Tag: PowerShell

Exciting PowerGUI® news at TechEd 2011 next week!

Kirk MunroLeave a comment

Next week I’ll be at the TechEd 2011 conference in Atlanta.  During this event I’ll be doing an Ask the Experts session on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 in the Quest Software booth from 12:30-1:00PM.  If you want to get the latest news on PowerGUI® Pro and PowerGUI®, come to that session!  I have some really cool things I’ve been dying to show you, so please stop by and say Hello!  If you can’t make that session, we’ll be demoing PowerGUI Pro all week in the Quest booth, so stop by if you want a quick look at what we’ve been working on.

If you’re wondering where else I’ll be, be sure to take a look at my blog post about PowerShell at TechEd 2011.  It includes sessions I will be possibly attending.  I’m also presenting an interactive session called WSV-473: Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today!  If you cannot attend that session, there is a repeat as well: WSV473-INT-R: Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today!

Also, why not go to TechEd in style!  Show your appreciation for PowerGUI at TechEd by sporting the latest PowerGUI desktop wallpaper on your laptop!

Hope to see you there!

Kirk out.

Learn more about PowerShell at TechEd 2011

Kirk Munro2 Comments

TechEd North America 2011 is coming up fast next month, so I wanted to let you know how you can learn more about PowerShell while at the conference.  PowerShell has continually had a great presence at TechEd events, and this year is no exception.  Just searching the TechEd schedule builder using the keyword “PowerShell” reveals 7 pre-event online webcasts, 2 pre-event virtual labs, 4 pre-con seminars, 2 birds of a feather discussions, 5 interactive discussions, 16 breakouts, and 9 hands-on labs this year!  Those are not all specifically focused on PowerShell, but they definitely show the amount of attention that PowerShell gets at a conference like this.

PowerShell content at TechEd 2011

Below you will find a list of all of the PowerShell-related sessions and resources for TechEd so that you can make sure you have them added to your schedule.  The sessions that interest me the most are highlighted in bold.

Type and Level Title Speaker Date
Pre-event webcast
200 – Intermediate

PRE001-WC | Windows PowerShell Basics for IT Professionals

 Peter Lammers Online, available now
Pre-event webcast
200 – Intermediate

PRE020-WC | Windows PowerShell Basics for IT Professionals (Part 2)

 Sean Kearney Online, available now
Pre-event webcast
200 – Intermediate

PRE051-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn It Now before It’s an Emergency (Part 1 of 5)

Ed Wilson

 Online, available now
Pre-event webcast
200 – Intermediate

PRE052-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn It Now before It’s an Emergency (Part 2 of 5)

 Ed Wilson Online, available now
Pre-event webcast
200 – Intermediate

PRE053-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn it now before it is an emergency (Part 3 of 5)

 Ed Wilson Online, available now
Pre-event webcast
200 – Intermediate

PRE054-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn it now before it is an emergency (Part 4 of 5)

 Ed Wilson Online, available now
Pre-event webcast
200 – Intermediate

PRE055-WC | PowerShell Week: Learn It Now before It’s an Emergency (Part 5 of 5)

 Ed Wilson Online, available now
Pre-Conference Seminar
($$$)

PRC14 | Automate Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2) Administration Using Windows PowerShell v2

 Don Jones Sunday, May 15, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Pre-Conference Seminar
($$$)

PRC07 | Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Administration for the Seasoned SharePoint Administrator

 Shane Young, Todd Klindt Sunday, May 15, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Pre-Conference Seminar
($$$)

PRC13 | Group Policy in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Jeremy Moskowitz Sunday, May 15, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Pre-Conference Seminar
($$$)

PRC04 | Build a Better Development Shop with Microsoft Virtualization Technologies and Visual Studio 2010 Lab Management

 Brian Randell Sunday, May 15, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Interactive Discussion
400 – Expert

