w24 IN2054 - G10 - Lab 1 Instructions

Overview:

Lab Instructions: Section 1: Installing Windows Server ISO in VMWARE

Section 2: Installing Anaconda PYTHON and Sublime Text Editor

cd \

mkdir LabTest1

chdir LabTest1

Your command prompt will now indicate that your Active Directory is c:\LabTest1

Section 3: Using Python to Create 100 Users in Windows

Let's break down each line of the Python script and understand how it works:

import subprocess: This line imports the Python subprocess module, which allows you to spawn new processes, connect to their input/output/error pipes, and obtain their return codes.

The Python `subprocess` module provides a way to spawn new processes, connect to their input/output/error pipes, and obtain their return codes. It allows you to run new programs, as well as capture their output or error messages. The `subprocess` module is a powerful tool for interacting with the operating system and executing external commands or scripts.

Key functions and classes within the `subprocess` module include: 1. `subprocess.run()`: This function executes a command or a script and waits for it to finish. It is a simple way to run an external command and collect its output. You can specify the command as a list of arguments or as a single string that is parsed to locate the path and the name of the command to run.

2. `subprocess.Popen()`: This class allows you to spawn a new process and obtain handles for its input, output, and error pipes, as well as process management functions. It provides a more flexible way to control the behavior of the executed process, such as setting environment variables, working directory, and input/output handling.

3. Other functions and constants: The `subprocess` module also provides other functions and constants for handling input/output redirection, error handling, and process management.

Overall, the `subprocess` module is commonly used for running system commands, launching other programs, and controlling input/output streams from within Python. It is particularly useful for tasks such as running shell commands, interacting with external scripts or programs, and managing concurrent subprocesses.

for i in range(1, 101):: This line initiates a for loop that will execute the following code 100 times, with i taking on values from 1 to 100.

username = f"User{i}": This line creates a string username using an f-string. The value of i is inserted into the string, creating unique usernames like "User1", "User2", and so on.

password = "StrongPassword123": This line sets a default password for the new users. In a production environment, you would want to generate secure passwords or prompt the user for password input.

text

command = f'New-LocalUser -Name "{username}" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText "{password}" -Force) -AccountNeverExpires $true'

: This line constructs a PowerShell command to create a new local user. It uses the username and password variables within the command string using f-string formatting. The command creates a new local user with the specified username, assigns the specified password using a secure string conversion, and sets the account to never expire.

text

subprocess.run(["powershell", "-Command", command], shell=True)

: This line uses the subprocess.run function to execute the constructed PowerShell command. It starts a new process with the provided 'powershell' command and passes the constructed PowerShell command as an argument. The shell=True parameter indicates that a shell should be used to execute the command.

In summary, the Python script utilizes the subprocess module to run PowerShell commands for creating 100 local users on a Windows system. It dynamically generates unique usernames, sets a default password, constructs the PowerShell command for user creation, and then executes the command for each user within the specified range.

Section 4: Illustrating Standard Windows DEVOPS Workflows

Open PowerShell as an administrator and navigate to the directory where the create_users.py file is located.

Part 2: Modify the Python script to import usernames from a text file

You can modify the Python script to import usernames from a text file. Here's an updated version of the script that reads usernames from a text file and creates user accounts based on the usernames provided:

python

import subprocess

# Open the text file containing the usernames with open('usernames.txt', 'r') as file: usernames = file.readlines()

# Strip any whitespace characters from the usernames usernames = [username.strip() for username in usernames]

# Iterate through the list of usernames and create user accounts for username in usernames: password = "StrongPassword123" # Example default password command = f'New-LocalUser -Name "{username}" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText "{password}" -Force) -AccountNeverExpires $true' subprocess.run(["powershell", "-Command", command], shell=True) In this modified script:

The open('usernames.txt', 'r') statement opens a text file named usernames.txt in read mode. The readlines() method reads all the lines from the file and returns them as a list. The list comprehension [username.strip() for username in usernames] is used to remove any leading or trailing whitespace characters from each username. The modified for loop iterates through the list of usernames and creates a user account for each username.

You just need to create a text file named usernames.txt with each username on a separate line. When you run the script, it will read the usernames from the file and create user accounts accordingly.

By incorporating this modification, you can import usernames from a text file and use them to create user accounts on the Windows system.

Make a suitable TEXT FILE with some names. Here are samples you can use: