Desired State Configuration Resource Kit–Wave 6

The PowerShell team has just released an update to the DSC resource kit – bringing the total number of DSC resources to over 80! While the bulk of the resources in the resource kit are ‘experimental’ – they seem to me to be very stable (continuing the PowerShell team’s ability to ship rich, useful, and reliable beta code).

And even better, the PowerShell team seem to have gone back to their old roots in terms of time to market. They appear to be releasing as they develop (and long may this continue). Thus, the new SafeHarbor DSC resource, this was finished after Wave 5 was released but before Wave 6 was ready so the PowerShell team published it separately, then publish it (with updates and bug fixes) a few weeks later in the Wave 6 drop. I can’t tell you how good this feels after so long under the cone of silence.

This latest drop has some very interesting resources, including the xChrome and xFirefox resources that help to deploy these two browsers. The Group resource shipped with PowerShell 4 is updated to provide support for cross-domain account lookups as well as for UPN-formatted names. The new xRemoteDesktopAdmin resource enables. Additionally, Wave 6 has a number of bug fixes to earlier waves. Again – the ability to get these fixes quickly is both useful and much appreciated. 

The  DSC story is slowly coming clearer with both the July drop and these continuingly improving resources. And with Chef integrating with DSC, DSC’s future looks very rosy.  If you are looking to find out a bit more about DSC – I’ll be covering the basics on the PowerShell PowerCamp event in October.

del.icio.us Tags: DSC,DSC Resource Kit,PowerShell V5,PowerCamp

Announcing PowerShell PowerCamp–April 26-27 2014 in London

With the winter of rain, hopefully now well behind us, it’s time to look forward. Both Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 now slowly pushing into organisations large and small the End of Life for Server 2003 and Windows XP are looming. Learning PowerShell is now, more than ever, something every IT Pro needs to do! While I say this ever year, it seems to me that learning PowerShell is now, more than ever, something every IT Pro needs to do! And one great way to get up to speed is via the PowerShell PowerCamp event!

Why Learn PowerShell?

I hear this question a lot – after all the GUI is so good, why bother with PowerShell? Well, for a start, PowerShell is now at the centre of Microsoft's manageability strategy. Every key component of Windows Server (and client for that matter) can be managed using PowerShell. The latest sets of cmdlets enable you do to more than ever before with PowerShell. At the end of the day, PowerShell provides reliable, robust and repeatable automation – and in these days of having to do more with less, that’s vital.

What is A PowerShell PowerCamp?
PowerCamp is a fast paced weekend training event that covers all the basic aspects of Windows PowerShell v4 - from the command line to writing production-oriented scripts. The focus is on smart IT Pros who know then need to learn PowerShell but can’t afford to take a week and take the standard Microsoft course. We package this up at a price that’s easily affordable.

On day 1, we start with the basics including configuration, formatting and providers, remoting and jobs. Then, on day 2, we look at scripting, work flows, managing script libraries using modules, WMI/CIM,  using objects, and finishing with the PowerShell features added into the latest versions of Windows.

The PowerCamp event is a combination of lecture, demonstrations plus Q&A, with the opportunity to type along with the tutor. There are no formal labs. But I do provide the key demos, all the slides, plus a wealth of other add on material on a memory stick you get at the start of day 1. So bring along your laptop, and type away. I use a set of VMs to demonstrate and you can bring along ones you made earlier so as to follow along as I demo.

What is the Agenda?
Day 1 – The Basics
• PowerShell Fundamentals – starting with the key elements of PowerShell (Cmdlets, Objects and the Pipeline) plus installation, setup, and profiles. I also call out some of the new features in PowerShell V4.
• Formatting – how to format output nicely – both by default and using hash tables and display XML
• Providers – getting into underlying OS data stores (certificate store, AD, registry, etc.) via providers
• Remoting and jobs– working with jobs plus working with remote systems using PowerShell’s remoting capabilities
Day 2 – Diving Deeper
• Scripting Concepts – automating everyday tasks including PowerShell’s language constructs, error handling and debugging and workflows
• Modules – managing PowerShell script libraries in the enterprise
• WMI and CIM – we look at the WMI and CIM components, including the new CIM cmdlets
• Using .NET and COM Objects – working with native objects
• PowerShell in Windows 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 – a look at what’s there and how you can leverage the huge number of new cmdlets

And as we go, we always have time to take your questions and to show you how to overcome your issues with PowerShell!