WSV471-INT | Build Reusable Tools in Windows PowerShell

 Don Jones Monday, May 16, 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

WSV316 | Windows Server 2008 R2: Tips for Automating the Breadth of Your IT Environment

 Dan Harman, Mir Rosenberg Monday, May 16, 3:00 PM – 4:15 PM
Interactive Discussion
400 – Expert

VIR471-INT | Virtualization FAQ, Tips and Tricks

 Janssen Jones Monday, May 16, 3:00 PM – 4:15 PM
Birds-of-a-Feather
300 – Advanced

BOF04-ITP | PowerShell: Best Practices from the Field

 Hal Rottenberg, Ed Wilson Tuesday, May 17, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM
Interactive Discussion
200 – Intermediate

OSP273-INT | Microsoft Office 365 Administration and Automation Using Windows PowerShell

 Ashwin Sarin Tuesday, May 17, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM
Interactive Discussion
300 – Advanced

OSP382-INT | Windows PowerShell, the Power of the Pipe

 Todd Bleeker Tuesday, May 17, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

WCL303 | Advanced Troubleshooting with Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP)

 Jeffery Hicks Tuesday, May 17, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

WSV310 | Get Out of Dodge: Migrating to Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 

 Rick Claus Tuesday, May 17, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

DBI304 | What’s New in Manageability for Microsoft SQL Server Code-Named "Denali"

 Denny Cherry Tuesday, May 17, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

VIR325 | Anatomy of HP Cloud Foundation for Hyper-V

 Brad Kirby Tuesday, May 17, 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

VIR314 | Understanding Server App-V, Sequencing and Deploying Datacenter Applications

 Derrick Isoka Wednesday, May 18, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

EXL318 | Monitoring Microsoft Lync 2010 Deployments

 Arish Alreja, Jeffrey Reed Wednesday, May 18, 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM
Interactive Discussion
400 – Expert

WSV473-INT | Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today!

 Kirk Munro Wednesday, May 18, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Breakout Session
400 – Expert

WSV406 | Advanced Automation Using Windows PowerShell 2.0

 Dan Harman, Jeffrey Snover Wednesday, May 18, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

WCL321 | Windows PowerShell Remoting: Definitely NOT Just for Servers

 Don Jones Wednesday, May 18, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

DEV338 | NuGet: Microsoft .NET Package Management for the Enterprise

 Scott Hanselman Wednesday, May 18, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

VIR310 | Inside the LAB: Building Your Own Private Cloud Infrastructure

 Mikael Nystrom Wednesday, May 18, 1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

WSV322 | Managing the Registry with Windows PowerShell 2.0

 Jeffery Hicks Thursday, May 19, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM
Birds-of-a-Feather
300 – Advanced

BOF14-ITP | Challenges in Automation for Microsoft Data Repositories (Microsoft SQL Server, DPM and SharePoint)

 Kevin Kline Thursday, May 19, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

VIR326 | Fluid Data Management at Indiana University

 Janssen Jones Thursday, May 19, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

EXL321 | Microsoft Lync Server 2010: Administering Lync Server Deployment

 Anand Lakshminarayanan, Cezar Ungureanasu Thursday, May 19, 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM
Interactive Discussion
400 – Expert

WSV473-INT-R | Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today!

 Kirk Munro Thursday, May 19, 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

WSV315 | Windows PowerShell for Beginners

 Jeffrey Snover, Mir Rosenberg Thursday, May 19, 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Breakout Session
300 – Advanced

DBI326 | Enterprise Data Mining with Microsoft SQL Server

 Mark Tabladillo Thursday, May 19, 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM
Hands-on Lab
200 – Intermediate

WSV276-HOL | Introduction to Windows PowerShell Fundamentals

 N/A Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area
Hands-on Lab
300 – Advanced

WSV371-HOL | Advanced Windows PowerShell Scripting

 N/A Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area
Hands-on Lab
300 – Advanced

WSV378-HOL | Server Management and Windows PowerShell V2 (V3.0)

 N/A Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area
Hands-on Lab
300 – Advanced

