Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, and PSDeploy

Are you starting to use version control at work? Are you being pestered by fellow PowerShell aficionados to start learning version control? Did you catch the PowerShell.org Crash Course in Version Control and pick up some Git and GitHub experience? Shameless plug, sorry : )

Version control is just the start. What if we want to automate testing? To deploy our files, folders, and other artifacts out to production or other environments? Version control alone offers some nice benefits, but without these extra steps, it might introduce some pain points!

What are variables anyway…

Fellow Admins.

A quick chat if you’re new to variables.

So if you’re like me and don’t know any other programing/scripting language then all this PowerShell stuff is a bit daunting. So to help, this articles is on PowerShell Variables. The thing is that Variables in PowerShell are very important. I’m assuming you know what a cmdlet is? The very basic underlying tools that make powershell work. They are like powershell building blocks or bricks in a PowerShell wall. For example, get-aduser gets a list of all the users in AD and includes a few details like SID, name and distinguished name. So that little cmdlet gets all that information, and more once you learn to manipulate it. If cmdlets are the bricks then Variables are the mortar. They hold all this information you have gathered together and let you save and pick and choose what you want.

MSPSUG Virtual Meeting: Conquering Azure and Office 365 with PowerShell – August 11th 2015

Join the Mississippi PowerShell User Group virtually on Tuesday, August 11th at 8:30pm Central Time when SharePoint MVP Todd Klindt will present “ **Conquering Azure and Office 365 with PowerShell ** ”.

After years and years of anticipation, 2015 might end up actually being the year of the Cloud. With any new technology comes the opportunity to tame it with PowerShell. In this session Todd will give you an overview of the PowerShell options you have when interacting with Office 365 and Azure. He’ll go over how to get them installed in your environment. Then he’ll walk you through getting them connected to Office 365 and Azure and actually doing some work with them. Finally he’ll show you some tricks to get around the limitations. When this session is finished you’ll be armed with all the information you need to fire up PowerShell and wrangle Office 365 and Azure AD into submission.

PowerShell Summit North America 2016 – Call for Topics

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PowerShell Summit NA 2016 – Call for Topics

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The PowerShell Summit is the number one conference where PowerShell enthusiasts gather and learn from each other in fast-paced, knowledge packed presentations. PowerShell experts from all over the world including MVP’s, Guru’s, community leaders and PowerShell team members, will once again join together for a few days in Bellevue, WA. to discuss and learn about maximizing PowerShell in the workplace. If you want to share your PowerShell expertise or story, then this is your official call to submit presentations for selection!

2015-August Scripting Games Puzzle

Our August 2015 puzzler tests your ability to retrieve data from the Web. If you’ve never done this before, it can be a real brain-bender - but don’t overthink it; experts can probably pull this off in a one-liner if they’re using a newer version of PowerShell!

Introduction to Powershell

Hi Guys,

I’m going to have a PowerShell ramble on a semi regular basis. What prompts me to write here on powershell.org is that I love powershell. I makes my job so much better. I’m an IT Pro and work for a large ish world spanning company. I mostly work with windows servers but get to work with other technology too. Like VMware and Citrix for example. The other thing I want to point out is that I’m not a programer. I don’t know VB Script and no one taught me PowerShell . There are many people though that helped me on my PowerShell Journey through their books, blogs, postings, and videos. 

[UPDATED] Even Vaguely Considering PowerShell Cruise? READ THIS RIGHT NOW.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of next year’s PowerShell Cruise and am excited for the folks who are organizing it. Tonight’s webinar (which they’ll post to their YouTube channel) will be a chance for you to learn more.

But.

If you’ve never cruised before, you may not be aware of how the majority of the cruise industry works:

• Your cruise price includes your room, and is based on two people staying in the room together.
• Your cruise price includes most food on the ship - certain specialty restaurants may charge a la carte like a normal restaurant, or may have a small ($25-ish) per-person charge to dine there. If they have the per-person charge, everything on the menu is  then included at no extra charge.
• Your drinks cost extra - everything but water, tea, and plain coffee in most cases. Even soda is an extra price.

That’s why I want you to think really really hard about what I’m going to write next.

2015-July Scripting Games Wrap-Up

The July puzzler wasn’t intended to break your brain - but it was intended to highlight an extremely important pipeline technique - and to make you think about how PowerShell parses command lines. Let’s begin with our Celebrity Entry, from Boe Prox. We think you’ll discover some interesting new techniques in this answer - and learn from understanding how he got there.

Celebrity Entry

The 2015 Scripting Games have started and have taken a different route this year in that we are they are running a monthly puzzle vs. the usual format. That being said, I was asked to be a celebrity contestant and put together my solution as well as adding my thoughts (I promise to try and stay on a clear path) and various routes that I took to get to my final solution.

Powershell IS for the desktop tech as well

Every day some one tends to ask me if there is a simpler way to do task A or B, and the minute I mention PowerShell the response is almost always the same, “yea i have been meaning to learn that but. This really saddens me for 2 reasons, 

1. Because PowerShell can and does make your life simpler 
2. i am already seeing peoples jobs get replaced when they fall behind in the skill and as more and more companies move closer to automation it will only get worse. 

It saddens me even more so when I see co-workers who i have taken the time to write the scripts to improve the speed of resolution not use them either. then wounder why i am able to fix the same issue in a fraction of the time they have. 

PowerShell Summit NA 2016 – call for topics coming soon

The North American PowerShell Summit 2016 will take place at the Meydenbauer center in Bellevue WA. on April 4-6 2016. The Summit is a community event, with community based speakers. That means we need **you **to submit sessions. Members of the PowerShell team will be attending, and speaking, as in previous years as will a number of PowerShell MVPs. One of the goals of PowerShell.org is to help build the PowerShell community and that means helping and developing new speakers. You don’t have to be an established speaker to present at the Summit - just knowledgeable about your topic and enthusiastic about PowerShell.