asked on

Using powershell automate logins to Cisco Switches over SSH with Plink

First I want to say that yes, I do know there are tools that already exist that can make this much easier. Unfortunately we don't have that option right now. It is coming in the future, but for now I am trying to get this to work

here is my script so far, pretty simple....

2..100 | % { plink "172.16.15.$_ "}

this is working good for me. This will hit switches in the range of 172.16.15.2 - 172.16.15.100. It allows me to login to our switches all in the PS window and rolls right to the next one in sequence when I type exit, instead of opening up a new putty session every time.

Is there a way I can add my username and password to this so that it automatically logs into the switch for me, versus having to type it in every time? The end goal is I want to add whatever config changes I want to make to the script and have powershell run through all of them and update the config.

J0rtIT

Probably if you merge what you have, with this answer:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/29001099/Passing-Credentials-into-a-command-line.html

I recently created a PS script with UI for the credentials that will be asked once and used for several commands like the one you want.

function Do-job{
	#close main windows: 
	$global:Window.Close();
	#Get credentials
	Write-Host -ForegroundColor Magenta "Setting up Credential Object for $($tuser.Text)..."
	#$Global:Credentials = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential $tuser.Text,$secpasswd 
	#$global:ServiceCredentials =  New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential($tuser.Text,$Tpwd.Password);

    try{
        2..100 | % { plink -ssh "172.16.15.$_" -l $($Tuser.Text) -pw $($pwd.Password) }
    }
    catch{
        Write-host -foreground "red" "$($_.Exception.Message)"
    }
}


[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('presentationframework')
Add-Type -AssemblyName PresentationCore,PresentationFramework,WindowsBase,system.windows.forms

[xml]$XAML=@'
<Window 
		xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
		xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
		xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
		xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
		xmlns:local="clr-namespace:WpfApp1"
		Title="Credentials XAML Form" Height="210" Width="361">
	<Grid Margin="1,1,-0.714,-1.429">
		<Label Content="User :" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="45,54,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" FontSize="16" />
		<Label Content="Password :" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="10,91,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" FontSize="16"/>
		<TextBox x:Name="TUser" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="25" Margin="99,60,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="236"  FontSize="14"/>
		<PasswordBox x:Name="Tpwd" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="25" Margin="99,97,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="236"  FontSize="16" />
		<Label Content="Enter your credentials :" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="62,15,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" FontSize="18" FontWeight="Bold"/>
		<Button x:Name="BOK" Content="OK" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="36,135,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="135"/>
		<Button x:Name="BExit" Content="Exit" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="194,135,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="135
				"/>
	</Grid>
</Window>

'@
#Read XAML
$reader=(New-Object System.Xml.XmlNodeReader $XAML) 
$Global:Window=[Windows.Markup.XamlReader]::Load(  $reader ) 

#Connect to Controls 
#store Form objects
$XAML.SelectNodes("//*[@*[contains(translate(name(.),'n','N'),'Name')]]")  | ForEach {
		New-Variable  -Name $_.Name -Value $Global:Window.FindName($_.Name) -Force
	}

#add events to form objects
$BExit.Add_Click({$Global:Window.Close();Exit 0})
$BOK.Add_Click({Do-job;Exit 0})

$Window.ShowDialog() | Out-Null

 try{   
	if([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($tuser.Text) -or [string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($Tpwd.Password) ){
		Write-Warning "Please fill up the username and Password for the script to continue"
		Write-Warning "Exiting... "
		exit 0;
	}
}
catch{
	$er =$_.Exception.Message
	Write-Error "there was an error. Message $($_.Exception.Message)"
	Write-Warning "Cleaning Up Sessions & Exiting, please run the Cmdlet again"
	exit -1  
}

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