WCL376-HOL | Managing a Domain Environment More Effectively

N/A Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area
Hands-on Lab
300 – Advanced

WSV379-HOL | What’s New in Active Directory (V3.0)

 N/A Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area
Hands-on Lab
200 – Intermediate

WSV273-HOL | Failover Clustering Introduction with Windows Server 2008 R2

 N/A Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area
Hands-on Lab
300 – Advanced

WSV377-HOL | Migrating DHCP and File Services with Windows Server Migration Tools

 N/A Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area
Hands-on Lab
300 – Advanced

EXL377-HOL | Managing Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Using Windows PowerShell and the Lync Server Control Panel

 N/A Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area
Hands-on Lab
300 – Advanced

SIM373-HOL | Microsoft System Center Service Manager 2010 Data Warehouse and Reporting

 N/A Hands-on-lab, available in the TLC HOL area

Quest Software Ask the Experts Session on PowerShell

There are other items that won’t show up in the schedule builder as well. For example, Quest Software has regular Ask the Experts sessions throughout the event, and one of those sessions will be focused on PowerShell, allowing you to ask questions to myself and Dmitry Sotnikov, watch some demos of the next version of PowerGUI® Pro, and have a chance to meet us at the event.  If this interests you, mark your calendar and join Dmitry and I in the Quest Software booth in the expo hall on Tuesday, May 17 from 12:30PM to 1:00PM, and bring your PowerShell and PowerGUI Pro questions!

WSV473-INT Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today!

If you want to find me when I’m not working the PowerShell booth or answering questions during the Ask the Experts session on PowerShell, you can always come catch me at my session.  It is included in the session listing above.  I will be presenting a 400-level interactive discussion about PowerShell, WSV473-INT Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today!  During this session I’ll be discussing different ways that you can get next-generation PowerShell functionality today so that you don’t have to wait as long until the next release.  This session will cover cool PowerShell features such as proxy functions, and it will also discuss Domain Specific Vocabularies, a topic I recently spoke about at the PowerShell Deep Dive.  You can read more about the session here.

Important Update:

This session has been scheduled for a second showing on Thursday, May 19, 2011 from 1:00-2:15PM, so if you can’t make the first one, come to the second!  Here’s the link to the update: WSV473-INT-R | Windows PowerShell 3.0: Why Wait? Get Next-Generation PowerShell Functionality Today!

Watch for additional opportunities to learn about PowerShell

Beyond these sessions, there are always other possible opportunities to learn about PowerShell while you are at TechEd 2011 in Atlanta.  The scheduled sessions at TechEd offer a ton of value already, but for me, the true value of a conference like TechEd comes from the unexpected and often unplanned side discussions that surprise you at a conference like this.  Some of my favorite discussions about PowerShell at conferences in the past have happened in an ad-hoc meeting, over breakfast, or in the PowerShell booth.  Never be afraid to start the discussion and ask others if they use PowerShell, and if possible keep your laptop handy so that you can pull it out and talk shop on the spot.  There is huge value in those discussions, and I highly recommend them.

That’s it from me for now.  If I hear about additional opportunities to learn more about PowerShell while at TechEd I’ll be sure to post them here.

Thanks for listening!

Kirk out.

Earth Day 2011 – PowerGUI® Style!

Kirk MunroLeave a comment

Today is Earth Day 2011, and you can celebrate your green side in style with the latest PowerGUI® wallpaper.  As an ecoholic myself, this wallpaper is definitely among my favorites.

Show your Earth Day pride, and download this beautiful desktop wallpaper today! If it doesn’t suit your style, check out the rest of the desktop wallpaper images we have in the Wallpaper category on PowerGUI.org.  There are plenty to choose from!

Kirk out.

The 2011 Scripting Games have begun!

Kirk MunroLeave a comment

2011_ScriptGames_GREEN_SPONSOR (2)

Today marks the beginning of Microsoft’s 2011 Scripting Games.  The Scripting Games are a great way to have fun learning more about Windows PowerShell.  There are even great prizes available to be won.  There are 10 events, with a beginner and an advanced category for each event.

