ICYMI: PowerShell Week of 17-August-2018
Topics include PowerBI cmdlets, auditing group changes, exporting module functions, and PowerShell phishing.
Blogs
Test-NetConnection vs. Test-Connection - Testing a Network Connection with PowerShell
by Adam Bertram on August 10th
Learn how a single cmdlet, Test-NetConnection cmdlet, can be used in place of common network connection utilities, such as ping, tracert, telnet, and portqry.
Working with PowerShell in Power BI
by Kay Unkroth (Microsoft) on August 13th
A few weeks ago Microsoft released a Power BI PowerShell module for administering Power BI tenants. This article covers the basics of using the new Power BI cmdlets.
Get Group Membership Changes
by Stephanos Constantinou on August 13th
Have a need to monitor group changes in Active Directory? Run this script as a scheduled task to receive an email containing details of whose come and gone from AD groups.
PowerShell Module Exporting Functions in Constrained Language
by Paul Higinbotham (Microsoft) on August 15th
Exporting functions using wildcards in a script module introduces significant performance penalties and carries serious security implications. Understand how PowerShell Constrained Language Mode addresses this problem. Look for a module in PSGallery soon that will help to ensure your modules are in compliance with the guidance in this article.
Phishing - Ask and Ye Shall Receive
by rindertkramer on August 14th
This eye-opening article demonstrates how bad actors can use PowerShell to steal credentials using fake toast notifications. The intent of this article is to raise security awareness; be paranoid when it comes to processes asking for your credentials!
Forums
PowerShell.org - Popular Post
Teaching PowerShell Public Group
Get a feel for the new Groups feature on PowerShell.org and particpate in a discusion hashtables versus PSCustomObjects.
PowerShell.org Challenge - Unanswered Post
DSC HTTPS Pull Server - An Error Occurred While Sending the Request by Marc Esteve on August 10th
Marc has been struggling for two weeks on this issue. Please jump in and provide some guidance if you can!
Reddit /r/PowerShell - Most Popular Post
PowerShell Remoting on Python by jborean93 on August 14th
Jordan Borean has created PyPSRP, a Python library that works with the PowerShell Remoting Protocol to help facilitate better remote management of Windows servers. Wondering what this has to do with PowerShell? Well, he’s blogged about what his library does and it also reveals some really cool details about how PowerShell’s remoting works under the hood! It’s a long read but if you were the kid that took stuff apart just to see how they worked, this is well worth your time.
Media
Show-PSDriveMenu by Tommy Maynard on August 14th
Who doesn’t like new tools in the toolbox? Tommy gives us a quick look at a new one called Show-PsDriveMenu. True to the name, it shows you all of your available PsDrives and lets you quickly switch between them. He’s got his cool little script available on the PowerShell Gallery, so go check it out.
Youtube
PowerShell Core Community Call by The PowerShell Team on August 16th
Check out what’s coming down the pipe for PowerShell Core, including target date for the next major release for PowerShell Core. Call notes here.
Special thanks to Mark Roloff, Robin Dadswell, and Brett Bunker for contributions!
Related Articles
PowerShell Escape Room
PowerShell Escape Room by Michiel Hamers
by Michiel Hamers
https://about.me/michielhamers/
Why on earth you want to create an Escape Room with PowerShell as backend?
I’ve always been a fan of escape rooms, so I decided to create my own for my kids. I wanted to make it something that would be challenging and fun for them, but also educational. I decided to use PowerShell as the backend for the escape room, as I’m a PowerShell developer and I thought it would be a great way to learn more about the language.
The first step was to design the rooms. I wanted to make sure that there were a variety of puzzles and challenges that my kids would have to solve. I also wanted to make sure that the rooms were visually appealing and engaging. Once I had the rooms designed, I started building them.
I used a variety of materials to build the rooms, including wood, cardboard, and fabric. I also used a few electronic components, such as a USB extension cable with a switch and a 3-button keyboard. The USB extension cable with a switch was used to create a physical button that my kids could press to solve one of the puzzles. The 3-button keyboard was used to enter the code that my kids had to find to solve another puzzle.
I also used a few websites to create rebus puzzles that my kids had to solve. I printed out the rebus puzzles and placed them around the rooms. Once my kids had solved all of the puzzles, they were able to enter the code on a single screen to escape the room.
In this blog post, we’ll delve into the process of creating an engaging PowerShell escape room for the global PowerShell community. We’ll emphasize the significance of storytelling and provide a detailed breakdown of the PowerShell structure used for the escape room.
Microsoft Graph PowerShell Module: Getting Started Guide
Microsoft Graph PowerShell Module: Getting Started Guide
by Jeff Brown
Microsoft is retiring the Azure AD Graph API sometime after June 30, 2023 (announcement). This retirement includes the Azure AD PowerShell module. In its place, Microsoft has released the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module. The Microsoft Graph PowerShell module is the next-generation way of managing Microsoft cloud services using PowerShell. If you have used MSOnline or Azure AD PowerShell in the past, you’ll need to read on to learn about this new module.
ICYMI: PowerShell Week of 08-October-2021
Topics include VMWare, Windows 11, Web Reports and more…
Special thanks to Robin Dadswell, Prasoon Karunan V, Kiran Patnayakuni and Kevin Laux
How to gather your vCenter inventory data with this VMware PowerShell script
by Scott Matteson on 7th October
Inventory reports are a common request when administering a VMware vCenter environment. Learn how this VMware PowerShell script can make such requests quick and easy
Building a Web Report in PowerShell, use the -Force Luke
by Chris Noring on 8th October