Get-CloudManagementTools

This PowerShell script can be used to download some of the common cloud (Azure and AWS) management tools available on Windows Platform.

Earlier I had seen Download and Install SharePoint 2013 Prerequisites on Windows Server 2012.  However this technet script uses Start-BitsTransfer cmdlet from BitsTransfer module. I was toying with similar idea while working on my last workshop (Cloud Automation Using PowerShell) preparation. Since some of the URLs do redirect the Start-BitsTransfer wasn’t working for me initially.

I started with simple Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet and added second variation to handle redirected URLs and pass it to Start-BitsTransfer. So let’s go through the script and output for the both the approaches.

I am using Downloads directory to store the files. For demo I have created CloudTools folder inside. I already have AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell downloaded in the folder.

I am already into the working directory where the script is saved.

Started the script execution and you can notice it finds AWS Tools For Windows PowerShell and skips the download for it.

On my Windows Server 2012 R2 VM it created a CloudTools folder which was missing before download starts.

# The folder location where the downloads will be saved
$DestinationFolder = "$ENV:homedrive$env:homepath\Downloads\CloudTools"
If (!(Test-Path $DestinationFolder)){
 New-Item $DestinationFolder -ItemType Directory -Force
}

Download is in progress…

Before this, I have created hash table with Download URL and File Name After Downloaded

# Specify download url's for various cloud management tools. Do not change unless Microsoft changes the downloads themselves in future
$Downloads = @{
 # Latest Azure PowerShell
 # Github: https://github.com/Azure/azure-powershell/releases/latest
 # WebPI: https://www.microsoft.com/web/handlers/webpi.ashx/getinstaller/WindowsAzurePowershellGet.3f.3f.3fnew.appids
 "https://aka.ms/azure-powershellget2" = "$DestinationFolder\Azure-PowerShell.msi"; 
 # Latest Azure Storage Explorer
 "https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=708343" = "$DestinationFolder\StorageExplorer.exe";
 # Latest AZCopy
 "http://aka.ms/downloadazcopy" = "$DestinationFolder\MicrosoftAzureStorageTools.msi";
 # Latest Azure CLI
 "http://aka.ms/webpi-azure-cli" = "$DestinationFolder\Azure-cli.msi";
 # Azure Storage Emulator
 "https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=717179&clcid=0x409" = "$DestinationFolder\MicrosoftAzureStorageEmulator.msi";
 # Latest AWS Tools For Windows PowerShell
 "http://sdk-for-net.amazonwebservices.com/latest/AWSToolsAndSDKForNet.msi" = "$DestinationFolder\AWSToolsAndSDKForNet.msi";
 }

Approach 1 – using Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet ,

Then I have a function which loop through the elements in downloads hash table using Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet,

function DownloadFiles(){ 
 Write-Host ""
 Write-Host "====================================================================="
 Write-Host " Downloading Cloud Management Tools for Azure & AWS" 
 Write-Host "====================================================================="
 
 $ReturnCode = 0

$Downloads.GetEnumerator() | ForEach-Object { 
 $DownloadURL = $_.get_key()
 $Filespec = $_.get_value()
 # Get the file name based on the portion of the file path after the last slash 
 $FilePath = Split-Path $Filespec
 $FileName = Split-Path $Filespec -Leaf
 Write-Host "DOWNLOADING: $FileName"
 Write-Host " FROM: $DownloadURL"
 Write-Host " TO: $FilePath"
 
 Try 
 { 
 # Check if file already exists 
 If (!(Test-Path "$Filespec")) 
 { 
 # Begin download 
 Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $DownloadURL -OutFile "$Filespec" -ErrorVariable err
 If ($err) {Throw ""} 
 Write-Host " STATUS: Downloaded"
 Write-Host
 } 
 Else 
 { 
 Write-Host " STATUS: Already exists. Skipping." 
 Write-Host
 } 
 } 
 Catch 
 { 
 $ReturnCode = -1
 Write-Warning " AN ERROR OCCURRED DOWNLOADING `'$FileName`'" 
 Write-Error $_
 Break 
 }
} 
 return $ReturnCode 
}

and the downloads completed.

