My simple enable and disable account powershell code doesnt work right

Question

I am trying to check a local user account if its either disabled or enabled and do the following: If enabled tell me "account is enabled, nothing to do"

If the account is disabled, tell me, Account is disabled, enabling... Enabled the account

What I get is always the first output no matter if the account is disabled or enabled:

#Checks local  user if its disabled to enable it
$isEnabled = $True
$Account = 'local_account'

try {
    $isEnabled = (Get-LocalUser $Account -ErrorAction Stop).Disabled
    Write-output  "local_account account is already enabled" 
}

catch {
    $isEnabled = $False
    write-output "local_account account is disabled, enabling..."
    Enable-LocalUser $Account

Santiago Squarzon · Accepted Answer · 2023-02-15 00:35:43Z

2

There isn't a .Disabled property on those objects, you need to check for .Enabled instead. You're also missing an if statement.

try {
    $Account = 'local_account'

    # if its enabled
    if((Get-LocalUser $Account -ErrorAction Stop).Enabled) {
        "$Account account is already enabled"
    }
    else {
        # if its not enabled
        "$Account account is disabled, enabling..."
        Enable-LocalUser $Account -ErrorAction Stop
    }
}
catch {
    # if there was an error while enabling or trying to find the account
    Write-Error $_
}

edited Feb 15, 2023 at 0:35

answered Feb 14, 2023 at 2:38

Santiago Squarzon

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2 Comments

Drekko Over a year ago

Hi This works really well, however and this is my fault as I didnt mention it. I have to add this code to a larger script. So I have to take out the "return" code so the script doesnt exit early. I replaced it with "write-output but now it gives me both ouputs even if the account is already enabled:

Santiago Squarzon Over a year ago

@Drekko I see, an if / else would make sense in this case then. See my update.

albvar · Accepted Answer · 2023-02-14 12:00:19Z

See the rewritten script below

Main culprit .Disabled is not a property of Get-LocalUser use .Enabled instead
You have a missing } for your catch block, assuming copy/paste error
The $isEnabled variable has been removed because it is not used in the script.
The Get-LocalUser cmdlet is called with the -Name parameter instead of the $Account variable. This is a best practice because it is more clear and concise.
The if statement has been used to check whether the account is disabled instead of setting the $isEnabled variable to True or False. This is a more concise way to check the account status.
The Write-Output cmdlet is used instead of write-output. This is a best practice because it is more consistent with PowerShell's naming conventions.
The Write-Error cmdlet is used to display errors. This is a best practice because it formats the error message in a way that makes it easy to identify the source of the error.

$Account = 'local_account'

try {
    $User = Get-LocalUser -Name $Account -ErrorAction Stop
    if (-NOT $User.Enabled) {
        Write-Output "The '$Account' account is disabled. Enabling..."
        $User | Enable-LocalUser
        Write-Output "The '$Account' account has been enabled."
    }
    else {
        Write-Output "The '$Account' account is already enabled."
    }
}
catch {
    Write-Error "An error occurred while checking the status of the '$Account' account. Details: $_"
}

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