4sysops - FREE: Specops Command – PowerShell meets Group Policy

Group Policy and PowerShell are both very powerful tools to automate IT management tasks. Specops Command combines both technologies giving you an even more powerful scripting solution.

There is a free and a commercial version. Please, check out this comparison table for the differences between the two. These are the most interesting features of the free edition of Specops Command:

Automatic PowerShell installation: The biggest problem you face when it comes to using PowerShell network wide is to get it installed on all your machines. Specops Command helps you deploy PowerShell in the background by using Group Policy software installation. It thereby makes sure that the correct PowerShell package is installed on different Windows editions.

Foreground and background script execution using Group Policy: Specops Commands allows you to execute PowerShell scripts using well known Group Policy procedures. That is, you can remotely launch scripts in the foreground (boot or logon) or background (Group Policy refresh intervals).

Credential elevation for user scripts: Users usually (hopefully) don’t have enough privileges for management tasks on their machines. Therefore, logon scripts often have to run with elevated credentials.

If you want to try Specops Command you should reserve some time for your test. The installation package installs the full version which is quite a sophisticated tool. The trial license allows you to use the full version for a limited time period. After that, you can continue using its free version. This video will you give a first impression of how to use Specops Command.