[SOLVED] How do you get a domain controller to shut down clients?

Lord Chaos · 05-04-2008, 01:12 PM

I am kinda new to helping out with some hardware issues at a site, but we were talking about something they wanted to do with the domain controller, but couldn't quite figure out how to.

Its a 2003 Server and all the other machines on the network are clients and gets their setup from the server. (yeah I know, not good at explaining it since I have extremely limited experience with domains and domain controllers), but they are often just left on running all night and draining power.

Is there any way to set up the domain controller to

1. Send out a message to all computers on the network thats part of the domain at a set time (like "All computers will be shut down in 10 minutes, please save your work and log off")

2. Send a shutdown command to all computers on the domain making them shut down at a certain time of the day every day. (they should only shut down and not be kept down, its ok that people start the machine up again if they really need to use it)

If possible, could anyone let me know what to set up to make this happen? I would very much appreciate it.

Lord Chaos · 05-06-2008, 05:19 PM

Oh darn forgot that when the users are done with the machine, they usually log out, so its not logged onto the domain server.

Hmmmm, anyway to shut them down regardless?

**XtabbedoutX** · 05-06-2008, 06:42 PM

You can push a scheduled task through Group Policy on a computer level. The task you want to push should be a batch file with the code something like the example below.

Code:

shutdown.exe -f

The above will just force shutdown the system.

Code:

shutdown.exe -r -f

The above will force restart the computer.

To create a batch file type the above code into notepad and save the file with a .bat extension instead of .txt

If you have any other questions let me know. This shoul help you get on the right track. If you are unfamiliar with creating or editing Group Policy objects please read up on this before making changes as some changes are very powerful across a domain.

Lord Chaos · 05-06-2008, 10:06 PM

Hmmm, does this affect the machine even if its logged off the domain?

Thanks for the help.

**XtabbedoutX** · 05-07-2008, 06:35 AM

Yes, to get mine to execute the batch file I made sure it was ran with the domain administrator credentials. The computer was sitting idle at the login screen when the task started. A prompt appears that advises the user there is 30 seconds before the computer shuts down.

Lord Chaos · 05-08-2008, 10:07 AM

Thanks for all the help, I got the problem solved now and its working well :)

05-04-2008, 01:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
Lord Chaos Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 188 OS: XP SP3 and Vista SP1	[SOLVED] How do you get a domain controller to shut down clients? I am kinda new to helping out with some hardware issues at a site, but we were talking about something they wanted to do with the domain controller, but couldn't quite figure out how to. Its a 2003 Server and all the other machines on the network are clients and gets their setup from the server. (yeah I know, not good at explaining it since I have extremely limited experience with domains and domain controllers), but they are often just left on running all night and draining power. Is there any way to set up the domain controller to 1. Send out a message to all computers on the network thats part of the domain at a set time (like "All computers will be shut down in 10 minutes, please save your work and log off") 2. Send a shutdown command to all computers on the domain making them shut down at a certain time of the day every day. (they should only shut down and not be kept down, its ok that people start the machine up again if they really need to use it) If possible, could anyone let me know what to set up to make this happen? I would very much appreciate it.

05-06-2008, 05:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
Lord Chaos Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 188 OS: XP SP3 and Vista SP1	Re: How do you get a domain controller to shut down clients? Oh darn forgot that when the users are done with the machine, they usually log out, so its not logged onto the domain server. Hmmmm, anyway to shut them down regardless?

05-06-2008, 06:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
XtabbedoutX TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oklahoma City Posts: 1,189 OS: Server 2K3 R2 SP 2, Server 2K SP4, XP PRO SP 3, Mac OS X 10.5, iPhone My System	Re: How do you get a domain controller to shut down clients? You can push a scheduled task through Group Policy on a computer level. The task you want to push should be a batch file with the code something like the example below. Code: shutdown.exe -f The above will just force shutdown the system. Code: shutdown.exe -r -f The above will force restart the computer. To create a batch file type the above code into notepad and save the file with a .bat extension instead of .txt If you have any other questions let me know. This shoul help you get on the right track. If you are unfamiliar with creating or editing Group Policy objects please read up on this before making changes as some changes are very powerful across a domain.

05-06-2008, 10:06 PM	#4 (permalink)
Lord Chaos Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 188 OS: XP SP3 and Vista SP1	Re: How do you get a domain controller to shut down clients? Hmmm, does this affect the machine even if its logged off the domain? Thanks for the help.

05-07-2008, 06:35 AM	#5 (permalink)
XtabbedoutX TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oklahoma City Posts: 1,189 OS: Server 2K3 R2 SP 2, Server 2K SP4, XP PRO SP 3, Mac OS X 10.5, iPhone My System	Re: How do you get a domain controller to shut down clients? Yes, to get mine to execute the batch file I made sure it was ran with the domain administrator credentials. The computer was sitting idle at the login screen when the task started. A prompt appears that advises the user there is 30 seconds before the computer shuts down.

05-08-2008, 10:07 AM	#6 (permalink)
Lord Chaos Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 188 OS: XP SP3 and Vista SP1	Re: How do you get a domain controller to shut down clients? Thanks for all the help, I got the problem solved now and its working well :)