What does it cost?
The cost is £200 (+VAT at the prevailing rate) for the weekend. Meals and accommodation are not covered. Should you book and have to cancel, that’s fine so long as you give at least two weeks notice – I understand that plans change. Refunds after that point are not, sadly, possible.

Where is the event going to take place?
The PowerShell PowerCamp is being held at Microsoft Cardinal Place, 100 Victoria Street in Victoria on the weekend of April 26/27 2014. Each day starts promptly at 09:00 and finishes up by 16:45. We’ll also take short breaks throughout the day, including a 1-hour lunch break.

PowerDrinks!
After Saturday’s session, attendees are invited to a small nearby public house for some lovely English ale, etc. The first round is on me!

Who is the tutor?
The PowerShell Weekend PowerCamp is delivered by Thomas Lee. Thomas is a veteran PowerShell evangelist who has been involved in the PowerShell community since the very beginning. He provides training and consultancy around a range of Microsoft products, with a recent focus on PowerShell and Lync Server. In his spare time, he lives with his wife, daughter, wine cellar, and Grateful Dead live recordings collection in a small cottage in the English countryside. His Twitter handle is @DoctorDNS and he maintains two blogs (Under the Stairs at http://tfl09.blogspot.com and PowerShell Scripts Blog at http://pshscripts.blogspot.com).

What do I need to bring
You need to bring a laptop with PowerShell v4 loaded. That can be either native or in a virtual machine. I suggest you have at least two VMs pre-configured – one a server 2012 R2 installation the other a Windows 8.1 installation. The virtualisation software is not of concern – but you need 64-bit guest OS support for Server 2012 R2! Thus you can use Hyper-V, VMware Workstation or Oracle’s Virtual Box. Heck, run it in a VM on a Mac or Linux PC if you want. Just bring along PowerShell v4!

How do I book?
Contact DoctorDNS@Gmail.com to book a place and to arrange for the invoice to be paid. Payment must be in cash, cheque or bank transfer – I don’t take credit cards.

More Details
Watch this blog for any hot breaking news on the event.

del.icio.us Tags: PowerShell,PowerCamp,Windows Server 2012 R2

So You Need a Further Excuse to Book Onto The Next PowerCamp? DONE!

The next PowerShell PowerCamp event is coming up shortly and we’re rapidly selling out of places. The PowerCamp event is two fast-paced days looking at the basics of PowerShell V3 – I cover as much as I can over two days.

The PowerCamp event is primarily focused on those new to PowerShell but with plenty of depth for those with more skills. I’ve been running these for a couple of years and they are a lot of fun – both for me (I just LOVE talking about PowerShell – as any of my students will attest!!) and for the delegates who pick up a lot of useful skills and get to network with like-minded folk.

The next PowerCamp event, October 27-28 in London, is rapidly selling out – but if you are holding off, waiting for more reasons to book, you are in luck. Now to be honest, I think the two days of training is more than worth the fee, but I do try to add value and give you things to enjoy on the day and to take away.

So two important announcements:

First, those very nice people at Pluralsight are providing attendees with a free one-month trial membership to Pluralsight’s huge catalog of training material. Although Pluralsight is mainly a developer training company, there is a fair bit of cross over material – and I’ve published several PowerShell courses into their library already – and by the time PowerCamp rolls around, there will be an additional course, My Top-10 Coolest Features of PowerShell V3 with Windows 2012.

Second, those other very nice people at MVP Systems, attendees will get a nicer than normal Costa gift card for coffee – there’s a Costa Shop right outside the building where we are meeting. The PowerCamp event is being held in Microsoft’s Cardinal Place offices – and over the weekend there is no catering on site – but armed with your gift card, you can be sufficiently caffeinated! At least that’s the plan.

In addition to some truly great training (I had to say that!), some free coffee and a month’s free subscription to PluralSight, there will also be the traditional give-away memory stick with all the great PowerShell related goodies I can find and provide. And while I can’t announce anything yet, I am still working on a couple of more goodies for you to take away.

So if you want to learn more about PowerShell v3, AND get some cool goodies, sign up now – see http://tfl09.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/announcing-powershell-v3.html for details on how to book. I hope to see you there!

 

Technorati Tags: PowerShell PowerCamp,PowerShell Training,Fun,Coffee,MVP Systems,Pluralsight

PowerShell PowerCamp October 27-28th–Filling up and a Special Guest!

