Follow these best practices to clean up disconnected devices.
The following topics are described here:
Disconnected Devices Cleanup Using the Automox Console
Follow these steps to clean up disconnected devices using the console.
Go to Devices in the console.
Select Columns.
Select the Disconnected For option in the Columns drop-down menu.
Sort by Disconnected For to get a list of devices based on how many days they have been disconnected.
Select the checkbox for all the devices greater than X amount of days. In the example, we selected anything disconnected longer than 44 days.
Click the Actions drop-down menu and select Remove.
All devices disconnected for more than X days are immediately removed from the console with this action.
Disconnected Devices Cleanup Using PowerShell
Follow these best practices to clean up disconnected devices using a PowerShell script.
You can use a PowerShell script to remove devices that have been disconnected longer than X days.
This script automates the removal using an API call to check the last disconnected date and remove any devices older than the number of days you specify in the code.
There are four areas in the code that you’ll need to update to get the script to function:
-
$orgID= 'YOUR_ORG_ID'
You will need your Org ID, which can be found by looking at the URL. Select the value after the?o=Note: You must have the required administrative permissions to manage API keys. See Managing Keys for more information.
$apiKey= 'YOUR_API_KEY'
In your console, go to Settings → Secrets & Keys and select the API key. Note that the API key is per user, so that another user will have different API keys.$maxDays= 120
Any device that has been disconnected for more than 120 days is deleted from the console. You can adjust this to the number of days you prefer.$logPath= 'C:\temp\'
Set this variable to the folder of your choosing.
After you make these four changes, you can run the script on any Windows devices using PowerShell.
Running the Script in Test Mode
To run the disconnected devices script in a TEST mode to see what will be deleted, update these lines as follows:
-
Uncomment this line:
#echo "device: $serverName `t last disconnected date: $lastCheckin `t days disconnected: $span.Days"
-
Comment out this line:
$delResponse = Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing -Method Delete -Uri $delURI
Remove Old Disconnected Devices Script - PowerShell
Note: This script automatically removes devices from your console and this is not a reversible operation. If you unintentionally remove a device using this script, you must reinstall the agent to return the device to the console.
# [-------------------------------------DISCLAIMER-------------------------------------]
# This script is provided as-is with no implicit
# warranty or support. It's always considered a best practice
# to test scripts in a DEV/TEST environment, before running them
# in production.
# Please proceed with caution.
# Do not distribute your API Key to any untrusted 3rd party.
# [-------------------------------------DISCLAIMER-------------------------------------]
# The SETUP section gets your API return and is not specific to any particular use-case.
# The OPERATIONAL section is specific to one scenario and can be overhauled for your specific uses.
############################# SETUP Section #############################
## To run this script in TEST MODE - be sure to comment out line 84 for $delResponse
## After running in TEST MODE - then uncomment the line to allow for removal
#replace the two variables below with your Org ID and your API key
$orgID = 'INPUT_ORGID'
$apiKey = 'INPUT_APIKEY'
#modify log path as desired
#The path must already exist for the script to create the JSON logs files.
$logPath = 'C:\temp\'
#Easier to maintain, especially if multiple organizations, or for repurposing for different API Tables
$apiInstance = 'https://console.automox.com/api/'
$apiTable = 'servers'
$orgAndKey = "?o=$orgID&api_key=$apiKey"
$page = 0
#Number of days disconnected before deleting - adjust to your desired range
$maxDays = 120
#initialize empty arrays to store server IDs to be deleted
$toDelete = @()
$failDelete = @()
$successDelete = @()
$data = @()
#put components together
#$getURI = $apiInstance + $apiTable + $orgAndKey + $query
#Get the json body of the Web Request
while ($true)
{
$uri = "https://console.automox.com/api/servers?o=$orgID&api_key=$apiKey&l=500&p=$page"
$resp = (Invoke-WebRequest -Method GET -Uri $uri).Content | ConvertFrom-Json | Select-Object results
$data += $resp.results
if ($resp.results.count -lt 500)
{
break
}
$page += 1
}
#Convert to object with manipulatable properties/values
$servers = $data
############################# END Setup Section #############################
############################# OPERATIONAL Section #############################
#Check each server for checkin time, conditionally take action
foreach ($server in $servers)
{
#pull out wanted details
$serverID = $server.id
$serverName = $server.name
#check to make sure last_disconnect_time isn't null, which it will be for currently connected devices, in which case the lastcheckin variable will be set to today's date
$lastCheckin = Get-Date
if ($server.last_disconnect_time)
{
$lastCheckin = [datetime]$server.last_disconnect_time
}
#Calculate time since last checking to now
$span = New-TimeSpan -Start $lastCheckin
#uncomment line below if you want to see all the servers with their last disconnect time and number of days disconnected for troubleshooting
Write-Output "device: $serverName `t last disconnected date: $lastCheckin `t days disconnected: $span.Days"
if ($span.Days -ge $maxDays)
{
#Delete or data collection code here
#Delete method takes serverID only
#Hardcoded would look like this $delURI = https://console.automox.com/api/servers/$serverID?o=YOUR_ORG_ID&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY
$toDelete += @{ "ServerName" = $serverName; "ServerID" = $serverID; "last_disconnect_time" = $lastCheckin }
$delURI = $apiInstance + $apiTable + '/' + $serverID + $orgAndKey
#Attempt to delete and track failures
try
{
#Comment this line out to prevent device deletion if in test mode.
