Dmitry Sotnikov’s view on PowerShell, PowerGUI and everything he sees around
“What’s All This Talk about PowerShell Anyway?” which Kirk and I presented at the virtual tradeshow last week was recorded and is available here till January 22, 2010.
So, if you missed the session last week, check it out now (or send the link to anyone you wanted to get introduced to PowerShell.)
Tomorrow (Oct 21) morning Kirk and I will be doing a webcast on PowerShell within the Quest Connect virtual tradeshow:
What’s All This Talk about PowerShell Anyway?
10:00 am BST/5:00 am EDT/2:00 am PDT
Add this Webcast to my CalendarDmitry Sotnikov, PowerShell MVP and Kirk Munro, PowerShell MVP – Quest Software
So what exactly is PowerShell? How does it make life as an Admin easier? Join this session conducted by Quest’s PowerShell MVPs, Dmitry Sotnikov and Kirk Munro, to learn more about PowerShell and see some real life examples of how PowerShell and Quest PowerGUI make managing your Microsoft infrastructure (Active Directory, Exchange, Hyper-V and more) easier!
We will really start with basic overview of what PowerShell is, then compare it to other alternatives such as VBScript, then Kirk will dive into a step-by-step example of automating tasks such as provisioning in Active Directory, and then will answer any questions you might have.
Besides this session the agenda is packed with a lot of useful material on Windows Server 2008 R2, AD, Identity Management, Exchange 2010, Virtualization, Cloud Computing, SharePoint, SQL, Oracle – see full agenda here.
This online show is a great learning alternative if you cannot make it to TechEd Europe this year. It is co-sponsored by Quest, Microsoft, Dell, NetApp, Vizioncore, Scriptlogic, Techrepublic, Oracle Magazine, Redmond Magazine, and The Code Project. The speaker line up is also pretty good. The show last year was a success – see some feedback here – so hopefully this year it will be even better.
Register for the event here and don’t forget to attend our PowerShell session! 
Virtually see you tomorrow!
Session submissions are open for The Experts Conference 2010 and if you have a few advanced (level 300-400) ideas related to directories, identity management, federation, unified communications, or SharePoint – this is your chance to get to the event.
TEC is a joined event that Microsoft and Quest are putting together. It has long been one of my favorite conferences: the level of technical expertese you find at TEC is astonishing. This is the event where you can meet the actual Microsoft product groups and they will discuss their latest and greatest technology in the works as well as collect your feedback on their thoughts for vNext (TEC 2009 in March for example had a few brainstorming sessions on AD post-2008 R2). Sessions from consultants like folks from Oxford Computing nicely add to this real-world experience on getting these cutting edge technologies to work.
All, in all – the best deep technical conference in this area and a great place to present your expertise if you have something to share. See recordings from previous TEC’s here.
Submissions accepted here. Deadline is August 25.
Oh, and obviously TEC 2009 Europe is also coming. Too late to submit a session to this one, but a good event to attend if you can: Berlin, September 14-16, 2009.
If you are attending TechEd in Durban in a couple of weeks make sure you see Nicolas Blank delivering his UNC304 session:
PowerShell and Unified Communications: Taking the Mystery out of AD, Exchange and OCS Management using PowerShell (UNC304)
PowerShell is wonderful – if you know where to start or how to use it! This session will cover how to get started with PowerShell as well as moving into advanced areas of Exchange and OCS management with PowerShell. We will cover common management and migration scenarios where PowerShell can add value, learning how to run “one liners” that can “change the world” as well as using the Power of PowerShell in PowerGUI in order to have the best of both worlds – PowerShell flexibility and GUI management and much much more.
UNC304 | Mon 3 Aug (12:00 – 13:00) | 300 – Advanced| Session Room B1 | Speaker: Nicolas Blank | Breakout Session
Nicolas is an Exchange MVP and Unified Communications guru. He was one of the first guys who started using PowerShell to manage Exchange 2003 back in 2007. This year he is delivering 4 TechEd sessions! Quite an achievement. Congratulations to Nicolas and make sure you see him if you are at the show.
Tags: Conferences, Exchange, OCS, PowerGUI, PowerShell, TechEd
For PowerShell fans who could not make it to the TechEd this year TechEd Online lets you get some of the action from the comfort of you office (or home).
Hal and Kirk sat together and did an online demo of PowerGUI as well as had a general discussion of PowerGUI and PowerShell. Check it out here:
Creating the Customized Administrative Console Using PowerShell: A How-To Guide
(If the link does not work, log into TechEd Online and try the link again.)
Tags: Conferences, Demo, PowerGUI, PowerShell, TechEd, Webcast
Here are the pictures from yesterday’s PowerShell Dinner we had at TechEd (courtesy of Ibrahim). The dinner was a great event with the key members of the Microsoft PowerShell team, PowerShell partners (Compellent, Global Knowledge, /n Software, Quest, Sapien, SpecOps), PowerShellCommunity.org, Scripting Center, and PowerShell MVPs.
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To me, these dinners are a highlight of every major conference and a great place to discuss where PowerShell is going with like-minded geeks. See the whole album here and join us at the next event!
Tags: Conferences, PowerShell, TechEd
The PowerGUI chat marathon has just started so I thought I would post the instructions for those interested.
We are re-using the last year’s Quest Connect conference space so don’t be surprised with everything marked 2008, plenty of recorded sessions (some might be worth checking out), and required registration.