Now that folks are back to work and catching up on their reading, I’m starting to get bookings for the October PowerShell PowerCamp event (http://tfl09.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/announcing-powershell-v3.html for the details). It’s great to get mail from folks asking for a place – so far the farthest away is from New York City. Very Cool!

As those who have come on earlier events know, I try to have an extra guest to come along and offer some additional thoughts on how to best use PowerShell. I give them leeway to talk about whatever they want – past events have seen James O’Neil and Tom Arbuthnot provide some thought provoking insights. In October, I’m very pleased to announce that we’ll have Richard Siddaway. Richard is a well published PowerShell author and an MVP.

So if you are looking for a fast paced, fun filled introduction to PowerShell, this is an event for you. I hope to see you there to continue your journey into the joys and delights of Windows PowerShell v3.

Technorati Tags: PowerShell v3,PowerShell Training,PowerCamp,PowerShell v3 Training

Announcing PowerShell V3 PowerCamp – October 27/28 2012 in London

Now that the summer is (nearly) over, it’s time to get back to what mattes. With the imminent arrival of both Server 2012 and Windows 8 to general availability, learning PowerShell is now, more than ever, something every IT Pro needs to do! One great way to get up to speed is via my PowerShell PowerCamp events!

What is A PowerShell PowerCamp?
PowerCamp is a fast paced weekend training event that covers all the basic aspects of Windows PowerShell v3 - from the command line to writing production-oriented scripts. We start with the basics including configuration, formatting and providers and remoting and jobs. Then, on day 2, we look at scripting, work flows, managing script libraries using modules, WMI/CIM,  using objects, and finishing with the PowerShell features added into Windows. The event concludes with a short look at PowerShell in the cloud and a quick call out to all the things we just can’t cover in two days.

The PowerCamp event is a combination of lecture, demonstrations plus Q&A, with the opportunity to type along with the tutor. There are no formal labs. But I do provide the key demos, all the slides, plus a wealth of other add on material on a memory stick you get at the start of day 1. So bring along your laptop, and type away.

What is the Agenda?
Day 1 – The Basics
• PowerShell Fundamentals – starting with the key elements of PowerShell (Cmdlets, Objects and the Pipeline) plus installation, setup, and profiles
• What’s new in v3 – this looks at the things specifically added into PowerShell v3.
• Formatting – how to format output nicely – both by default and using hash tables and display XML
• Providers – getting into underlying OS data stores (certificate store, AD, registry, etc.) via providers
• Remoting and jobs– working with jobs plus working with remote systems using PowerShell’s remoting capabilities

Day 2 – Diving Deeper
• Scripting Concepts – automating everyday tasks including PowerShell’s language constructs, error handling and debugging and workflows
• Modules – managing PowerShell script libraries in the enterprise
• WMI and CIM – we look at the WMI and CIM components, including the new CIM cmdlets
• Using .NET and COM Objects – working with native objects
• PowerShell in Windows 2012 and Windows 8 – a look at what’s there and how you can leverage the huge number of new cmdlets
• PowerShell and the cloud – this module looks at PowerShell in the cloud and how you can use PowerShell to manage cloud computing.

What does it cost?
The cost is £200 (+VAT at the prevailing rate) for the weekend. Meals and accommodation are not covered.

Where is the event going to take place?
The PowerShell PowerCamp is being held at Microsoft Cardinal Place, 100 Victoria Street in Victoria on the weekend of October 27/28 2012. Each day starts promptly at 09:00 and finishes up by 16:45. We’ll also take short break throughout the day, including a 1-hour lunch break

PowerDrinks?
After Saturday’s session, attendees are invited to a small nearby public house for some lovely English ale, etc.

Who is the tutor?
The PowerShell Weekend PowerCamp is delivered by Thomas Lee. Thomas is a veteran PowerShell MVP who has been involved in the PowerShell community since the very beginning. He provides training and consultancy around a range of Microsoft products, with a recent focus on PowerShell and Lync Server. Thomas runs PowerShell training courses around the world, and has been a speaker at conferences across the world for the past decade. In his spare time, he lives with his wife, daughter, wine cellar, and Grateful Dead live recordings archive in a small cottage in the English countryside. His Twitter handle is @DoctorDNS and he maintains two blogs (Under the Stairs at http://tfl09.blogspot.com and PowerShell Scripts Blog at http://pshscripts.blogspot.com).