#$delResponse = Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing -Method Delete -Uri $delURI
Write-Output "Successfully Deleted Server: $serverName"
$successDelete += @{ "ServerName" = $serverName; "ServerID" = $serverID; "last_disconnectn_time" = $lastCheckin }
}
catch
{
$failDelete += @{ "ServerName" = $serverName; "ServerID" = $serverID; "last_disconnect_time" = $lastCheckin }
Write-Output "Failed to Delete Server: $serverName"
}
}
#Output logging into json files for later review/manipulation
$toDelete | ConvertTo-Json | Out-File $logPath\ToBeDeleted.json
$successDelete | ConvertTo-Json | Out-File $logPath\Delete_Success.json
$failDelete | ConvertTo-Json | Out-File $logPath\Delete_Failed.json
}
Remove Old Disconnected Devices Script - Python
The below script uses Python, and is functionally the same as the above PowerShell script.
# [-------------------------------------DISCLAIMER-------------------------------------]
# This script is provided as-is with no implicit
# warranty or support. It's always considered a best practice
# to test scripts in a DEV/TEST environment, before running them
# in production.
# Please proceed with caution.
# Do not distribute your API Key to any untrusted 3rd party.
# [-------------------------------------DISCLAIMER-------------------------------------]
#
import requests
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
url = 'https://console.automox.com/api/servers'
# START Configurable Items
# User enters API key
api_key = input("Please enter your Automox API key: ")
# User enters org ID
while True:
try:
org_id = int(input("Please enter the org ID: "))
# Cycle repeats until an integer value is entered for org ID
except ValueError:
print("The value you have entered is not an integer. Please enter an integer for org ID.")
else:
break
# User enters max_days
while True:
try:
max_days = int(input("Please enter the maximum number of days disconnected before deleting: "))
# Cycle repeats until an integer value is entered for max_days
except ValueError:
print("The value entered is not an integer. Please enter an integer for max days.")
else:
break
# END Configurable Items
# Calculate Cutoff Date
cutoff_date = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=max_days)
# Prepare the query
query = {
"o": org_id,
"limit": 500,
"page": 0,
}
headers = {
"Content-Type": "application/json",
"Authorization": "Bearer " + api_key
}
# Submit the query
get_response = requests.get(url, headers=headers, params=query)
# Get user input
while True:
try:
dry_run = bool(input('Dry run? True/False: '))
except ValueError:
# The cycle repeats until the user enters True or False
print("Error! You have not entered a Boolean value. Please try again.")
else:
break
# Do a dry run, display list of devices to be deleted without actually deleting them
if dry_run is True:
# Iterate through devices
for device in get_response.json():
# Filter out connected devices
if device['last_disconnect_time'] is not None:
# Reformat the last disconnected date
last_disconnect_date = datetime.strptime(device['last_disconnect_time'].split("+")[0], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S")
# If device has been disconnected before the cutoff date, include it in the list
if datetime.date(last_disconnect_date) < datetime.date(cutoff_date):
print("Device " + str(device['name']) + " with Device ID " + str(device['id']) + " will be deleted.")
del_url = url + "/" + str(device['id'])
query = {
"o": org_id
}
# Live run - displays list of devices to be deleted, and then actually deletes those devices
if dry_run is False:
# Iterate through devices
for device in get_response.json():
# Filter out connected devices
if device['last_disconnect_time'] is not None:
# Reformat the last disconnected date
last_disconnect_date = datetime.strptime(device['last_disconnect_time'].split("+")[0], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S")
# If device has been disconnected before the cutoff date, include it in the list and delete it
if datetime.date(last_disconnect_date) < datetime.date(cutoff_date):
print("Device " + str(device['name']) + " with Device ID " + str(device['id']) + " will be deleted.")
del_url = url + "/" + str(device['id'])
query = {
"o": org_id
}
print("Deleting devices...")
del_response = requests.delete(del_url, headers=headers, params=query)