User Guide

This comprehensive user guide provides detailed instructions for using the PowerShell Enterprise Automation Platform effectively. Whether you're a system administrator, security professional, or IT operations specialist, this guide will help you maximize the platform's capabilities.

Table of Contents

Daily Operations

Starting Your Day

Begin each workday with these essential checks:

  1. System Health Check

    # Import the core module
Import-Module ./modules/PSAdminCore/PSAdminCore.psm1

# Run daily health check
./scripts/maintenance/Monitor-CriticalServices.ps1 -SendEmail

  2. Review Overnight Backups

    # Check backup status
./scripts/backup/Test-BackupIntegrity.ps1 -ReportPath "C:\Reports"

  3. Security Compliance Check

    # Run security audit
./scripts/security/Test-SecurityCompliance.ps1 -GenerateReport

Monitoring Dashboard

Access your monitoring dashboard to review:

  • System performance metrics
  • Active alerts and notifications
  • Backup status and schedules
  • Security compliance scores

Common Tasks

User Management

Adding New Users

# Single user creation
./scripts/administration/New-ADUserWithStandardGroups.ps1 -FirstName "John" -LastName "Doe" -Department "IT"

# Bulk user creation from CSV
./scripts/administration/Import-ADUsersFromCSV.ps1 -CsvPath "C:\Data\NewUsers.csv"

User Lifecycle Management

# Disable departing user
./scripts/administration/Disable-ADUser.ps1 -Username "john.doe" -BackupData

# Transfer user data
./scripts/administration/Transfer-UserData.ps1 -FromUser "john.doe" -ToUser "jane.smith"

System Maintenance

Disk Space Management

# Clean up disk space
./scripts/maintenance/Clear-DiskSpace.ps1 -WhatIf

# After reviewing, execute the cleanup
./scripts/maintenance/Clear-DiskSpace.ps1 -Confirm:$false

Service Monitoring

# Monitor critical services
./scripts/maintenance/Monitor-CriticalServices.ps1 -Services "WinRM", "DNS", "DHCP"

Backup Operations

Manual Backup

# Perform immediate backup
./scripts/backup/Start-BackupJob.ps1 -BackupType "Full" -Priority "High"

Backup Verification

# Test backup integrity
./scripts/backup/Test-BackupIntegrity.ps1 -BackupPath "\\BackupServer\Backups"

Security Operations

Security Auditing

# Run comprehensive security audit
./scripts/security/Invoke-SecurityAudit.ps1 -FullScan -EmailReport

Compliance Reporting

# Generate compliance report
./scripts/security/New-ComplianceReport.ps1 -Standard "CIS" -OutputFormat "HTML"

Advanced Features

Automation Scheduling

Using Windows Task Scheduler

# Create scheduled task for daily maintenance
$Action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "PowerShell.exe" -Argument "-File C:\Scripts\DailyMaintenance.ps1"
$Trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At 2:00AM
$Settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable
Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Daily Maintenance" -Action $Action -Trigger $Trigger -Settings $Settings

Automated Reporting

Configure automated reports to be sent to stakeholders:

# Setup weekly summary report
./scripts/reports/New-WeeklySummaryReport.ps1 -Recipients "it-team@company.com" -Schedule "Weekly"

Cloud Integration

Azure Integration

# Sync backups to Azure
./scripts/cloud/Sync-BackupToAzure.ps1 -StorageAccount "companybackups" -Container "daily-backups"

Multi-Cloud Backup

# Backup to multiple cloud providers
./scripts/backup/Start-MultiCloudBackup.ps1 -Providers "Azure", "AWS", "GCP"

Custom Automation

Creating Custom Scripts

  1. Use the Template

    # Copy script template
Copy-Item "./templates/ScriptTemplate.ps1" "./scripts/custom/MyCustomScript.ps1"

  2. Follow Best Practices

    • Include proper error handling
    • Add comprehensive logging
    • Use parameter validation
    • Include help documentation

  3. Test Thoroughly

    # Test your custom script
./scripts/custom/MyCustomScript.ps1 -WhatIf -Verbose

Best Practices

Security

  • Never hardcode credentials - Use Windows Credential Manager
  • Validate all inputs - Implement proper parameter validation
  • Use least privilege - Run with minimum required permissions
  • Audit all operations - Enable comprehensive logging

Performance

  • Monitor resource usage - Track CPU, memory, and disk usage
  • Optimize large datasets - Use streaming for large file operations
  • Schedule intensive tasks - Run during off-peak hours
  • Use parallel processing - Leverage PowerShell jobs for concurrent operations

Reliability

  • Implement error handling - Use try-catch blocks appropriately
  • Validate prerequisites - Check dependencies before execution
  • Test in development - Use -WhatIf parameter for testing
  • Monitor execution - Use logging to track script behavior

Maintenance

  • Regular updates - Keep modules and scripts current
  • Review logs - Analyze execution logs regularly
  • Clean up old data - Implement retention policies
  • Document changes - Maintain change logs

Configuration Management

Environment Configuration

# Set environment-specific settings
$Config = @{
    Environment = "Production"
    LogLevel = "Information"
    EmailEnabled = $true
    BackupRetention = 30
}
$Config | ConvertTo-Json | Out-File "./config/environment.json"

Module Configuration

# Configure module settings
Set-PSAdminConfiguration -LogPath "C:\Logs\PSAdmin" -EmailServer "smtp.company.com"

Reporting and Analytics

Generating Reports

# Generate monthly operations report
./scripts/reports/New-MonthlyOperationsReport.ps1 -Month (Get-Date).Month -Year (Get-Date).Year

Performance Analytics

# Analyze system performance trends
./scripts/analytics/Get-PerformanceTrends.ps1 -Period "30days" -Metrics "CPU", "Memory", "Disk"

Integration with Other Systems

SIEM Integration

# Send events to SIEM
./scripts/security/Send-EventToSIEM.ps1 -Event $SecurityEvent -Priority "High"

Ticketing System Integration

# Create automated tickets
./scripts/integration/New-ServiceTicket.ps1 -Title "Automated Alert" -Description $AlertDetails

Troubleshooting

For detailed troubleshooting information, see the Troubleshooting Guide.

Common Issues

  • Module Import Errors: Check PowerShell execution policy
  • Permission Denied: Verify administrative privileges
  • Network Connectivity: Test network connections and firewall rules
  • Authentication Failures: Verify credentials and domain connectivity

Getting Help

# Get help for any script
Get-Help ./scripts/maintenance/Monitor-CriticalServices.ps1 -Full

# Get help for module functions
Get-Help Test-AdminPrivileges -Examples

For additional support and advanced configurations, consult the Architecture documentation or contact your system administrator.

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