Scripting - World of Jani

Shrinking/compacting disks(VHD:s) on your Hyper-V

Shrinking disks on your Hyper-V guests

A few of my guests run on SSD drives. Occasionally I reclaim diskspace by defragmenting and compacting the VHD;s. I have managed to free up to 20GB diskspace on a single guest, which is pretty much SSD wise. However, first of all, you should consider before putting R/W intense operations, such as VMs, on your SSD;s.

Since this is a process that will take quite some time I wanted to make it as automated as possible.

1. Defrag with Raxco perfect disk. This script is run remotely on the target machines. Errorhandling is omitted for readability.


REM Verify PDCmd functionality
"c:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDCmd.exe" > c:\temp\raxco.txt

REM Prepare for shrink
"c:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDCmd.exe" /prep /alldrives /w

REM Online defrag
"c:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDCmd.exe" /dol /alldrives /w

REM Zerofill
"c:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDCmd.exe" /z /alldrives /w

REM Verify PDCmd functionality

"c:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDCmd.exe" > c:\temp\raxco.txt

REM Prepare for shrink

"c:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDCmd.exe" /prep /alldrives /w

REM Online defrag

"c:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDCmd.exe" /dol /alldrives /w

REM Zerofill

"c:\Program Files\Raxco\PerfectDisk\PDCmd.exe" /z /alldrives /w

2. Compact VHD:s. Run in powershell on the Host. Make sure the actual VM is turned off.


Import-Module Hyper-V

$vm_name = 'SERVERNAME'

$get_vhds = get-vm $vm_name | select -expand HardDrives | get-vhd |select path
 foreach ($vhd in $get_vhds) {
   $vhd = $vhd.path.tostring()
   Mount-VHD -Path $vhd -readonly
   Optimize-VHD -Path $vhd -mode quick
   Optimize-VHD -Path $vhd -mode full
   DisMount-VHD -Path $vhd
}

Import-Module Hyper-V

$vm_name = 'SERVERNAME'

$get_vhds = get-vm $vm_name | select -expand HardDrives | get-vhd |select path

foreach ($vhd in $get_vhds) {

$vhd = $vhd.path.tostring()

Mount-VHD -Path $vhd -readonly

Optimize-VHD -Path $vhd -mode quick

Optimize-VHD -Path $vhd -mode full

DisMount-VHD -Path $vhd

}

Leave a Comment Hyper-V, Powershell, Scripting Read more

Pin Items to the Start Menu or Taskbar with a script

Citrix / Terminal Services

There is no easy way to Pin items to the Start Menu or on the Taskbar, it is by design to prevent programs filling up these locations ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2006.01.windowsconfidential.aspx ). However it is possible to script the pinned items.

When you rightclick on an object (shortcut / file) in explorer, you are presented with a context menu. These actions are known as “Shortcut Menu items” or “Verbs” in shell terms. These verbs can be enumerated and executed programmatically.

rclickmenu

Example to get all verbs on the Internet Explorer link:


Const CSIDL_STARTMENU = &HB

Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Set objUserFolder = objShell.NameSpace (CSIDL_STARTMENU)
strUserFolderPath = objUserFolder.Self.Path

Set objFolderIE = objShell.Namespace(strUserFolderPath & "\Programs")
Set objFolderItemIE = objFolderIE.ParseName("Internet Explorer.lnk")
Set colVerbs = objFolderItemIE.Verbs
For Each objVerb in colVerbs
    Wscript.Echo objVerb
Next

Const CSIDL_STARTMENU = &HB

Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")

Set objUserFolder = objShell.NameSpace (CSIDL_STARTMENU)

strUserFolderPath = objUserFolder.Self.Path

Set objFolderIE = objShell.Namespace(strUserFolderPath & "\Programs")

Set objFolderItemIE = objFolderIE.ParseName("Internet Explorer.lnk")

Set colVerbs = objFolderItemIE.Verbs

For Each objVerb in colVerbs

Wscript.Echo objVerb

Result from the example above:
verbresult

When scripting, you basically point out the object , and apply an action(verb):


Const CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS = &H17
Const CSIDL_PROGRAMS = &H2
Const CSIDL_STARTMENU = &HB
Dim objShell
Dim objAllUsersProgramsFolder
Dim strAllUsersProgramsPath
Dim objUserFolder
Dim strUserFolderPath
Dim objFolderIE
Dim objFolderItemIE
Dim colVerbs
Dim objVerb

Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
Set objAllUsersProgramsFolder = objShell.NameSpace(CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS)
strAllUsersProgramsPath = objAllUsersProgramsFolder.Self.Path
Set objUserFolder = objShell.NameSpace (CSIDL_STARTMENU)
strUserFolderPath = objUserFolder.Self.Path

' Internet Explorer. Select shortcut to apply the action on
Set objFolderIE = objShell.Namespace(strUserFolderPath & "\Programs")
Set objFolderItemIE = objFolderIE.ParseName("Internet Explorer.lnk")
Set colVerbs = objFolderItemIE.Verbs

' Choose your verb
For Each objVerb in colVerbs
'   If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt
'   If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Pin to Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt
'   If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Pin to Start Menu" Then objVerb.DoIt
'   If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Start Menu" Then objVerb.DoIt

'   If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Fäst i Aktivitetsfältet" Then objVerb.DoIt
'   If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Fäst på Start-menyn" Then objVerb.DoIt
'   If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Ta bort från Aktivitetsfältet" Then objVerb.DoIt
'   If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Ta bort från Start-menyn" Then objVerb.DoIt
Next

' Done

Const CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS = &H17

Const CSIDL_PROGRAMS = &H2

Const CSIDL_STARTMENU = &HB

Dim objShell

Dim objAllUsersProgramsFolder

Dim strAllUsersProgramsPath

Dim objUserFolder

Dim strUserFolderPath

Dim objFolderIE

Dim objFolderItemIE

Dim colVerbs

Dim objVerb

Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")

Set objAllUsersProgramsFolder = objShell.NameSpace(CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS)

strAllUsersProgramsPath = objAllUsersProgramsFolder.Self.Path

Set objUserFolder = objShell.NameSpace (CSIDL_STARTMENU)

strUserFolderPath = objUserFolder.Self.Path

' Internet Explorer. Select shortcut to apply the action on

Set objFolderIE = objShell.Namespace(strUserFolderPath & "\Programs")

Set objFolderItemIE = objFolderIE.ParseName("Internet Explorer.lnk")

Set colVerbs = objFolderItemIE.Verbs

' Choose your verb

For Each objVerb in colVerbs

' If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt

' If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Pin to Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt

' If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Pin to Start Menu" Then objVerb.DoIt

' If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Start Menu" Then objVerb.DoIt

' If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Fäst i Aktivitetsfältet" Then objVerb.DoIt

' If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Fäst på Start-menyn" Then objVerb.DoIt

' If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Ta bort från Aktivitetsfältet" Then objVerb.DoIt

' If Replace(objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Ta bort från Start-menyn" Then objVerb.DoIt

' Done

Leave a Comment Scripting, Windows Read more

Archive

Shrinking/compacting disks(VHD:s) on your Hyper-V

Pin Items to the Start Menu or Taskbar with a script

Contents

Latest Updates