Anyways, here are the steps so you don’t get lost:
1. Go to the Quest Connect site.
2. Register if you have not yet done that or log in if you have.
3. If you want to watch the AD cmdlets & PowerGUI session Darin and I did back in the fall go to Main Hall / Conference Hall / Do not fear the command line…
4. If you want to chat with me (starting in 30 minutes), Kirk (start at 7:30 EST) and Darin (starting 7:30 PST), go to Main Hall / Exhibition Hall / Active Directory, and then click the Booth Chat button:
See you there!
Tags: AD cmdlets, Conferences, PowerGUI, PowerShell, Quest Software
Next Wednesday, March 11 2009, Kirk, Darin and myself will host a live chat on PowerGUI present and futures at the Quest Connect site.
To make sure that you can reach us regardless of your location we will be there for 7 hours! (Obviously in some kind of shifts )
| Timezone | Start | Finish |
| GMT | 9 am | 6 pm |
| EST | 5 am | 2 pm |
| PST | 2 am | 11 am |
The Quest Connect site was used a few months ago for a Quest/Microsoft virtual event. Now, it turned out that the conference site is still available and we can use the AD “virtual booth” of the site for a chat like that.
So here’s the deal:
“Talk” to you then! 
Here’s my attempt to collect information on the PowerShell sessions and labs for the upcoming VMworld Europe 2009.
So far I found 3 PowerShell sessions, a lab, and an expert in the VMTN lounge:
That’s 4 times the presence PowerShell had at VMworld US – quite some progress here!
The 3rd one (Avoiding Pitfalls) is going to be by Scott Herold from www.vmguru.com – he promised a lot of good PowerShell content there.
My advice: after the session ends track Scott down to his Vizioncore booth, make sure that no one is around, and ask him about his new project based on PowerGUI. I don’t think he will talk about it publicly but the project is pretty cool.
Anyways, here are the abstracts for the sessions – make sure you attend them and enjoy the show!
TA01 Managing VMware With PowerShell
Are you vexed by VMs? Drowning in datastores? Scared of snapshots? Do you ever feel like your Virtual Infrastructure is out of control and nothing can help?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ve got a problem that only automation can solve and VMware’s free VI Toolkit (for Windows) is the best tool for the job. In this session, learn how the VI Toolkit’s powerful commands and strong community will help you get your Virtual Infrastructure under control in virtually no time.
Speakers:
* Andrey Anastasov MTS, VMware, Inc.
* Carter Shanklin Product Manager, VMwareTA02 Unattended Deployment of VMware Infrastructure 3
An unattended deployment of VMware infrastructure 3 reduces the time needed for installation and configuration of your VMware ESX and vCenter server(s). It also reduces the risk misconfiguration. Unattended deployment of these products will gain you a consistent configuration.
At Xpert Training Group, an indepedent VMware Authorized Training Centre from The Netherlands, unattended deployments of VI-3 are used on a regular basis. In this session you will learn
how to automatically deploy your ESX servers and how to connect these fresh installed ESX servers to a vCenter server.After the introduction of a step-by-step plan for unattended deployment, this session will focus on some useful scripting techniques used in
a unattended deployment scenario. Expect some bash and powershell scripting in this session.Speakers:
* Frederik Vos Technical trainer, Xpert Training Group
* Viktor van den Berg Product Manager / Technical Trainer, Xpert Training GroupAvoiding Pitfalls: The Hidden Costs of Managing your VMware Infrastructure
Server virtualization has brought significant efficiencies to IT operations, but at the cost of new challenges in monitoring the health of running virtual machines, analyzing data, alerting staff in case of a problem, and performing administrative tasks. These challenges are growing as virtualization takes an increasingly central role in IT. System administrators are investing more time and effort into ensuring the proper operation and health of VMs, yet lack tools comparable to those available for physical servers. Join Scott Herold, Lead Architect for Virtualization Solutions, at Quest Software who reveals how the growing complexity and lack of resources necessitate changing the way IT operations are commonly performed. Key takeaways include:
* Understanding server workloads and better identifying virtualization candidates
* Addressing the challenges of monitoring the virtual infrastructure
* Reduce internal fire-fighting by adopting more mature operational processes
* Prioritizing issues based on the impact to the business and on end users
* Reducing administration costs through proactive management and automationSpeaker:
* Scott Herold, Lead Architect – Virtualization Business :: Quest Software
Tags: Conferences, PowerGUI, PowerShell, VMworld, Virtualization
Darren’s “Automating Group Policy Management” session from DEC 2008 got posted on YouTube:
In the session Darren shows both VBScript and PowerShell ways of managing Group Policy – and he is using currently available APIs (including the free GPO cmdlets that his SDM Software produced) – so you don’t have to wait for Windows Server 2008 R2 to start using Darren’s scripts. Check it out!
P.S. Quite a few sessions from DEC 2008 got posted recently – check them all out here.
As I mentioned, TEC 2009 (they renamed it to TEC – The Experts Conference because of the Exchange track added) is going to have a lot more PowerShell and huge amount of new information on the latest directory, identity management, messaging, and cloud-related technologies from Microsoft. I myself has already registered for the event so hopefully will see you there.
Tags: Conferences, Directory Experts Conference, GPO, PowerShell, VBScript, Webcast, DEC
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