Shutdown/Poweroff Workstations at night automatically

[Guest lforbes]

I am quite surprised Microsoft hasn't come up with a reliable piece of

software to power off workstations at night.

 

I have tried using both shutdown.exe (no ability to cancel) and beyond2exec

(errors out on the server) with no real luck.

 

I am looking for a reliable but inexpensive way to shut computers off at

night that gives some type of logging.

 

I have 300 computers and need to make sure they are shutting down without

check each and everyone's event viewer.

 

I see lots of batch file type utilities but they seem to rely on Scheduled

Tasks to run. If Scheduled Tasks was reliable it would be fine, but

unfortunately it isn't.

 

I don't care if there is client software required. That is OK. My

organization did force deepfreeze on us for awhile but luckily we were able

to kill it.

 

What does Microsoft Use? I mean there must be something out there as power

is getting to be an expensive thing.

 

Thanks

Lara

[Guest Thee Chicago Wolf]

Re: Shutdown/Poweroff Workstations at night automatically

 

>I am quite surprised Microsoft hasn't come up with a reliable piece of

>software to power off workstations at night.

>

>I have tried using both shutdown.exe (no ability to cancel) and beyond2exec

>(errors out on the server) with no real luck.

>

>I am looking for a reliable but inexpensive way to shut computers off at

>night that gives some type of logging.

>

>I have 300 computers and need to make sure they are shutting down without

>check each and everyone's event viewer.

>

>I see lots of batch file type utilities but they seem to rely on Scheduled

>Tasks to run. If Scheduled Tasks was reliable it would be fine, but

>unfortunately it isn't.

>

>I don't care if there is client software required. That is OK. My

>organization did force deepfreeze on us for awhile but luckily we were able

>to kill it.

>

>What does Microsoft Use? I mean there must be something out there as power

>is getting to be an expensive thing.

>

>Thanks

>Lara

 

They have, it's called shutdown.exe and it's built into Windows. It

shuts down 600+ workstations I manage at 10:10PM every night. Create a

scheduled task for this.

 

- Thee Chicago Wolf

[Guest Meinolf Weber]

Re: Shutdown/Poweroff Workstations at night automatically

 

Hello lforbes,

 

We also use shutdown.exe for restarting and shutting down with scheduled

tasks.

 

Best regards

 

Meinolf Weber

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers

no rights.

** Please do NOT email, only reply to Newsgroups

** HELP us help YOU!!! http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm

 

> I am quite surprised Microsoft hasn't come up with a reliable piece of

> software to power off workstations at night.

>

> I have tried using both shutdown.exe (no ability to cancel) and

> beyond2exec (errors out on the server) with no real luck.

>

> I am looking for a reliable but inexpensive way to shut computers off

> at night that gives some type of logging.

>

> I have 300 computers and need to make sure they are shutting down

> without check each and everyone's event viewer.

>

> I see lots of batch file type utilities but they seem to rely on

> Scheduled Tasks to run. If Scheduled Tasks was reliable it would be

> fine, but unfortunately it isn't.

>

> I don't care if there is client software required. That is OK. My

> organization did force deepfreeze on us for awhile but luckily we were

> able to kill it.

>

> What does Microsoft Use? I mean there must be something out there as

> power is getting to be an expensive thing.

>

> Thanks

> Lara

[Guest lforbes]

Re: Shutdown/Poweroff Workstations at night automatically

 

Hi,

 

I have used shutdown.exe. Here are the limitations.

 

1> It doesn't have the ability to cancel the shutdown. Some machines I have

are not used at 3pm and others are used to 8pm. I don't want to leave them

all on until 9pm or 10pm to guarantee users are off them. I want them to all

shut off at 4pm with the option to cancel for those who are still working. It

also doesn't give the users the chance to save.

 

2> There is no logging functionality.

 

3> I have 300 machines so I have to list them ALL individually in a batch

file. If their names change, I have to manually change the batch files. I

cannot just export all their names to a .txt file and pull that file from a

batch file.

 

4> It relies on scheduled task so if one stops they all stop.

 

I was using Beyondexec2 and it gave the ability to cancel and also the

ability to load all workstations in a .txt file. However, it keeps creating

multiple system errors on my server and is filling up the event viewer. It

also has no logging functions.

 

Someone recommended psshutdown which is a sysinternals which has the ability

to cancel by user and also pull from a txt file. It has no logging though and

is scheduled task driven also.

 

 

"Thee Chicago Wolf" wrote:

> >I am quite surprised Microsoft hasn't come up with a reliable piece of

> >software to power off workstations at night.

> >

> >I have tried using both shutdown.exe (no ability to cancel) and beyond2exec

> >(errors out on the server) with no real luck.

> >

> >I am looking for a reliable but inexpensive way to shut computers off at

> >night that gives some type of logging.

> >

> >I have 300 computers and need to make sure they are shutting down without

> >check each and everyone's event viewer.

