Updated on 27th October 2010.
I came across a challenge whilst working on a big XenApp deployment in a Novell environment. I needed to make changes to the Local Group Policy Object on all Terminal / Citrix servers. This was specifically required for implementation of a logoff script, as logoff scripts are not supported via Zen Polices in a Terminal Services environment.
As always, I wanted to automate it and found that there was a real lack of information about how this can be easily achieved. Anyway, I thought that modifying the Local Policy on all XenApp servers would be a pain, but it ended up being very simple indeed.
Admittedly, I could have just copied a new gpt.ini and scripts.ini into place, but then it would not have respected any previous changes and settings that had already been made to the gpt.ini. So this script checks existing configuration settings before making any changes to the gpt.ini file.
Enjoy!!
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' This script is used to add Logon and Logoff scripts to a local Group Policy.
' It modifies/creates the following two files needed to run logon and logoff scripts:
' - "%SystemRoot%\system32\GroupPolicy\gpt.ini"
' - "%SystemRoot%\system32\GroupPolicy\User\Scripts\scripts.ini"
' Notes:
' - This script will modify the existing gpt.ini file, but overwrites an existing scripts.ini file.
' It does NOT append or modify the scripts.ini file.
' - This script does not copy the actual logon/logoff scripts into place.
' The motivation to write this script was to overcome some challenges in a Novell environment due to a
' limitation of the integration with Novell Zen Policies, where logoff scripts are NOT supported on
' Terminal Servers.
' Release 1.1 Modified by Jeremy@jhouseconsulting.com on 27th October 2010.
' Written by Jeremy@jhouseconsulting.com on 25th August 2008.
' When managing the policy versions you should adhere to the Microsoft standards. The version numbering
' differs for changes made to the User and Computer configuration. In order to track changes to each
' configuration, the GPO must track a version number for each configuration. With only one version number,
' the way two versions are tracked is to split the version number into two numbers.
' The top 16 bits of the version number corresponds to the user configuration version. The lower 16 bits
' of the version number corresponds to the computer configuration version. When looking at the version
' entry in the gpt.ini file what you are then seeing is:
' Version = [user version number top 16 bits] [computer version number lower 16 bits]
' Esentially, each change to the User policy will increment the version by 131072, whilst each change to
' the Computer policy will increment the version by 1.
'
' http://blogs.technet.com/grouppolicy/archive/2007/12/14/understanding-the-gpo-version-number.aspx
'
' For example: In this script we are making a change to the User portion of the policy by adding a
' logon and logoff script. Therefore we will be incrementing the version number by 131072.
'
' We also need to add the Client Side Extension (CSE) GUIDs to instructs the winlogon process
' to run the Startup/Shutdown/Logon/Logoff scripts.
' CSE GUID for script processing = {42B5FAAE-6536-11D2-AE5A-0000F87571E3}
' Tool extension GUID for user and computer policy mode settings = {40B66650-4972-11D1-A7CA-0000F87571E3}
'
' gPCUserExtensionNames - includes a list of globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) that tells the client-side
' engine which client-side extensions have User data in the Group Policy object. The format is the following:
' [{<GUID of client-side extension>}{<GUID of MMC extension>}{<GUID of second MMC extension if appropriate>}]
'
' For example: In this script we are adding logon and logoff scripts. Therefore the gPCUserExtensionNames
' will be set to the following at minimum:
' gPCUserExtensionNames=[{42B5FAAE-6536-11D2-AE5A-0000F87571E3}{40B66650-4972-11D1-A7CA-0000F87571E3}]
'
' gPCMachineExtensionNames - includes a list of GUIDs that tells the client side engine which Client Side
' Extensions have Machine data in the GPO.
' The default GUIDs are as follows.
' gPCMachineExtensionNames=[{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}{0F6B957D-509E-11D1-A7CC-0000F87571E3}]
'
' gPCFunctionalityVersion - The Version number of the Group Policy extension tool that created the Group
' Policy object.
' The default version is 2.
'
' The Option setting has 4 values.
' 0 = Enable User and Computer Configurations
' 1 = Disable User Configuration ONLY
' 2 = Disable Computer Configuration ONLY
' 3 = Disable User and Computer Configurations
' If the Option value is not present, the User and Computer Configurations are both enabled.
