IT & Security

10 Scripts Every IT Admin Should Have in Their Toolbox

Here’s a list of the top 10 scripts every IT admin should have in their toolbox, categorized by their use cases to maximize efficiency, security, and system management.

1. Automated System Reboot Script

  • Purpose: Schedules and executes system reboots across servers or endpoints with minimal disruption.
  • Example: PowerShell or Bash script to reboot Windows/Linux machines in batches during off-hours.

Why It’s Essential: Ensures critical updates or changes requiring reboots are applied consistently without manual intervention.

2. User Account Management Script

  • Purpose: Automates the creation, modification, or deletion of user accounts in Active Directory (AD) or other systems.
  • Example: (1) PowerShell: Create new AD users in bulk from a CSV file. (2) Bash: Add or remove users in Linux environments.

Why It’s Essential: Saves hours of manual labor and ensures consistency in user access policies.

3. Hardware Inventory Script

  • Purpose: Collects detailed information about hardware components on endpoints or servers.
  • Example: A script that retrieves data on CPU, RAM, storage, and network adapters for auditing purposes.

Why It’s Essential: Provides a comprehensive view of hardware resources, aiding in capacity planning, troubleshooting, and ensuring compliance with organizational standards.

4. Disk Space Cleanup Script

  • Purpose: Identifies and clears unnecessary files to reclaim disk space.
  • Example: (1) PowerShell: Delete temp files, logs, or old backups on Windows servers. (2) Bash: Automate tmp folder cleanup on Linux systems.

Why It’s Essential: Prevents outages caused by full disks, especially on critical servers.

5. Security Audit Script

  • Purpose: Checks systems for common security misconfigurations or vulnerabilities.
  • Example: (1) PowerShell: Audit AD for weak passwords or unused accounts. (2) Bash: Scan open ports or outdated software using Nmap or Lynis.

Why It’s Essential: Helps proactively identify risks and stay compliant with security frameworks.

6. Network Connectivity Testing Script

  • Purpose: Diagnoses network issues by testing connectivity and logging results.
  • Example: Script to ping multiple servers, trace routes, and log results to a file.

Why It’s Essential: Quickly identifies network bottlenecks or outages, speeding up troubleshooting.

7. Firewall Management Script

  • Purpose: Automates vulnerability scans on systems or software.
  • Example: (1) PowerShell: Use Invoke-WebRequest to check for known CVEs in local software versions. (2) Bash: Scan Linux environments for misconfigured services or outdated packages.

Why It’s Essential: Ensures vulnerabilities are identified before attackers exploit them.

8. Application Deployment Script

  • Purpose: Automates the deployment of specific applications.
  • Example: (1) PowerShell: Deploy applications via MSI installers silently. (2) Bash: Use rpm or dpkg to install packages on Linux systems.

Why It’s Essential: Simplifies deploying or updating applications at scale, ensuring uniformity.

9. Backup and Restore Script

  • Purpose: Automates file, database, or system backups and provides restore options.
  • Example: Schedule daily file backups to a secure server. Automate database backups and encrypt them for secure storage. Restore critical data after a system failure using pre-configured scripts

Why It’s Essential: Safeguards data integrity and availability, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity in the event of accidental deletion, hardware failure, or cyberattacks.

10. Log Parsing and Monitoring Script

  • Purpose: Filters and analyzes log files for anomalies or critical events.
  • Example: (1) PowerShell: Extract failed login attempts from Windows Event Logs. (2) Bash: Monitor Linux system logs (/var/log) for unusual activity.

Why It’s Essential: Speeds up root cause analysis and helps detect potential security incidents.

These scripts not only streamline routine tasks but also enhance security, improve compliance, and save time for IT admins. By incorporating these into a central script library, IT teams can respond quickly to operational and security needs.

Nahuel Benitez

Security Analyst at the Wolfpack

Subscribe for more

Get more infosec news and insights.
1000+ members

Turn security converstains into remediation actions