Auto Shutdown Programs for end of day.

[TonyR]

I guess just as it says please...

 

Can anyone offer advice on good (preferably free or very cheap) solutions to shut down PCs at the end of the day.

 

The Hardware: We run Vista Business, 7 Business and will soon have Snow Leopard on iMacs and Mac Airs.

 

It is all networked.

 

An ideal solution would have a central file/program on the server to state when to close down on particular days. Ideally with the option to run several times a day as we have some rooms used on different nights for night school etc. But I will look at anything as long it works...

 

I know we could use the event scheduler but that seems a long way round of doing it on 120 machines.

 

Many thanks in advance for any help you can offer here.

 

Tony.

[6Foot2]

As far a the PCs on your network is concerned I would say that you could look at Shutdownertron:

 

Link 1: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/edugeek-shutdownertron/24424-powarrmonkey-proudly-presents.html

 

Link 2: Shutdownertron

 

As provided by Edugeek member @powdarrmonkey.

 

While there are other ways of achieving what you want to on your PC based network I am sure that you will get similar recommendations from other Edugeek members.

[rh91uk]

I just create a Scheduled Task on each machine (through GPP's) to c:\windows\shutdown.exe (with an argument) to shut down at a certain time and can be controlled/updated via GPP. Works a treat!

[TheScarfedOne]

< Shameless plug />

 

Shutting down machines with Group Policy Preferences - Blogs - EduGeek.net

[hit]

I wrote this batch file years ago and still use it now, uncomment the REM lines if you want some logging...

@echo off
set logfile=shutdown.log
set warninglength=120

REM For /f "tokens=1-3 delims=/ " %%a in ('date /t') do (set date=%%c-%%b-%%a)
REM For /f "tokens=1-2 delims=: " %%d in ('time /t') do (set time=%%d:%%e)

REM echo SHUTDOWN SCRIPT STARTED on %date% at %time% >> %logfile%

for /f %%z in (computers.txt) do (
ping -n 1 -w 500 %%z > :NULL
if not errorlevel 1 (
REM echo * Computer %%z is on and is being shutdown with a %warninglength% second warning. >> %logfile%
c:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe -f -s -t %warninglength% -c "*** WARNING *** Nightly shutdown in progress, please save your work now!" -m \\%%z
)
)
For /f "tokens=1-3 delims=/ " %%a in ('date /t') do (set date=%%c-%%b-%%a)
For /f "tokens=1-2 delims=: " %%d in ('time /t') do (set time=%%d:%%e)

REM echo SHUTDOWN SCRIPT ENDED on %date% at %time% >> %logfile%
REM echo ================================================================================ >> %logfile%

You will need a second file called shutdown.txt which is just a list of the computers you want to shut down. I have it scheduled on one of the servers.

 

I dont know if there is an equivilent shutdown command for macs (not really my bag).

[mrbios]

I know it's not free but you could get impero?

 

It can schedule shutdown and wake on lan by the hour for every day of the week as well as all the other major benefits it gives, just something to consider if you have spare cash

[hit]

I have Impero as well but find it misses out some machines for no real reason whatsoever, my script rarely fails, Impero's still a great product though!

[mrbios]

I have Impero as well but find it misses out some machines for no real reason whatsoever, my script rarely fails, Impero's still a great product though!

 

I've noticed that once or twice but only with waking machines, it's never failed me on shutdowns. (that said i can't see why it would, it's only sending shutdown -s -t # -m \\machinename to the machines essentially)

[FN-GM]

As far a the PCs on your network is concerned I would say that you could look at Shutdownertron:

 

Link 1: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/edugeek-shutdownertron/24424-powarrmonkey-proudly-presents.html

 

Link 2: Shutdownertron

 

As provided by Edugeek member @powdarrmonkey.

 

While there are other ways of achieving what you want to on your PC based network I am sure that you will get similar recommendations from other Edugeek members.

 

FYI shutdownertron does not work properly with windows 7

[6Foot2]

FYI shutdownertron does not work properly with windows 7

 

I was aware of this:

 

In versions up to 1.3.3214.1, only partial support for Windows Vista and Windows 7 is included.

 

However I have not found it to be an issue. It seems to work very well on our network.

[FN-GM]

I was aware of this:

 

 

 

However I have not found it to be an issue. It seems to work very well on our network.

