Windows environment variables give system administrators access to a plethora of information about the operating system. Here are some ways to manage them.
- By Adam Bertram
- 03/28/2019
Here's how to quickly figure out what file shares exist on a remote computer, as well as what information is configured on them.
- By Adam Bertram
- 03/21/2019
Adam walks through how to proactively monitor an AD group for changes and execute a PowerShell script to take action when that happens.
- By Adam Bertram
- 03/07/2019
The GUI is fine if you're only moving a few files, but for larger and more complex migrations, this built-in Windows utility is the way to go.
- By Adam Bertram
- 02/21/2019
Windows Server Core is the epitome of Microsoft's shift toward GUI-free. But since you can't beat a good dashboard, here's how to access the GUI remotely.
- By Adam Bertram
- 02/05/2019
Since FSMO roles are typically spread out among various domain controllers, it's not always easy to figure out which domain controller holds a particular role. Luckily, we have PowerShell and the AD module to make this task a breeze.
- By Adam Bertram
- 01/25/2019
If you manage just a few user accounts, you could get by with AD Users and Computers or the AD Administrative Center. But if you're in a large organization, you can use PowerShell to automate the identity management process.
- By Adam Bertram
- 01/17/2019
WDS can be set up via the traditional GUI, but what if you're in an enterprise and have a lot of WDS servers to set up? In that case, PowerShell is a great way to automate the process.
- By Adam Bertram
- 12/13/2018
When creating automation scripts to discover, add, update or remove records from a remote SQL database, you need to make sure your script can successfully connect to the database.
- By Adam Bertram
- 12/10/2018
It's not always the best idea to create Active Directory users from scratch. Your company likely has a standard "template" of attributes that are set for every domain user. So why are you still creating each one by hand?
- By Adam Bertram
- 12/03/2018
Setting up a place to store files in the cloud isn't quite as easy as doing it on-prem. That's where Microsoft's Azure Files service comes in.
- By Adam Bertram
- 11/15/2018
When you need a SQL database fast, the cloud is the best way to go. Azure provides a SQL database as a PaaS that eliminates the need to get an entire SQL Server deployment up and running.
- By Adam Bertram
- 11/06/2018
Disk2Vhd is a little Microsoft utility that does one thing and one thing well: convert physical computers to virtual disks.
- By Adam Bertram
- 10/25/2018
For the longest time, the open source community had a concept called "public package repositories." Microsoft never had the same -- until the PowerShell Gallery.
- By Adam Bertram
- 10/11/2018
Azure Automation can be an excellent PowerShell script orchestration tool, though it has just a limited number of PowerShell modules. Luckily, we can upload our own modules, too.
- By Adam Bertram
- 09/27/2018
In today's IT organizations, it's critical for system admins to know how to automate processes. Luckily, we have tools like Azure Automation to help us out.
- By Adam Bertram
- 08/28/2018
By using the various history commands in PowerShell, you can search for and easily execute any command that you have previously run in the same session.
- By Adam Bertram
- 08/20/2018
Whether the string you're looking for inside a text file is a single word or a complicated pattern, PowerShell has the ability to find and replace just about anything.
- By Adam Bertram
- 08/08/2018
Looking at the signature of a file quickly lets you know whether that file is really what it claims to be. Here's how to tap PowerShell to figure out the file signature.
Native support for Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) isn't in PowerShell, but that doesn't mean it's not capable.
- By Adam Bertram
- 07/19/2018