Script that creates a scheduled task to keep your RDP session alive to work around nonsensical GPOs that inhibit productivity

keepaliveScheduler.ps1

<#
.SYNOPSIS
  Keeps you productive by spoofing activity to prevent GPO idle timeouts, RDP disconnects, sleep, etc.

.Description
  This script creates a Scheduled Task that runs at login which uses Kernel SetThreadExecutionState to prevent GPOs
  from disconnecting your RDP session. Will also prevent sleeping/screensavers/display timeouts

  See the example below for a one liner that will download and execute this script directly from GitHub!

  ASSUMPTIONS AND WARNINGS:
  ==============================
  - This will most likely be frowned upon by your security team. Please do not break any rules/compliance
  - I am not responsible for any security issues that arise from misuse of this script (session hijacking, etc). Always log off when idle
  - If run on a laptop/desktop, it will use more energy and prevent screen timeouts / sleep! Be environmentally conscious!

.NOTES
  Version:        1.0.0
  Author:         jcefoli
  Creation Date:  1/5/2021

.EXAMPLE
  Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://gist.githubusercontent.com/jcefoli/816fac3234531f842217dd292a5188ce/raw/9a1368cbdeea3cbb2f6a554216b335b6c9dd62a0/keepaliveScheduler.ps1'))
#>

$dateStamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss'.'fffffff"
$currentUserSID = ([System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).User.Value

$schTaskXML = @"
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<Task version="1.4" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/2004/02/mit/task">
  <RegistrationInfo>
    <Date>CHANGEME</Date>
    <Author>CHANGEME</Author>
    <URI>\Keepalive</URI>
  </RegistrationInfo>
  <Triggers>
    <LogonTrigger>
      <Enabled>true</Enabled>
      <UserId>CHANGEME</UserId>
    </LogonTrigger>
    <SessionStateChangeTrigger>
      <Enabled>true</Enabled>
      <StateChange>RemoteConnect</StateChange>
      <UserId>CHANGEME</UserId>
    </SessionStateChangeTrigger>
  </Triggers>
  <Principals>
    <Principal id="Author">
      <UserId>CHANGEME_SID</UserId>
      <LogonType>InteractiveToken</LogonType>
      <RunLevel>LeastPrivilege</RunLevel>
    </Principal>
  </Principals>
  <Settings>
    <MultipleInstancesPolicy>IgnoreNew</MultipleInstancesPolicy>
    <DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>true</DisallowStartIfOnBatteries>
    <StopIfGoingOnBatteries>true</StopIfGoingOnBatteries>
    <AllowHardTerminate>false</AllowHardTerminate>
    <StartWhenAvailable>false</StartWhenAvailable>
    <RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>false</RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable>
    <IdleSettings>
      <StopOnIdleEnd>true</StopOnIdleEnd>
      <RestartOnIdle>false</RestartOnIdle>
    </IdleSettings>
    <AllowStartOnDemand>true</AllowStartOnDemand>
    <Enabled>true</Enabled>
    <Hidden>false</Hidden>
    <RunOnlyIfIdle>false</RunOnlyIfIdle>
    <DisallowStartOnRemoteAppSession>false</DisallowStartOnRemoteAppSession>
    <UseUnifiedSchedulingEngine>true</UseUnifiedSchedulingEngine>
    <WakeToRun>false</WakeToRun>
    <ExecutionTimeLimit>PT0S</ExecutionTimeLimit>
    <Priority>7</Priority>
  </Settings>
  <Actions Context="Author">
    <Exec>
      <Command>powershell</Command>
      <Arguments>-WindowStyle Hidden -File "C:\Users\$($env:USERNAME)\keepalive.ps1"</Arguments>
    </Exec>
  </Actions>
</Task>
"@

# https://gist.github.com/jcefoli/36ed07c08dc3795648b3f45185f721c5
$rdpKeepalivePS1 = @"
`$host.ui.RawUI.WindowTitle = "Idle Keepalive"

`$dotNetCode = @' 
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto,SetLastError = true)]
  public static extern void SetThreadExecutionState(uint esFlags);
'@

`$ste = Add-Type -memberDefinition `$dotNetCode -name System -namespace Win32 -passThru 
`$ES_CONTINUOUS = [uint32]"0x80000000" #Requests that the other EXECUTION_STATE flags set remain in effect until SetThreadExecutionState is called again with the ES_CONTINUOUS flag set and one of the other EXECUTION_STATE flags cleared.
`$ES_AWAYMODE_REQUIRED = [uint32]"0x00000040" #Requests Away Mode to be enabled.
`$ES_DISPLAY_REQUIRED = [uint32]"0x00000002" #Requests display availability (display idle timeout is prevented).
`$ES_SYSTEM_REQUIRED = [uint32]"0x00000001" #Requests system availability (sleep idle timeout is prevented).

Write-Verbose "Power Plan suspended with option: `$option"

`$ste::SetThreadExecutionState(`$ES_CONTINUOUS -bor `$ES_SYSTEM_REQUIRED -bor `$ES_DISPLAY_REQUIRED)

read-host "Keepalive active. Press any key to quit"

Write-Verbose "Power Plan suspension ended"
`$ste::SetThreadExecutionState(`$ES_CONTINUOUS)

#powercfg -requests

"@

# Replacements
$schTaskXML = $schTaskXML -replace "<Date>CHANGEME</Date>", "<Date>$dateStamp</Date>"
$schTaskXML = $schTaskXML -replace "<Author>CHANGEME</Author>", "<Author>$($env:USERDOMAIN)\$($env:USERNAME)</Author>"
$schTaskXML = $schTaskXML -replace "<UserId>CHANGEME</UserId>", "<UserId>$($env:USERDOMAIN)\$($env:USERNAME)</UserId>"
$schTaskXML = $schTaskXML -replace "<UserId>CHANGEME_SID</UserId>", "<UserId>$($currentUserSID)</UserId>"

# Write Necessary Files
$rdpKeepalivePS1 | Out-File -FilePath "C:\Users\$($env:USERNAME)\keepalive.ps1" -Encoding ascii
$schTaskXML | Out-File -FilePath "C:\Users\$($env:USERNAME)\keepalive.xml" -Encoding ascii

# Schedule the task
. schtasks /delete /tn "RDP Keepalive" /f
. schtasks /create /xml "$home\keepalive.xml" /tn "RDP Keepalive" /IT

# Cleanup
Remove-Item -Path "$home\keepalive.xml" -Force

How to use pls

How to use pls

If you copy and paste Line 23 into an Administrator elevated powershell, it will download the components needed to create a Scheduled Task that runs at logon of the current user, which will invoke a powershell script to prevent idle every time you log on

Although this is safe, I really don't recommend running things you find on the internet without fully understanding all of the code and what it's doing.

Hello Jcefoli - it worked great !! , thank you for amazing work!