Updated 12/2022
In this video, we create a free SendGrid account in Azure and send email with the Rest API and PowerShell. We walk through the reusable function that builds the header and body of the message. This function is helpful for anyone who needs to send email from a PowerShell script that doesn’t have access to an SMTP relay or are behind a firewall that blocks outbound SMTP traffic.
The Azure AD and MSOnline PowerShell Modules will be depreciated soon. The replacement is the Microsoft Graph PowerShell module based on the Microsoft Graph API. This video is for those new to the Microsoft Graph API. The video starts by reviewing the change and outlining differences between the Azure AD and MSOnline modules and the new Microsoft Graph module. We then move on to examples using groups. We search for a group, add a group, update group membership, and then remove the group.
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Patching Windows computers is essential, but the inconsistent date of “Patch Tuesday,” the second Tuesday of the month, can make scheduling automation difficult. The PowerShell Script outlined in this video provides a function that will return the second Tuesday of the current month. Leverage this logic to generate automation that targets specific dates related to patch Tuesday.
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This video goes over two Azure IP addresses used for Azure VM’s. The WireServer IP of 168.63.129.16 and the Azure Instance Metadata Service (IMDS) IP address 169.254.169.254. In the video, I go over what each is used for and then give a demonstration on using the WireServer IP address to query DNS. After that, I use the IMDS REST Endpoint to pull metadata including the Azure environment and scheduled events.
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In this video, I demonstrate how to use Postman, a free API development and testing tool, to format URL’s and make requests against web endpoints and use those URL’s to get data in PowerShell. I also give a quick walk through of viewing the data in PowerShell.
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This is where my last two articles, Git for System Admin Scripting and Get Started with Git Remote, come together. Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a powerful and extendable IDE. VS Code supports Git out of the box. It also supports many programming and scripting languages with Microsoft and 3rd party extensions. In this article, I walk through common tasks that we have already covered, only this time with the native Git integration within VS Code. I also review new functionality with a free 3rd party extension.
Continue reading “Git and VS Code for the Lone Scripter”
In my last post, I eulogized the virtues of using Git for the simplest of scripts. You can find that here. In this post, I go over using Git with a remote repository, namely GitHub.
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I spent most of my time in IT as a system admin, on the “Ops” side of DevOps. Over the years, I have accumulated many different batch files and scripts of one type or another. File shares worked well for storing the code I write. I discovered Git and it’s become my main repository for all script related code. Recently, I attempted to make a case to other admins for using Git, but failed to make a convincing case. Below, I lay out my case to why a sysadmin or anyone writing any kind of script should move to Git. I also outline how I use it in an effort to make my case and help anyone interested in getting started with Git.
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