> >

> >I see lots of batch file type utilities but they seem to rely on Scheduled

> >Tasks to run. If Scheduled Tasks was reliable it would be fine, but

> >unfortunately it isn't.

> >

> >I don't care if there is client software required. That is OK. My

> >organization did force deepfreeze on us for awhile but luckily we were able

> >to kill it.

> >

> >What does Microsoft Use? I mean there must be something out there as power

> >is getting to be an expensive thing.

> >

> >Thanks

> >Lara

>

> They have, it's called shutdown.exe and it's built into Windows. It

> shuts down 600+ workstations I manage at 10:10PM every night. Create a

> scheduled task for this.

>

> - Thee Chicago Wolf

>

[Guest Newell White]

Re: Shutdown/Poweroff Workstations at night automatically

 

"lforbes" wrote:

> Hi,

>

> I have used shutdown.exe. Here are the limitations.

>

> 1> It doesn't have the ability to cancel the shutdown. Some machines I have

> are not used at 3pm and others are used to 8pm. I don't want to leave them

> all on until 9pm or 10pm to guarantee users are off them. I want them to all

> shut off at 4pm with the option to cancel for those who are still working. It

> also doesn't give the users the chance to save.

>

> 2> There is no logging functionality.

>

> 3> I have 300 machines so I have to list them ALL individually in a batch

> file. If their names change, I have to manually change the batch files. I

> cannot just export all their names to a .txt file and pull that file from a

> batch file.

>

> 4> It relies on scheduled task so if one stops they all stop.

>

> I was using Beyondexec2 and it gave the ability to cancel and also the

> ability to load all workstations in a .txt file. However, it keeps creating

> multiple system errors on my server and is filling up the event viewer. It

> also has no logging functions.

>

> Someone recommended psshutdown which is a sysinternals which has the ability

> to cancel by user and also pull from a txt file. It has no logging though and

> is scheduled task driven also.

>

>

> "Thee Chicago Wolf" wrote:

>

> > >I am quite surprised Microsoft hasn't come up with a reliable piece of

> > >software to power off workstations at night.

> > >

> > >I have tried using both shutdown.exe (no ability to cancel) and beyond2exec

> > >(errors out on the server) with no real luck.

> > >

> > >I am looking for a reliable but inexpensive way to shut computers off at

> > >night that gives some type of logging.

> > >

> > >I have 300 computers and need to make sure they are shutting down without

> > >check each and everyone's event viewer.

> > >

> > >I see lots of batch file type utilities but they seem to rely on Scheduled

> > >Tasks to run. If Scheduled Tasks was reliable it would be fine, but

> > >unfortunately it isn't.

> > >

> > >I don't care if there is client software required. That is OK. My

> > >organization did force deepfreeze on us for awhile but luckily we were able

> > >to kill it.

> > >

> > >What does Microsoft Use? I mean there must be something out there as power

> > >is getting to be an expensive thing.

> > >

> > >Thanks

> > >Lara

> >

Why not install a batch file on each workstation which runs at 16:00, 18:00,

etc, which creates a flag-file, then invites user to cancel. If you get a

reply, delete the flag-file, otherwise terminate the scheduled task after 15

mins.

 

Now another batch file scheduled for 16:20, 18:20,... checks for the

flag-file.

If it exists, delete it, write to your log file, and shut down.

> 4> It relies on scheduled task so if one stops they all stop.

Can you elaborate this for my benefit?

--

Regards,

Newell White

[Guest Thee Chicago Wolf]

Re: Shutdown/Poweroff Workstations at night automatically

 

>I have used shutdown.exe. Here are the limitations.

>

>1> It doesn't have the ability to cancel the shutdown. Some machines I have

>are not used at 3pm and others are used to 8pm. I don't want to leave them

>all on until 9pm or 10pm to guarantee users are off them. I want them to all

>shut off at 4pm with the option to cancel for those who are still working. It

>also doesn't give the users the chance to save.

 

I supposed if you created a simple batch file on the user desktop that

ran shutdown -a, it would abort a shutdown but this requires you to

educate your users.

 

Well, shutdown does in fact give you the option to use certain

switches and you can customize a message to say "This machine is

shutting down. If you want to cancel the shutdown, run the Abort

Shutdown on your desktop." As an example, I use the following:

shutdown.exe -s -t 60 -c "This computer is shutting down for the

night. Goodbye!" -t specifies time in seconds, -c is a message that

appears on the screen.

 

Additionally, there's no reason you can't create multiple shutdown

tasks. One could be the final shutdown task set at 9PM which, if the

user had canceled the earlier shutdown, it might be assumed they will

not be using the machine later on and that final shutdown will take

care of it for you.

 

All this could be managed via AD much better than scheduled tasks.

>2> There is no logging functionality.

 

What's to log?

>3> I have 300 machines so I have to list them ALL individually in a batch

>file. If their names change, I have to manually change the batch files. I

>cannot just export all their names to a .txt file and pull that file from a

>batch file.