What do I need to bring
You need to bring a laptop with PowerShell v3 loaded. That can be either native or in a virtual machine. I suggest you have at least two VMs pre-configured – one a server 2012 installation the other a Windows 8 installation. The virtualisation software is not of concern – but you need 64-bit guest OS support for Server 2012! Thus you can use Hyper-V, VMware Workstation or Oracle’s Virtual Box. Heck, run it in a VM on a Mac or Linux PC if you want. Just bring along PowerShell v3!

 
How do I book?
Contact DoctorDNS@Gmail.com to book a place and to arrange for the invoice to be paid. Payment must be in cash, cheque or bank transfer – I don’t take credit cards.

More Details
Watch this blog for any hot breaking news on the event.

 

Technorati Tags: PowerShell,PowerCamp,London,PowerShell Training

Another Fine PowerShell PowerCamp Weekend–Sadly All Over!

The weekend of April 21/22, 18 hearty IT Pros and I spend two days looking into PowerShell. A jump start look at all the key aspects of Windows PowerShell. The event focused on the core aspects of PowerShell – Cmdlets, the Pipeline, Objects, and Remoting. We we also reviewed the the PowerShell language as well as the cmdlets that have been added into Windows Server 2008 R2/Win8.

The attendees came from all walks of (IT Pro!) life, but all shared an interest in really learning more about PowerShell. The event only lasts 2 days and there is an obvious limit of how much anyone can absorb without brain overload creeping in. A key focus of all the modules was discovery – how the attendees can figure out stuff for themselves, and leveraging the community. 

It was a great weekend and I still have some admin to do around it. I am currently looking into a further PowerCamp in the autumn – during October if possible.

And a big thanks to Idera, MVP Systems and Quest – all of whom kindly provided some goodies I could provide to the delegates. Much appreciated.

Technorati Tags: PowerShell,PowerCamp

Two New PowerShell PowerCamp Events Coming Soon

I’m pleased to be able to bring you two more PowerShell PowerCamp weekend events in the upcoming months:

• HELSINKI – Weekend of March 10-11 2012 – takes place in the offices of Sovelto, at Ratapihantie 11 (1st floor) in Helsinki. I do not have pricing or this event yet but will post details as soon as I get them. We will have something interesting for Saturday night to be included in the price.
• LONDON – Weekend of 21-22 April 2012 – takes place at Microsoft’s Cardinal Place offices in London Victoria. We’ll all repair off to a local hostelry on the Saturday evening for a beer or three.

I’ll post more details about each event soon.

 

Technorati Tags: PowerShell,PowerCamp,London,PowerShell Training

Introduction to WMI and PowerShell – A NEW Pluralsight Course

I am quite pleased to be able to announce I’ve finished my first video class for Pluralsight, Introduction to WMI and PowerShell. It’s now available for viewing for Pluralsight subscribers.  I’ve been watching it a bit this morning and it’s not bad, if I do say so myself.

The course is a total of 2:29, and is broken down into 5 modules as follows:

• Introduction to WMI and PowerShell (21:28) – Describes WMI in Windows and discusses some of the key WMI exploration tools. The module then looks at PowerShell support for WMI in PowerShell V3, and describes the WMI cmdlets. The module finishes with some of the gotchas you need to be aware of when using WMI with PowerShell.
• Using PowerShell and WMI  (34:37) This module looks at accessing WMI data, including instances, instance properties and methods, WMI classes, and static class methods. We cover the use of the key WMI cmdlets and explain the use of Type Accelerators.
• Practical PowerShell (24:42)  - This module looks at the range of data you can use in WMI. We show key namespaces and key classes you might leverage. The module also looks at some of the security settings you might make use of when using WMI in a Enterprise environment.
• Using WMI Query Language (29:36) – Describes the WMI Query Language and how to use it with the PowerShell WMI cmdlets.
• WMI Eventing (39:16) - This final module looks at accessing WMI events. It shows how to create both temporary and permanent event subscribers for intrinsic, extrinsic, and timer events. It also explains all those terms and shows how to leverage WMI’s eventing subsystem.

So if you are currently a Pluralsight subscriber, why not consider it? If nothing else, take the free trial – 10 days access to the entire library, including this course.

And also: a big thank you to Alexandar Nikolic (@alexandair on Twitter) for his proof reading of the course – much appreciated!!

Technorati Tags: PowerShell,course,Pluralsight,video training,PowerShell Training,WMI,WMI Training