Writing to a File on a Target Resource with Task Automation

Overview

This article describes how to use a Task Automation script to write to a specified file on the targeted resource in Netwrix Privilege Secure for Access Management. The example provided is a simple find-and-replace script. It gives a basic framework for using Task Automation to write to files and can be modified as needed.

Instructions

1. In Privilege Secure, go to the Activities page and create an Activity with the Task Automation Activity Type. Configure the activity to provide sufficient privilege to remotely execute scripts on the target resource. The Login Account, Requester Login Format, and Pre- and Post-Session action steps should reflect this.

2. In the Session of the Activity, click the + button and add a Run Custom Powershell Script action step.

3. Enter the following script block in the action step:

   $findString = "findMe"
   $replaceString = "replaceMe"
   $filePath = "C:\sampledir\example.txt" #specify your file path here!
   
   Import-Module (Join-Path $SbPAMScriptDirectory "SbPAMWindows.psm1")
   if (![string]::IsNullOrEmpty($HostId)) {
       $targetHost = Get-SbPAMHost -Id $HostId
       if ($null -eq $targetHost -or [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($targetHost.DnsHostName)) {
           Write-Error "Unable to find host."
           exit 2
       }
       Write-Host (ConvertTo-Json $targetHost)
   }
   
   $session = New-SbPAMPSSession -RemoteHost $targetHost -Credential (Get-PSCredential -Credentials $Credentials)
   if ($null -ne $session) {
   	try{
   	Add-SbPAMActionLog -Type Info -Message "Running custom powershell script block - Write to File: $filePath - Find: $findString - Replace: $replaceString"
   	Invoke-Command -Session $Session -ArgumentList $findString,$replaceString,$filePath `
   		-ScriptBlock {
   			param($findString,$replaceString,$filePath)
   
   			try {
   				(Get-Content $filePath).Replace($findString,$replaceString) | Set-Content $filePath
   				Add-SbPAMActionLog -Type Info -Message "Running custom powershell script block - Write to File - SUCCESS"
   			}
   			catch {
   				Add-SbPAMActionLog -Type Info -Message "Running custom powershell script block - Write to File - ERROR"
   			} } -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue 
   	}
   	finally {Remove-PSSession -Session $session}
   }
   
   Add-SbPAMActionLog -ActionQueueActionId $ActionQueueActionId -Type Info -Message "Finished custom powershell script block - Write to File: $filePath - Find: $findString - Replace: $replaceString"

4. Modify the script block according to your needs. This example is for a find-and-replace, with the $findString and $replaceString containing the original and replacement values, and the $filePath containing the local path for the target file. This is just a basic example and can be modified for different use cases.

5. Save the activity and ensure that it is added to an Access Policy. You can now run the activity; it finds and replaces strings in the targeted file on the targeted resource.