Rebooting computers in a domain.. Whats your preference

[UltimaParadox]

For a while now I have been trying to come up with the best way to set up a scheduled reboot time for the 30 or so computers on the domain.

What I was thinking was possibly trying to make a script that basically determines if there is a user logged in or not, which there shouldn't be since every user is suppose to log out when they leave. Once it determines that there is no one logged in, it proceeds and reboots the computers at a scheduled time at night. The reason I check to see if there is a user logged in, is to make sure someone does not have a running process overnight that I might kill.

I was wondering if someone does anything similiar where they work, or if they don't what do you use?

 

[feigned]

For a while now I have been trying to come up with the best way to set up a scheduled reboot time for the 30 or so computers on the domain.

What I was thinking was possibly trying to make a script that basically determines if there is a user logged in or not, which there shouldn't be since every user is suppose to log out when they leave. Once it determines that there is no one logged in, it proceeds and reboots the computers at a scheduled time at night. The reason I check to see if there is a user logged in, is to make sure someone does not have a running process overnight that I might kill.

I was wondering if someone does anything similiar where they work, or if they don't what do you use?

I've just given any authenticated user the right to shutdown the machine, that way they don't have to call every time they want to reboot. Also disabled the policy that turns off the "Shut Down" button on the login screen in case I'm at a system and want to do that instead of logging in or even tapping the power button.

I'm usually pretty lax about it.

 

[sandmanx]

I have left the option for users to shutdown, and that's what they are supposed to do every night. I don't see a good reason for machines to be sucking down extra power at night when they aren't in use. There are certain machines that do stay on all the time though.

If I have to reboot a machine, I usually just walk to it and reboot, since they are all in the same building. If I can't get physical access for some reason, I'll use a remote shutdown utility to shut the machine down.

 

[KaosDG]

For a while now I have been trying to come up with the best way to set up a scheduled reboot time for the 30 or so computers on the domain.

What I was thinking was possibly trying to make a script that basically determines if there is a user logged in or not, which there shouldn't be since every user is suppose to log out when they leave. Once it determines that there is no one logged in, it proceeds and reboots the computers at a scheduled time at night. The reason I check to see if there is a user logged in, is to make sure someone does not have a running process overnight that I might kill.

I was wondering if someone does anything similiar where they work, or if they don't what do you use?

I use the tools from Sysinternals (mainly psShutdown)

Generally i'm a Nazi admin so I don't care if you're logged in, if your machine is scheduled for shutdown, it's going down regardless.

Our policy is that if you are gone for the night all work is to be saved and apps closed, and system logged out, in case we need to do after hours work


But sysinternals does have a tool to check if someone is logged in

 

[da sponge]

My users can shutdown whenever they want. If I need them to reboot, I'll just send an email asking them to. We let our pcs stay on, but people are logged out after a few hours of inactivity. With XP machines, people can VPN from their home computer and use remote desktop to do work and not have to worry about program settings and crap. It's been quite a boon for the people who are home sick or just want to do some work over the weekend without coming into the office.