Repetitive tasks present a problem. Not only do you have to do the task, but you have to remember to do the task. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get our computer to do that repetitive task and alert us if we need to do something. With Python programming, you can do just that.
Last time, we looked at how to automate the OIG and GSA checks that are required for any medical companies. That program saves over 3 hours of time each month (minor, unless you are the one spending 3 hours running the checks) and just keeps saving more and more time as the number of employees increase. This time, we are looking at accounts, users, and passwords.
If you have an account online, chances are good that you have been locked out of that account. You may have entered the wrong password too many times or changed your password (and forgot what you changed it to…). Your caps lock may have been on or your computer keyboard could be malfunctioning. No matter what the issues was, the immediate problem is that your account is locked. How do you get it unlocked?
Many services have automated systems to unlock accounts. If you forget your iTunes password, you can go to iForgot.apple.com and have your password reset. For smaller systems or systems without automated account unlocking procedures, someone has to go in and enable your account. It is this instance that we are concerned with today.
Automating with Python
To automate a task, you must define the task. It helps if those tasks can be completed in a variety of ways, but you have to know what you are doing before you can get a computer to do it. Our task today is to:
- Check for locked accounts
- If there are any locked account, notify me via email
