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About Me
I am certified Microsoft professional, a Microsoft MVP and an IT veteran with almost 20 years of experience, much of it spent as an IT consultant specializing in Windows server technologies. I work today as an independent author, trainer and consultant. I've co-authored or authored several books, courseware, and training videos on administrative scripting and automation. My latest book is Managing Active Directory with Windows PowerShel: TFM 2nd Ed.(SAPIEN Press 2011).
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Tag Archives: Best Practices
Scripting Games 2011 Notes from the Field
I’ve been making headway in reviewing and judging entries in the 2011 Scripting Games. I know there has been a lot of discussion about the lack of comments and I’m doing what I can with entries I judge, but I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Best Practices, PowerShell v2.0, Scripting
Tagged Best Practices, PowerShell, Scripting, Scripting Games
3 Comments
PowerShell Picasso
You have probably heard the story (or legend) about Pablo Picasso and his napkin drawing. A guy goes up to Picasso in a cafe and asks for an autograph or something. Picasso sketches out something in a minute or so. … Continue reading
Posted in PowerShell v2.0, Scripting
Tagged Alias, Best Practices, PowerShell, Scripting
10 Comments
Profiling a Script
Last summer, Ed Wilson was looking for help with a small part of the book he was finishing up, Windows PowerShell 2.0 Best Practices. The topic he was working on was, “How do I know this script is safe to … Continue reading
Posted in PowerShell, PowerShell v2.0, Scripting
Tagged Best Practices, Ed Wilson, PowerGUI, Scripting
1 Comment
Absolute Beginning PowerShell
I was looking at my current Mr. Roboto column “Polish Your Shell” on learning PowerShell by starting with 3 basic commands and noticed a lengthy and serious comment. I’ve always felt PowerShell is easy to use and learn, which was the point of my column. However, the comments paint a different story and one that I feel is more pervasive.
I’m afraid the comment is representative of how PowerShell is perceived by many IT admins. They don’t have time to learn anything new or their hair is constantly on fire (to borrow a favorite Jeffrey Snover phrase). Even though the concepts of cmdlets, parameters and a pipeline seem easy and practically self-apparent, they are not. Especially for an administrator who has never had to open a command window before. Granted GUI-based admin tools might have been cumbersome, but at least you could make some educated guesses about how to use it. A command line is very different. Continue reading
Posted in CommandLine, Mr. Roboto, PowerShell, Scripting, Training
Tagged Best Practices, MrRoboto, PowerShell, Training
3 Comments
What can we learn from the airlines?
Don Jones has written an excellent business analysis article: What can we learn from the airlines? Having done my share of frequent flying I can attest to the veracity of his article. If more companies were anti-airline in their business … Continue reading
