Springtime is approaching in North America. Where I live, the snow has finally melted and we have blue skies with warmer temperatures. Of course, this means Spring Cleaning. Time to clear out the winter debris and spruce up the house. For me, this is also a good time for some computing housecleaning as well. I…
Tag: Scripting
Solving Another PowerShell Math Challenge
Last month, the Iron Scripter Chairman posted a “fun” PowerShell scripting challenge. Actually, a few math-related challenges . As with all these challenges, the techniques and concepts you use to solve the challenge are more important than the result itself. Here’s how I approached the problems. Problem #1 The first challenge was to take a…
Better Active Directory Reporting with PowerShell
I’ve been using Active Directory for over 20 years. I was even one of the first 2000 IT Pros worldwide to obtain an MCSE on Windows 2000. Over the years, I’ve used a variety of management tools from command-line tools, to VBScript, and eventually PowerShell. Like many of you, I’ve used the ActiveDirectory module from…
PowerShell Property Sets to the Rescue
if you are like me and spend most of your day at a PowerShell prompt, anything that simplifies that process is worth the time to learn or set up. Even though I am a decent typist, I am more than happy to find ways to type less at a PowerShell prompt. I already take advantage…
Climbing Trees in PowerShell
I’m continuing with my renewed interest in Active Directory, and how I can take advantage of PowerShell. This is a topic I’ve been working with since the PowerShell v2 days. I have a lot of old code. Some of which I’ve decided to dust off and polish up. One topic that always interested me, is…
Solving the PowerShell Memory Challenge
I hope you tried your hand at this Iron Scripter PowerShell challenge on reporting memory usage. The basic challenge was to find the total percent of working set memory that a specific process or service is using. Here’s how I approached it, with my usual disclaimer that my solution is not the only or nor…
PowerShell Puzzles and Challenges
I just wrapped up presenting to the Research Triangle PowerShell User Group. I gave them a set of PowerShell problems to solve. The idea is that in solving the problem, you improve your PowerShell skills and expertise. Tonight’s problems were not scripting problems. The answers to these puzzles are not limited to one-line commands, although…
My PowerShell Word Count Solution
A few days ago I posted a quick PowerShell puzzle as part of an appearance announcement. Using the about_Splatting help file, what word is used the most frequently? If you can show the top 5 even better. Ideally, your code will treat words like “for,” and “for” as the same. For extra points, create a…
Scripting Challenge Meetup
As you probably know, I am the PowerShell problem master behind the challenges from the Iron Scripter site. Solving a PowerShell scripting challenge is a great way to test your skills and expand your knowledge. The final result is merely a means to an end. How you get there and what you had to learn…
Building a PowerShell Tool for Active Directory Changes
A few days ago, I posted a PowerShell script I wrote that creates a formatted HTML report, complete with collapsible regions, which shows recent changes to objects in your Active Directory domain. Including objects that have been deleted, assuming you enabled the Active Directory RecycleBin feature. I am pleased with the result and many of…
Building an Active Directory Watcher with CIM and PowerShell
Last week, Adam Bertram sent out a tweet looking for any PowerShell code to notify the user when a new Active Directory user account had been created. I dug out some very, very old code that used a WMI event subscription to watch Active Directory for such an event. The code I shared was something…
Get Group Policy Links with PowerShell
I was chatting with my friend Gladys Kravitz about Group Policy reporting stuff recently,. and the discussion led me to dust off some old code I had for getting Group Policy links using PowerShell. The GroupPolicy module has a Set-GPLink command, but nothing that easily shows you what GPOs are linked to your site, domain…
Answering the CIM Directory Challenge
The last Iron Scripter challenge of 2020 was a big one. If you didn’t get a chance to work on it, see what you can come up with then come back to see my approach. As with many of the challenges, the goal isn’t to produce a production-ready PowerShell tool, but rather to push the…
Deploy OpenSSH Server to Windows 10
PowerShell 7 offers a number of compelling reasons to adopt it. One of the best is support for SSH as a PowerShell remoting protocol. Unfortunately, this is not a topic that typically comes up for Windows-centric IT Pros. I know this is definitely true in my case, and a deficiency I have been working on….
Creating PowerShell Property Names
The last week or so I’ve been playing with a new PowerShell project from Dave Carroll for using Twitter from a PowerShell prompt. The module is called BluebirdPS and you can install it from the PowerShell Gallery. The module is very much still in its early stages but is functional and intriguing. The reason you…