Approach 2 – using Start-BitsTransfer cmdlet,

First a function Get-RedirectedUrl to get redirected URL

# This function gets the end URL to avoid redirection in URL breaking the Start-BitsTransfer
# Courtesy: http://www.powershellmagazine.com/2013/01/29/pstip-retrieve-a-redirected-url/
Function Get-RedirectedUrl {
 Param (
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
 [String]$url
 )
 $request = [System.Net.WebRequest]::Create($url)
 $request.AllowAutoRedirect=$true
 try{
 $response=$request.GetResponse()
 $response.ResponseUri.AbsoluteUri
 $response.Close()
 }
 catch{
 “ERROR: $_”
 }
}

Then I have a function which loop through the elements in downloads hash table using Start-BitsTransfer cmdlet,

# Import Required Modules: BITS is used for file transfer
Import-Module BitsTransfer

function DownloadFiles(){ 
 Write-Host ""
 Write-Host "====================================================================="
 Write-Host " Downloading Cloud Management Tools for Azure & AWS" 
 Write-Host "====================================================================="
 
 $ReturnCode = 0

$Downloads.GetEnumerator() | ForEach-Object { 
 $DownloadURL = Get-RedirectedUrl -URL $_.get_key()
 $Filespec = $_.get_value()
 # Get the file name based on the portion of the file path after the last slash 
 $FilePath = Split-Path $Filespec
 $FileName = Split-Path $Filespec -Leaf
 Write-Host "DOWNLOADING: $FileName"
 Write-Host " FROM: $DownloadURL"
 Write-Host " TO: $FilePath"
 
 Try 
 { 
 # Check if file already exists 
 If (!(Test-Path "$Filespec")) 
 { 
 # Begin download 
 Start-BitsTransfer -Source $DownloadURL -Destination "$Filespec" -DisplayName "Downloading `'$FileName`' to $FilePath" -Priority High -Description "From $DownloadURL..." -ErrorVariable err 
 If ($err) {Throw ""} 
 Write-Host " STATUS: Downloaded"
 Write-Host
 } 
 Else 
 { 
 Write-Host " STATUS: Already exists. Skipping." 
 Write-Host
 } 
 } 
 Catch 
 { 
 $ReturnCode = -1
 Write-Warning " AN ERROR OCCURRED DOWNLOADING `'$FileName`'" 
 Write-Error $_
 Break 
 }

} 
 return $ReturnCode 
}

while downloading the progress bar looks different,

I had deleted 2 files and ran the script again and following is the output,

If you want to know more about BITSTransfer & PowerShell you can refer this How to copy files with BITS using PowerShell

You can try both variation scripts by downloading from my (cloudscripts) github. I will be updating it later for more tools.

That’s it for now.

Login to Azure PowerShell Options

As you start doing anything advanced in Microsoft Azure you will need to use Microsoft’s PowerShell often. There are multiple ways you can login to Azure using PowerShell. In post I am only showing the new ways with resource management not the classic service management.

Option 1 : Log in to Azure with Login-AzureRmAccount

PS C:\> Login-AzureRmAccount

When I run Login-AzureRmAccount, I see a dialog like the one below, asking for credentials:

With successful login you can see the output

With this method you always have to enter your credentials before you start working with Azure cmdlets. This may be inconvenient if you work with multiple subscriptions.

Option 2 : Saving credentials with Save-AzureRmProfile

Make sure you are log in first

PS C:\> Login-AzureRmAccount

PS C:\> Save-AzureRmProfile -Path “C:\Folder\AzureProfile.JSON”

This will create the file AzureProfile.json, which contains all the login information for your Azure account.

Important Note: This file is a plain-text JSON file. If an unauthorized person gains access to this file, it would compromise your Azure account, and this person could use Azure resources on your costs.

Now you can login with this profile by just selecting the profile.

PS C:\> Select-AzureRmProfile -Path “C:\Folder\AzureProfile.JSON”

Since profile is tied up with subscription, you can work with only one profile at a time. If you want to work with multiple subscriptions simultaneously, you will need to save and select another profile.

Option 3 : Using PowerShell Profile

You can choose this while balancing security against convenience. Add following two lines of code into you PowerShell Profile.

$azCred = Get-Credential -UserName AzureAccount@YourDomain.onmicrosoft.com -message "Enter Password For AzureAdmin"
Login-AzureRmAccount -Credential $azCred

It will prompt only for password for your azure account and login.

Now start using Azure commands.

That’s it.

Test Azure AD User’s Role and Group

In case you missed it, very recently Microsoft went live with the Azure Active Directory PowerShell 2.0. You get more information at #AzureAD PowerShell V2.0 is now GA or Microsoft Goes Live with Azure Active Directory PowerShell 2.0

I had signed up for a cloud automation batch in last week of December 2016. I decided to incorporate new modules for demo. I wrote a following script to search for user’s role and group membership in single task. Currently the Azure AD Portal capability is in Preview Mode. The current set of commands like Get-AzureADUser, Get-AzureADDirectoryRole and Get-AzureADDirectoryRoleMember give the information however we get the only the object ids. To get the display names of users, roles and group names you can use logic in the script.

Click here to get the complete script at Technet Script Center Repository

If you are new to Azure AD, following resources can help you get started,

• What is Azure Active Directory
• Azure Active Directory Feature and Capabilities
• Azure Active Directory FAQ
• Azure Active Directory Videos