Subscribe via RSSToday’s Friday Fun post, as most of these are, is a little silly and a little educational. Because I obviously am avoiding getting any real work accomplished, I worked on a little project that would add a border around a string of text. I often write formatted text to the screen to display information and…
More Fun with VSCode Snippets
A few days ago I posted an entry that explained how to create and use snippets in Visual Studio Code. As mentioned in that article I’m attempting to make the transition to VSCode for all my PowerShell work. Being able to use snippets is just one feature that I rely on. And as a number…
Adding PowerShell Snippets to Visual Studio Code
So I’ve recently moved my daily work to a different laptop, a Yoga 900 with 16GB of RAM to be exact. I had been running Windows 8.1 but decided to jump in completely to a Windows 10 environment. As part of the process I’ve also made it a goal to begin using Visual Studio Code…
PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking – The Last Book You Will Ever Need
At long last it is finished! Don Jones and I have recently published the first iteration of The PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking Book. This project was first announced in January 2017 with an early release program. The first edition was finished and in reader’s hands by the end of February 2017. We appreciate all of…
Check for Module Updates
It seems to me that the topic of finding or detecting module updates on the PowerShell Gallery has gotten a lot of interest over the last few days. So I thought I’d contribute my bit of code to check currently installed modules against their online versions in the PowerShell Gallery.
NIC 2017 Slides and Demos
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of presenting at the Nordic Infrastructure Conference (NIC). This is still a relatively young conference as these things go, but you couldn’t tell based on my experiences. Given the demise of TechEd Europe, conferences like this are filling the void, and doing a fantastic job. The conference draws…
Creating a Github Gist with PowerShell
Recently I posted a PowerShell tool for creating a GitHub repository. In continuing my exploration of the GitHub API I wrote another PowerShell tool to create a GitHub gist. A gist is simple way to store and share snippets or code samples. I use them to share simple PowerShell scripts or other works that aren’t…
Ideas and Inspiration
I received an email the other day from someone who is looking to expand their professional identity and brand. Of course one way to accomplish that is by writing and publishing or sharing your work with others. But this begs the natural question, “How do you know what to write about?” Or as I have…
Storing PowerShell Credentials in JSON
Sometimes I do things in PowerShell just to see what happens. This is a great way to learn about new cmdlets and techniques. Sometimes these experiments lead to useful results. Other times they may end up as teaching devices. Of course the result could serve both purposes and you may have to decide that today…
Creating a GitHub Repository from PowerShell
I’ve been continuing to work with the GitHub API in PowerShell. Today I have a function you can use to create a new GitHub repository. Of course you will need to have a GitHub account and another piece of critical information, but after that it is quite easy to create new repositories. This makes it…
PowerShell 6.0 Release Tools
As you should be aware, the next version of PowerShell is open source and cross-platform. You will be able to run PowerShell v6 on Windows, a Mac and select Linux distributions. All of the code is currently in alpha and hosted on the PowerShell GitHub repository. This is also where you can download new builds…
Web Testing with PowerShell
I run a self-hosted WordPress blog here as part of a hosted package. I run this on a very tight budget so I’m pretty sure I share resources with other tenants. This means that sometimes the server is unavailable, usually for only a brief period of time. I have the JetPack WordPress plugin configured to…
A Classy Christmas PowerShell Module
Yesterday I showed you a class-based PowerShell script. My intention was to have a little bit of fun and teach you the basics of using a class. But what I gave you was really just the first step. If you wanted to create an actual tool around a class, you will most likely want to…
A Classy PowerShell Christmas
Well it’s that time of year again to have some holiday fun with PowerShell. This year I thought I’d give you a classy present. Or more accurately, a class-based PowerShell toy. Classes were introduced in PowerShell 5.0, primarily with DSC resources in mind, but you can use classes for all sorts of things.
IT/Dev Connections 2016 Demos
I had a great time in Las Vegas a few weeks ago presenting at IT/Dev Connections. If you attended one of my sessions, thanks for taking the time. I hope found it time well spent. I tend to offer more demo-intensive presentations with minimal PowerPoint, which no one has complained about yet! In some of…