To participate, all you have to do is:

  1. Familiarize yourself with the information on the 2011 Scripting Games page.
  2. Register by signing in to the 2011 Scripting Games page on PoshCode.org.
  3. Keep your eye on the Hey, Scripting Guy! blog to see when new events are posted (both the beginner and advanced Event 1 details are available now!).
  4. Publish solutions to any events you decide to do on the PoshCode.org contribute page.

That’s pretty much all there is to it.  You can participate in both the beginner and the advanced categories, or you can spend all of your time focused on one category.  You can enter solutions for all events in a category, or you can cherry pick the events you have time for and enter only those.  You can start today with the first event, or join in later once the competition is already underway.  There are really no limitations on how much or how little that you have to participate in the Scripting Games.  Some prizes are available for the highest ranking participant, but others can be won simply by participating in a single event, so throw your hat into the ring and learn more about PowerShell while having fun and you might even win something.

Quest Software is an official sponsor of the Scripting Games again this year, and we have contributed many licenses of PowerGUI® Pro to the pool of prizes to be won.  If you’d like a chance to win one of the licenses that are available, all you have to do is participate in the Scripting Games by entering at least one event.  The more events you participate in the more you will increase your chances of winning.  Participating is easy, so you really should consider taking the time to give it a try…you just might learn something.

Good luck!

Kirk out.

Happy 4th Birthday PowerGUI®!

Kirk MunroLeave a comment

Today is PowerGUI’s 4th birthday, and what would a birthday be without cake?  The awesome graphic artists that provide me with all of our fun desktop wallpaper for PowerGUI have done it again with a new desktop wallpaper image to celebrate PowerGUI’s birthday.  You can download it from the downloads page on PowerGUI.org, or you can click on this picture to download a high-resolution version directly:

image

It’s hard to believe it’s been 4 years already since PowerGUI was first made available for download on March 28, 2007.  What an amazing 4 years it has been too! What started out as a free extensible Administrative Console based on Windows PowerShell has grown into an award winning product that also includes a free extensible Script Editor with tons of useful features like Intellisense, syntax highlighting, script snippets, script signing, and many, many more.  There’s even a Pro version called PowerGUI® Pro that adds Version Control, Easy Remote Script Execution, and a component called MobileShell that allows you to perform systems management from your handheld device!

It’s been great fun having a direct hand in helping make this happen, but this product would not be what it is today without the support that we have received from the community!  Your feedback and support through our PowerGUI.org community site, on Twitter, on FaceBook, and blogs and articles around the web has been fantastic and it’s something that I appreciate every single day!  Thank you for helping this product to continue to grow!

I hope you enjoy celebrating PowerGUI’s birthday with us this week with the fantastic wallpaper, and look forward to continuing to watch this product grow for many years to come!

Enjoy!

Kirk out.

Adam Driscoll talks about PowerShell and PowerGUI® on .NET Rocks!

Kirk MunroLeave a comment

Recently Adam Driscoll of PowerGUI VSX fame was a guest on the .NET Rocks! podcast show, chatting with Carl and Richard about his TFS plugin for Android, PowerShell, PowerGUI, and PowerGUI VSX.  Today that show was made available for download, so head on over to the .NET Rocks! page listen to Adam, Carl and Richard in Episode 647 of .NET Rocks!

Enjoy!

Kirk out.

PowerGUI® Spring 2011 Desktop Wallpaper

Kirk MunroLeave a comment

Spring is here already, and even though it doesn’t seem like it’s Spring everywhere just yet (it has been snowing most of the day here in Ottawa), with the change in seasons comes a change in desktop wallpaper.  The Spring 2011 wallpaper for PowerGUI Pro and PowerGUI is now available:

PowerGUI Spring 2011 Wallpaper Thumbnail

To download this wallpaper, simply visit the PowerGUI downloads page and scroll down to see all of the sizes and varieties that are available.  We have Fall wallpaper there as well for our friends in the southern hemisphere.  As always, all of our wallpaper images are stored in the Wallpaper folder on PowerGUI.org, so if you want to use one from a previous year or a different season or holiday, take a look around…there are currently 27 different varieties to choose from.

