PowerShell-Day3

How Use Powershell to Export results as CSV and HTML?

Lets Try some Export Commands, IT professionals are required to run several reports and then data is required for analysis, Hence one should use these cmdlets to make live easier

These can also be scheduled for periodic check

Eg: 
An Exchange Admin wants to check the Mailbox Queue and export it to an html page

Windows Admin needs to check the services running and needs to publish  an html page to L1 team

Believe me, This is Simple,  all you need to do is practice

The output file looks like this

now lets try a to create a webpage (HTML )

This shows all the services with multiple properties of the services

Lets narrow down, we only need to see the names of the services and their status

Outlook in  a webpage looks like this

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PowerShell-Day2

Pipelining

Pipelining is the term for feeding one command's output into another command. This allows the second command to act on the input it has received. To pipeline two commands (or cmdlets), simply separate them with the pipe symbol (|).

To help you understand how pipelining works, imagine that you want to create a list of processes that are running on a server and sort that list by process ID number. You can get a list of processes by using the Get-Process cmdlet, but the list will not be sorted. However, if you pipeline the cmdlet's output into the Sort-Object ID command, the list will be sorted. The string of commands used looks like this:

we were able to sort the process as per the handles used in descending order

1. 

**One Important Lesson learned is, you should never be in a hurry, hence analyse the command before you run them, the below command could get you into trouble :) 

get-service | stop-service (will stop all services)

Instead, know the parameters to be run which the command as shown below-

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Install Active Directory on Windows 2012 R2

Install Active Directory on Windows 2012 R2

1. Open the Server Manager from the task bar.
2. From the Server Manager Dashboard, select Add roles and features.
   This will launch the Roles and Features Wizard allowing for modifications to be performed on the Windows Server 2012 instance.
3. Select Role-based or features-based installation from the Installation Type screen and click Next.
   Note: Roles are the major feature sets of the server, such as IIS, and features provide additional functionality for a given role.
4. The current server is selected by default. Click Next to proceed to the Server Roles tab.
5. From the Server Roles page place a check mark in the check box next to Active Directory Domain Services. A notice will appear explaining additional roles services or features are also required to install domain services, click Add Features.
   Note: There are other options including, Certificate services, federation services, lightweight directory services and rights management. Domain Services is the glue that holds this all together and needs to be installed prior to these other services.
6. Review and select optional features to install during the AD DS installation by placing a check in the box next to any desired features, and then click Next.
   
7. Review the information on the AD DS tab and click Next.
8. On the Confirm installation selections screen, review the installation and then click Install.
   Note: The installation progress will be displayed on the screen. Once installed, the AD DS role will be displayed on the ‘Server Manager’ landing page.

Start remote registry service

Before promoting the server to domain controller, the remote registry service must be started.

1. Click Start > Control Panel.
2. Under Services, right-click Remote Registry and open the Properties menu.
3. From the *Startup type:** drop-down menu, select Automatic.
4. Under Service Status, select Start.

The remote registry service will start.

Configure Active Directory

Once the AD DS role is installed the server will need to be configured for your domain.

1. If you have not done so already, Open the Server Manager from the task bar.
2. Open the Notifications Pane by selecting the Notifications icon from the top of the Server Manager. From the notification regarding configuring AD DS, click Promote this server to a domain controller.
   
3. From the Deployment Configuration tab select Add a new forest from the radial options menu. Insert your root domain name into the Root domain name field, and then click Next.
4. Select a Domain and Forest functional level, and then input a password for the Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) in the provided password fields.
   The DSRM password is used when booting the Domain Controller into recovery mode.
   Note: The selection made here will have lasting effects to features and server domain controller eligibility. For further information on Domain/Forest functional levels, see official Microsoft documentation.
5. Review the warning on the DNS Options tab and select Next.
6. Confirm or enter a NetBIOS name and click Next.
7. Specify the location of the Database, Log files, and SYSVOL folders and then click Next.
8. Review the configuration options and click Next.
9. The system checks to ensure all necessary prerequisites are installed on the system prior to moving forward. If the system passes these checks, proceed by clicking Install.
   Note: The server automatically reboots after the installation is complete.

After the server reboots, reconnect to it via RDP. Congratulations on successfully installing and configuring a Active Directory Domain Services on Windows Server 2012.

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PowerShell-Day 1

This is  my first day trying out PowerShell,

So to make things simple just follow the 3 rules and you should learn PowerShell in less duration

1. DO Not fear the Shell

2. Practice

3.  Do not memorize, but discover


how to Launch the PowerShell Console,

Currently I am using windows 10 and you can easily go to the start button and launch PowerShell as shown below:






Here are the versions :

-          Powershell v3- Windows Windows 8 and Server 2012

-          Powershell v2-windows 7 and server 2008

-          Download the windows management framework 3.0

Always run it as Admin  as you may not have access to certain modules and cmdlets ( Also known as Command-lets)

So, Now onwards make a habit to use PowerShell as a replacement to Command Prompt as all your commands that work on command prompt will work on PowerShell


Using the Help Command

Get-Help is the command which will help you most of the time

The easier way to remember is 

(VERB-NOUN)

All Cmdlets have are build using the format (VERB-NOUN)

Some Basic Commands to try today

-          Get-help

-          Help

-          Get-help *services*

-          Get-help g*service* (Alias for Get-Help)

-          Get-help get-service

-          Get-help g*adcomputer*

-          Get-verb ( shows all the verbs)

-          Get-help get-service –detailed ( to see details)

-          Get-help get-service –example (See examples, you will see around 10 examples)

-          Get-help get-service –online ( opens it online, in a browser)

-          Get-help get-service –showwindow ( opens it in a window)

This is really cool as you can browse details, syntax and all that you want for the particular command and it makes it easier to copy and paste

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Azure Management Pack

Why Can't SCOM Monitoring Azure Better ?

This is the questions that most of the systems admin bring out while evaluating capability of SCOM to monitor Azure

The Good News is that now Microsoft has updates to the Management Pack

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/momteam/2016/03/28/updates-to-microsoft-azure-management-pack/

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operations-management-suite

With All Hopes alive, I as a Consultant have always being relying on Microsoft's multiple Tools and Techniques to help several Customers in their day to day IT Operations

I have never seen Intelligent Dashboards from them,  except this to become and eye opener and OMS takes automation to the next level,
do visit and try it

Microsoft OMS

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Azure Management Pack

So Microsoft has now released Updates to the existing Management pack of Azure,

Franky speaking, I have noticed that a lot of customers complain about SCOM's Capability to monitoring Azure and do mention on forums that SCOM does not have good Dashboard and reporting capabilities, 

Hopefully these updates should help 

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/momteam/2016/03/28/updates-to-microsoft-azure-management-pack/

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microsoft-product-roadmap

Microsoft Product RoadMap

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