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Option Explicit
Dim WshShell, strSystemRoot, strGPOLocation, objFSO, objFile, blnOption, strLine, strContents
Dim arrLogonScripts, arrLogoffScripts, strValue, intUserPolicy, intComputerPolicy, blnUserPolicy
Dim blnComputerPolicy, strCSEUserGUID, strToolextensionUserGUID, blnSection, blnUserExtensionNames
Dim blnVersion, blnFunctionality, blnMachineExtensionNames, i
Const ForReading = 1
Const ForWriting = 2
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
strSystemRoot = WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%SystemRoot%")
strGPOLocation = strSystemRoot & "\system32\GroupPolicy\"
'********** These are the script variables that can be changed **********
' Setup the arrays for the location and names of the logon and logoff scripts.
' Note that if you don't want to use either one or the other, just leave the
' array blank, or comment the line out altogether.
arrLogonScripts = Array("%SystemRoot%\LoadQAT.cmd","%SystemRoot%\RestoreDesktopIconPositions.Cmd")
arrLogoffScripts = Array("%SystemRoot%\SaveQAT.cmd","%SystemRoot%\SaveDesktopIconPositions.Cmd")
'************************************************************************
strCSEUserGUID = "{42B5FAAE-6536-11D2-AE5A-0000F87571E3}"
strToolextensionUserGUID = "{40B66650-4972-11D1-A7CA-0000F87571E3}"
blnUserPolicy = True
blnComputerPolicy = False
intUserPolicy = 131072
intComputerPolicy = 1
blnSection = False
blnFunctionality = False
blnMachineExtensionNames = False
blnVersion = False
blnUserExtensionNames = False
blnOption = False
If objFSO.FileExists(strGPOLocation & "gpt.ini") Then
Set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(strGPOLocation & "gpt.ini", ForReading)
Do While objFile.AtEndOfStream = False
strLine = objFile.ReadLine
If Instr(strLine,"[General]") > 0 Then
blnSection = True
End If
If Len(strLine) > 0 AND Instr(strLine,";") <> 1 AND Instr(strLine,"[General]") <> 1 Then
strValue=split(strLine,"=")
Select Case strValue(0)
Case "gPCFunctionalityVersion"
blnFunctionality = True
Case "gPCMachineExtensionNames"
blnMachineExtensionNames = True
Case "Version"
If blnUserPolicy Then
strValue(1)=strValue(1) + intUserPolicy
End If
blnVersion = True
Case "gPCUserExtensionNames"
If trim(strValue(1))="" Then
strValue(1)="[" & strCSEUserGUID & strToolextensionUserGUID & "]"
blnUserExtensionNames = True
End If
If instr(strValue(1),strCSEUserGUID) > 0 AND instr(strValue(1),strToolextensionUserGUID) > 0 Then
blnUserExtensionNames = True
Else
If instr(strValue(1),strCSEUserGUID) = 0 Then
If Right(trim(strValue(1)),1) = "]" Then
strValue(1)=Left(trim(strValue(1)),Len(trim(strValue(1)))-1)
End If
strValue(1)=strValue(1) & strCSEUserGUID & "]"
blnUserExtensionNames = True
End If
If instr(strValue(1),strToolextensionUserGUID) = 0 Then
If Right(trim(strValue(1)),1) = "]" Then
strValue(1)=Left(trim(strValue(1)),Len(trim(strValue(1)))-1)
End If
strValue(1)=strValue(1) & strToolextensionUserGUID & "]"
blnUserExtensionNames = True
End If
End If
Case "Options"
If strValue(1)="0" Then
blnOption = True
End If
If strValue(1)="1" Then
strValue(1)="0"
blnOption = True
End If
If strValue(1)="2" Then
blnOption = True
End If
If strValue(1)="3" Then
strValue(1)="2"
blnOption = True
End If
End Select
strContents = strContents & trim(strValue(0)) & "=" & trim(strValue(1)) & VbCrLf
Else
strContents = strContents & strLine & VbCrLf
End If
Loop
objFile.Close
End If
If blnSection = False Then
strContents="[General]" & VbCrLf & strContents
End If
If blnFunctionality = False Then
strContents=strContents & "gPCFunctionalityVersion=2" & VbCrLf
End If
If blnMachineExtensionNames = False Then
strContents=strContents & "gPCMachineExtensionNames=[{35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2}{0F6B957D-509E-11D1-A7CC-0000F87571E3}]" & VbCrLf
End If
If blnVersion = False Then
If blnUserPolicy Then
strContents=strContents & "Version=131073" & VbCrLf
Else
strContents=strContents & "Version=1" & VbCrLf
End If
