How to AutoLogon Microsoft Windows using PowerShell
Do you ever just want Windows Server, or client for that matter, to automatically logon? This is a horrible idea in production and violates every security rule you can imagine. So don’t do this! But…
I build a lot of test/dev environments and want my Servers to automatically logon and start PowerShell. In this blog I’ll show you the old-skool way of setting up auto logon for Windows. In the next blog, I’ll show you how to start PowerShell automatically on Windows Server Core rather than the old command prompt.
Remember I said old-skool? Yea, this comes from the old WinNT 4 days. You can setup AutoLogon in an old registry key “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon”. PowerShell makes this a snap. You need to add the keys for Autologon, DefaultUserName and DefaultPassword. (Warning – the password will be stored in plain text in the registry)
PS C:\> New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon' -Name AutoAdminLogon -Value 1
PS C:\> New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon' -Name DefaultUserName -Value "Company\Administrator"
PS C:\> New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon' -Name DefaultPassword -Value P@ssw0rd
Of course, if you have several computers you need to auto logon you can use PowerShell Remoting.
PS C:\> Invoke-Command -ComputerName S1, S2 -ScriptBlock {New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon' -Name AutoAdminLogon -Value 1}
PS C:\> Invoke-Command -ComputerName S1, S2 -ScriptBlock {New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon' -Name DefaultUserName -Value "Company\Administrator"}
PS C:\> Invoke-Command -ComputerName S1, S2 -ScriptBlock {New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon' -Name DefaultPassword -Value "P@ssw0rd"}
Now use your power wisely 😉
Knowledge is PowerShell
Jason Helmick
Director of PowerShell Technologies
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I like this article, because so much useful stuff on here : D.
Have used this parms a lot in the past – now with powershell – may need to use in VDI link clone env. Anyone know how to initiate the logon process without rebooting?
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Be careful using the NEW-ITemProperty Cmdlet. It will not modify an already existing CMDLET’s name. SET-ItemPRoperty will create if none exists and modify if one exists. Explicitly declaring the Value type is also a good practice as system behavior can vary. Typically default is String REG_SZ, but sometimes it can be a DWORD for no reason I am aware of.
What I am not sure of is if SET-ItemPRoperty will preserve a Value Type of an existing Value or if it will modify it and if unspecified do w/e it feels like? Should test that out….