Enjoy!

Kirk out.

PowerScripting Podcast with Jeffrey Snover and Kenneth Hansen

Kirk MunroLeave a comment

Last week Hal Rottenberg and Jonathan Walz recorded another great episode of the PowerScripting Podcast, this time with Jeffrey Snover and Kenneth Hansen as guests.  Jeffrey and Kenneth talk about PowerShell of course, but also discuss the upcoming PowerShell Deep Dive event.  You can find the link to listen to the podcast along with the show notes here.

This podcast is a great source of PowerShell news and I highly recommend listening to it regularly.  It’s a great way to pass the time during your daily commute to and from work.  There are 141 episodes so far, with tons of great interviews and content, so check out this podcast when you have some time.  It’s definitely worth it.

Enjoy!

Kirk out.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with PowerGUI®!

Kirk MunroLeave a comment

Our creative design team has just provided me with another fun desktop wallpaper to share with you, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.  If shamrocks and gold are your thing this time of year, download the St. Patrick’s Day PowerGUI wallpaper from PowerGUI.org and show your pride!

As usual, it comes in two different flavors: one with the freeware train and one with the PowerGUI Pro train.  Each screenshot has 8 different resolutions available, so pick whichever one suits you best.  I already have the PowerGUI Pro version installed on my laptop.

Enjoy!

Kirk out.

P.S. I can’t help but wonder what the little PowerGUI train had to drink that made gold bubbles come out of his smokestack. Smile

PowerShell Deep Dive Conference: April 17-19, 2011 in Las Vegas

Kirk Munro4 Comments

In case you haven’t heard already, there is a huge opportunity coming up to learn a lot more about PowerShell very quickly and interact directly with dozens of PowerShell experts face to face at the same time.  Next month marks the first ever PowerShell-specific conference, the PowerShell Deep Dive.  This conference will be held in the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada from April 17-19, 2011, and it will be an amazing experience for anyone interested in learning more about PowerShell.  The Deep Dive sessions will all be presented on April 18 and 19, following the welcome reception on the night of April 17.

Don’t be too intimidated by the name “Deep Dive” though.  The sessions will be a deep dive into PowerShell, that’s true, but there is a half-day 300-level Windows PowerShell Pre-Deep Dive Crash Course with Don Jones on April 17, 2011 that can help bring you up to speed if you’re close but not quite there yet.

Also, if you act now by emailing TEC2011@quest.com and sign up before the end of March, your Deep Dive conference fee will only cost you $850 US.  For the depth of knowledge covered and the calibre of the presentations and the attendees who will be attending, this conference is going to be worth every penny.

Speaking of attendees, you really should check out who’s already confirmed they will be attending this event.  Here’s a list of only a few of the speakers and attendees who have signed up so far:

    What’s incredible is that this list is only showing some of the amazing talent that will be at this event.  I would have recommended it as a must-attend event even with only a small fraction of the superstars I have listed above attending, but with this line-up, plus many, many more PowerShell superstars, this is going to be one truly memorable experience.
    I’ll be attending as well of course (I wouldn’t miss it!), and while there I will be presenting a full session on “Managing Hyper-V with PowerShell” and a Deep Dive talk on “Defining domain specific vocabularies using Windows PowerShell” as well.

Have I sold you on the idea yet?  If you want to learn more, head on over to the PowerShell Deep Dive page and read more about the event, or if you’ve already decided send an email to TEC2011@quest.com today to make sure you can take advantage of the $850 US pricing before the end of March!

Hope to see you in Vegas!

Kirk out.