 

I'm not sure what the scope is of what you're trying to do but this

seems outside the scope of getting a machine to shutdown for the

night.

>4> It relies on scheduled task so if one stops they all stop.

 

Again, you can create multiple shutdown tasks and you can change the

properties of the scheduled task to stop trying after x amount of

time.

>I was using Beyondexec2 and it gave the ability to cancel and also the

>ability to load all workstations in a .txt file. However, it keeps creating

>multiple system errors on my server and is filling up the event viewer. It

>also has no logging functions.

>

>Someone recommended psshutdown which is a sysinternals which has the ability

>to cancel by user and also pull from a txt file. It has no logging though and

>is scheduled task driven also.

 

psshutdown isn't a bad option either since you can use the -c switch

to allow a cancel by the user. Might be your best shot. You can likely

use it in tandem with the built in shutdown where during the day you

can use the psshutdown for the purposes of being canceled and

shutdown.exe for end-of-day shutdown.

 

Any other shutdown utilities out there are not free but may do logging

so you'd have to research it on your own.

 

- Thee Chicago Wolf

[Guest lforbes]

Re: Shutdown/Poweroff Workstations at night automatically

 

> I supposed if you created a simple batch file on the user desktop that

> ran shutdown -a, it would abort a shutdown but this requires you to

> educate your users.

 

Yeah, not really an option as I have about 2400 of them.

> Additionally, there's no reason you can't create multiple shutdown

> tasks. One could be the final shutdown task set at 9PM which, if the

> user had canceled the earlier shutdown, it might be assumed they will

> not be using the machine later on and that final shutdown will take

> care of it for you.

 

Yes, I have that already.

> All this could be managed via AD much better than scheduled tasks.

 

How do you get AD to run a batch file at a certain time? Please let me know.

I have been using AD and GP for 8 years now and have all types of scripts but

none that are time-based.

>

> >2> There is no logging functionality.

>

> What's to log?

 

We need confirmation for our monitoring department that the machines are

indeed shutting down, that they didn't error out etc.

>

> >3> I have 300 machines so I have to list them ALL individually in a batch

> >file. If their names change, I have to manually change the batch files. I

> >cannot just export all their names to a .txt file and pull that file from a

> >batch file.

>

> I'm not sure what the scope is of what you're trying to do but this

> seems outside the scope of getting a machine to shutdown for the

> night.

 

In order to use shutdown.exe you have to list all the machine names in the

batch file correct? With psshutdown it lets you do just one line of command

in the batch file that references a .txt file where all the computer names

reside. It is far easier to just do a list with all the computer names than a

batch file with 300 lines of C:\shutdown.exe /s /m \\computer1 /t 60 /f

>

> >4> It relies on scheduled task so if one stops they all stop.

>

> Again, you can create multiple shutdown tasks and you can change the

> properties of the scheduled task to stop trying after x amount of

> time.

 

I have had issues with a scheduled task hanging and therefore all the tasks

scheduled after it did not complete as planned.

> Any other shutdown utilities out there are not free but may do logging

> so you'd have to research it on your own.

 

That is why I posted it here. I figured there must be a solution.

[Guest Jason A Ash]

Re: Shutdown/Poweroff Workstations at night automatically

 

Having seen most of the suggestions here, one option, if you don't mind

some scripting, would be to look into using AutoIT to create a script,

possibly using either shutdown.exe or psshutdown. Set the script to pop

up a message box, with a countdown timer, if a user is sitting at the

PC, and wants to prevent the shutdown, the click "cancel" otherwise, the

PC gets shutdown.

 

I've used AutoIT to shutdown a batch of machines (~16-18), although

without the cancel option. All I have it do is get the list of PCs via

a net view (you might want to find a more "elegant" solution), write

that to a file, then read through the file, shutting down the PCs via

psshutdown. The PCs in question are not on a domain, so querying AD or

DNS isn't an option.

 

http://www.autoit.com

 

Just a thought.

Jason A.

 

lforbes wrote:

> I am quite surprised Microsoft hasn't come up with a reliable piece of

> software to power off workstations at night.

>

> I have tried using both shutdown.exe (no ability to cancel) and beyond2exec

> (errors out on the server) with no real luck.

>

> I am looking for a reliable but inexpensive way to shut computers off at

> night that gives some type of logging.

>

> I have 300 computers and need to make sure they are shutting down without

> check each and everyone's event viewer.

>

> I see lots of batch file type utilities but they seem to rely on Scheduled

> Tasks to run. If Scheduled Tasks was reliable it would be fine, but

> unfortunately it isn't.

>

> I don't care if there is client software required. That is OK. My

> organization did force deepfreeze on us for awhile but luckily we were able

> to kill it.

>

> What does Microsoft Use? I mean there must be something out there as power

> is getting to be an expensive thing.

>

> Thanks

> Lara