortly with the status of the monitored services.

Congratulations! You have successfully deployed and run your first automation task with the platform.

Next Steps

You are now ready to explore more advanced capabilities. Here are some suggestions:

  • Dive into the Deployment Guide for a full production setup.
  • Explore the Module Guide to understand the available functions.
  • Try a more advanced script, like scripts/administration/Get-ADUserActivityReport.ps1 if you are in a domain environment.
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