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Easy Mail Server changes
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Scripting and coding is fine for those who wish to spend their day learning all the ins and outs of the programming language. But for me, reusing some old batch file commands has saved me time and gets the job done just as well (without having to teach this "old dog" any new tricks). If you are like me and know how to create batch files, then this tip will be a basic review for you. If you are new, then I hope you will find this tip useful.
Typically these batch file commands are universal between Windows versions, but you may find some that are not. However, there is typically a substitute for the version you wish to use.
To create a batch file, you need only open Notepad.exe, type in the batch syntax, then save the file as a .bat extension (batchfile.bat).
Batch files are great for logon scripts, for automating PC environment configurations and for simply making IT life easier.
If you ever want to know more about a batch file command, typically you just have to type /? after the command to get a list of options.
I have attached examples of batch files for you to review and use below. Some of these include:
-Create, copy and delete files/folders
-Create ODBCs
-Create mapped drives and install network printers
-Condition checking
-Synchronizing time
Example of Windows Batch File Commands:
REM #====================================
REM #
REM # Description: Creating comment Lines REM # These are used to explain what your REM # batch files are doing
REM #====================================
REM - Type REM in front of every line you wish REM - the batch file to ignore.
Basically REM - they are used for comment lines, like these:
REM #====================================
REM #
REM # Description: @ECHO states whether to
REM # have the batch file present the text
REM # it is running on the screen - On or Off
REM #
REM #====================================
@ECHO off
@ECHO on
REM #=========================================
REM #
REM # Create directories - The example shows how to
REM # create a folder on the c: drive
REM #
REM #============================================
c:
cd
md C:folder1
md c:folder1folder2
REM #============================================
REM #
REM # Delete, copy and set attributes for files
REM # The quotes are needed if the
REM # path to the file is broken, such as
REM # c:documents and settingsfile1.txt
REM # Here I delete, copy, remove Read only and set
REM # the hidden attributes on some files
REM #
REM #============================================
del "C:file.txt"
copy c:file2.txt c:folder1folder2 /Y
attrib -r c:folder1folder2file2.txt
attrib +h c:folder1folder2file2.txt
REM #====================================
REM #
REM # Description: The Net command can do a lot
REM # and one is synchronizing the time between
REM # two systems. Running the following will
REM # synchronize the time on the system with
REM # a system called server1. Also the second
REM # example synchs the PC1's time to an NTP
REM # server's time
REM #
REM #===================================
net time server1 /set /y
NET TIME PC1 /SETNTP:ntpservername
REM #===================================
REM #
REM # Description: Mapping Network Drives
REM # allows a system to set a drive letter
REM # to connect to a remote network share
REM # So P: will map to server1's shared
REM # folder called share1. Also, I am
REM # deleting a H: mapped drive
REM #
REM #===================================
net use p: server1share1 /persistant:yes
net use h: /delete
REM #=====================================
REM #
REM # Conditional statements allow you to
REM # set conditions for the batch file to
REM # meet before processing the rest of the
REM # batch. Such as checking for the existence
REM # of a file and process the batch file
REM # accordingly.
REM #
REM #=====================================
if exist c:file.txt (goto 2) ELSE goto 1
:1
@ECHO on
ECHO The file IS NOT there
@echo off
goto end
:2
@ECHO on
ECHO The file IS there
@echo off
goto end
:END
REM #=======================================
REM #
REM # Description: Installs/removes network printers
REM # If the printer driver is installed on the
REM # system running this batch file, it will connect
REM # to the shared printer (also, the server maybe
REM # configured to download the printer driver for
REM # clients requesting it)
REM #
REM #=========================================
REM # Used to delete network printers
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /q /dn /n server1sharedprinter1
REM # Used to create network printers
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /c server1 /n server1sharedprinter2
REM #==========================================
REM #
REM # Create ODBCs for connecting to backend databases
REM # The example shows a connection to a SQL server
REM # using a Windows NT login
REM #
REM #===========================================
odbcconf /a {configsysdsn "SQL Server" "DSN=ODBCname|Database=DBname|SERVER=server1instance1|Trusted_Connection=yes"}
For more examples, use your favorite search engine and look for Windows Batch File Commands. You'll turn up sites like these:
10 most used batch commands
An A-Z Index of the Windows NT/XP command line.