 

Seemed hit and miss with me. I also found the message never appeared warning users of a shutdown. That was the show stopper for us.

[Michael]

Create a Scheduled Task in 2008 R2 under Computer Config:

 

Name: Shutdown Workstations

Run: %SystemRoot%\System32\Shutdown.exe

Arguments: -f -s -t 120

 

Specify an admin username/password, then change the schedule as required to 6pm for example.

 

Users will receive a 2 minute warning and will then shutdown automatically. Enough time to save documents and close any applications (optional).

 

In theory you could have many shutdown schedules for different departments or OUs from your perspective. This works with Windows 7, but it should work with Windows XP and Vista too. This won't work with Mac - you'll need to find an alternative for this. Maybe you can do something similar from a Mac server.

[russdev]

@hit and @mrbios

 

Feel free to raise a ticket or email me on rdyas@imperosoftware and we can take a look. As shutdown should be no issue what so ever. As for wake on lan these issues are more often down to PC configuration. I have got a in draft KB article can send you that to work through.

 

As said if want to raise a ticket or email me we can look at it for you..

 

Russ

[CyberNerd]

FYI shutdownertron does not work properly with windows 7

 

 

or OSX

 

The Hardware: We run Vista Business, 7 Business and will soon have Snow Leopard on iMacs and Mac Airs.

[HodgeHi]

The mac side can just use schedules found in the power settings under the system preferences in WGM. Set up the shutdown times and start up times. You can also use ARD and schedule shutdowns, log offs and restarts. The benefit of using ARD to do this is you can schedule more than one shutdown, unlike the WGM method which only allows one startup time and shutdown time.

 

I usually have a shutdown -R script that runs for the windows xp side to reboot the machines back to the boot picker and then use a scheduled mac shutdown in ARD about 15 minutes afterwards. This allows the macs to use the startup scheduled time in WGM. If the clients are in windows when they shut down the scheduled startup time does not work and the clients do not start up in the mornings.

[ricki]

Hi

 

I use shutdownertron for windows xp and a scheduled task with windows 7.

 

Richard

[sjatkn]

I have a script which runs on the server and uses psshutdown from the SysInternal suite. If you want the script then let me know and I will post it (I don't have access at the moment). Essentially is reads a text file containing a list of classrooms and individual machines, pings them to see if it is alive and then runs psshutdown against the machine. I also use pskill to kill the screensaver as our machines take an age to shutdown if a screensaver is running.

 

I also use poweroff3 (http://users.telenet.be/jbosman/poweroff/poweroff.htm) as a service to shut the machines down at 9pm. This means that they will go off even if they are isolated from the network for some reason.

 

That said I did this before I know about shutdownertron and I suspect I would be looking seriously at that for a new setup.

[eean]

I just create a Scheduled Task on each machine (through GPP's) to c:\windows\shutdown.exe (with an argument) to shut down at a certain time and can be controlled/updated via GPP. Works a treat!

 

I'd second this method. It's good because you can control it from Group Policy and will work if the machine is asleep (if you set it to wake to run the scheduled task). In addition you can set 'only run task if machine has been idle for 60 minutes' and retry for 600 minutes. This way it will only shut down the machine if it's not in use but the task will eventually run after the machine has been idle for an hour.

You might also consider using PSShutdown (google it), similar to shutdown.exe but you have the option of adding a cancel button if you wish.

[andrew_91090]

We use a program called 'FOG'

Great piece of software and does everything you need it to, i.e. format computers (single and bulk), shuts down, wake-up, completely wipe etc...

the list goes on, you should check it out if you have a spare server

fogproject.org

[Davit2005]

Another vote here for Shutdownertron, no I don't work for them :-P .

 

Completely GPO friendly. Roll out the MSI by GPO and apply the time you want shutdown to occur with the same GPO. Works with Windows 7

[chazzy2501]

+1 for using GPP to schedule a shutdown. You get alot of flexibility and it seems to shutdown all the PCs even if they are asleep, disconnected from the network or on battery.

[Oaktech]

we just use gpo to shut down and start up, we have machines in classrooms shut down at 3.15, offices at 5.30 and a final task to everything but servers and admins to shut down at 9.30, just in case someone has turned a machine on after its shut down. The whole site powers up at 7am. We often have probs with our HP DC7800 USDT machines not starting in the AM, we have however trained some tame teachers to turn on the 3 suites that use them.