End If
If blnUserExtensionNames = False Then
strContents=strContents & "gPCUserExtensionNames=[" & strCSEUserGUID & strToolextensionUserGUID & "]" & VbCrLf
End If
If blnOption = False Then
strContents=strContents & "Options=0" & VbCrLf
End If
Set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(strGPOLocation & "gpt.ini", ForWriting, True)
objFile.Write(strContents)
objFile.Close
Set objFile = Nothing
WScript.Echo "Local GPO Updated (gpt.ini): " & chr(34) & strGPOLocation & "gpt.ini" & chr(34)
If NOT objfso.FolderExists(strGPOLocation & "User") Then
objfso.CreateFolder(strGPOLocation & "User")
End If
If NOT objfso.FolderExists(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts") Then
objfso.CreateFolder(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts")
End If
If NOT objfso.FolderExists(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts\Logoff") Then
objfso.CreateFolder(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts\Logoff")
End If
If NOT objfso.FolderExists(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts\Logon") Then
objfso.CreateFolder(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts\Logon")
End If
' Need to unhide the scripts.ini file to prevent any "permission denied" errors.
If objfso.FileExists(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts\scripts.ini") Then
Set objFile = objFSO.GetFile(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts\scripts.ini")
If objFile.Attributes = objFile.Attributes AND 2 Then
objFile.Attributes = objFile.Attributes XOR 2
End If
Set objFile = Nothing
End If
strContents = "[Logon]" & VbCrLf
If IsArray(arrLogonScripts) Then
For i = 0 to ubound(arrLogonScripts)
strContents = strContents & i & "CmdLine=" & arrLogonScripts(i) & VbCrLf
strContents = strContents & i & "Parameters=" & VbCrLf
Next
End If
strContents = strContents & "[Logoff]" & VbCrLf
If IsArray(arrLogoffScripts) Then
For i = 0 to ubound(arrLogoffScripts)
strContents = strContents & i & "CmdLine=" & arrLogoffScripts(i) & VbCrLf
strContents = strContents & i & "Parameters=" & VbCrLf
Next
End If
On Error Resume Next
Set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts\scripts.ini", ForWriting, True)
If Err.Number = 0 Then
objFile.Write(strContents)
objFile.Close
Set objFile = Nothing
WScript.Echo "Scripts Added (scripts.ini): " & chr(34) & strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts\scripts.ini" & chr(34)
' Hide the scripts.ini file.
Set objFile = objFSO.GetFile(strGPOLocation & "User\Scripts\scripts.ini")
objFile.Attributes = objFile.Attributes XOR 2
Set objFile = Nothing
Else
wscript.echo "Error: " & Err.Description & ". The scripts.ini file has not been set."
End If
On Error Goto 0
Set WshShell = Nothing
Set objFSO = Nothing
wscript.quit (0)
Jeremy Saunders
Technical Architect | DevOps Evangelist | Software Developer | Microsoft, NVIDIA, Citrix and Desktop Virtualisation (VDI) Specialist/Expert | Rapper | Improvisor | Comedian | Property Investor | Kayaking enthusiast at J House Consulting
Jeremy Saunders is the Problem Terminator. He is a highly respected IT Professional with over 35 years’ experience in the industry. Using his exceptional design and problem solving skills with precise methodologies applied at both technical and business levels he is always focused on achieving the best business outcomes. He worked as an independent consultant until September 2017, when he took up a full time role at BHP, one of the largest and most innovative global mining companies. With a diverse skill set, high ethical standards, and attention to detail, coupled with a friendly nature and great sense of humour, Jeremy aligns to industry and vendor best practices, which puts him amongst the leaders of his field. He is intensely passionate about solving technology problems for his organisation, their customers and the tech community, to improve the user experience, reliability and operational support. Views and IP shared on this site belong to Jeremy.