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See you next year

PowerShell Weekly will be taking it’s annual holiday break and will be back on January 5, 2024. Be sure to check out my PowerShell Year in Review on the main site for a recap of PowerShell in 2023 as well as some fun stats about the content of PowerShell Weekly for the past 12 months.

Have a wonderful holiday and I’ll see you all again in January.

December 15, 2023

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

Automating cleanup Entra Joined AVD hosts (nielskok.tech)
This post is about automating the cleanup for Entra Joined Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) hosts.
By: Niels Kok submitted:Dec 15 2023

Entra ID Improves Registered App Security (office365itpros.com)
The preview app instance property lock feature designed to improve the security of Entra ID

registered apps is becoming the default for new apps. In this article, we describe how to update the app instance property lock to reflect the new default setting using cmdlets from the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, including a script you can download and run.

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By: Tony Redmond submitted:Dec 15 2023

Exchange Online: How to set Junk Settings for Shared Mailboxes (sid-500.com)
When working with shared mailboxes, there is a problem: the user connected to this mailbox cannot

configure the Junk Mail Settings for this shared mailbox in Outlook itself.

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By: Patrick Gruenauer submitted:Dec 15 2023

Microsoft Graph API Endpoint Adds Last Successful Sign-In Date Time (thelazyadministrator.com)
Previously, if you wanted to find a user's last successful sign-in to your Microsoft 365 tenant

using the Microsoft Graph REST API, you would have to iterate through Entra ID sign-in logs. With new recent additions to the Microsoft Graph API Beta Endpoint, you can now return the UTC value just by parsing the user details and properties. The Microsoft documentation regarding the signInActivity resource type can be found here.

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By: Brad Wyatt submitted:Dec 15 2023

Microsoft Intune PowerShell Additional Requirement Rules (powershellisfun.com)
In my last blog post, I showed you how to use Detection scripts in Intune. In this blog post, I will

show you how the additional requirement rules work and how you can use PowerShell for those.

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By: Harm Veenstra submitted:Dec 15 2023

Powershell Global Variable: Mastering Scope and Usage with Examples (spguides.com)
PowerShell global variables are an essential aspect of scripting in Windows PowerShell. They offer a

way to store and manipulate data across functions, scripts, and cmdlets. In this tutorial, I will explain to you how to define, set, and use global variable in PowerShell.

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By: Bijay Kumar submitted:Dec 15 2023

Recurring PowerShell Update Issue Easily Fixed – Ed Tittel (edtittel.com)
Deja vu! With the introduction of version 7.4.0, MS once again changed the PowerShell (PS)

installer. That means Winget won't update PS directly; one must visit the GitHub PS page and grab a new installer from there. Afterward, as shown in the lead-in graphic, old(er) version(s) of PS still show up when WinGet upgrade is ... Continue reading Recurring PowerShell Update Issue Easily Fixed ?

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By: Ed Tittel submitted:Dec 15 2023

Send Telegram Messages from a PowerShell Script (woshub.com)
You can use your Telegram messenger as a notification tool to get instant reports on various

infrastructure events, script execution results, or scheduler tasks. This article shows you how to...

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By: Windows OS Hub submitted:Dec 15 2023

Using GitHub Copilot to Upgrade PowerShell Scripts to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK (practical365.com)
In this blog, Andy Scheider deep dives into GitHub Copilot and how it can be used to upgrade

PowerShell Scripts to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK.

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By: Andy Schneider submitted:Dec 15 2023

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

Credential Harvesting with PowerShell and SpecterInsight (practicalsecurityanalytics.com)
Credential harvesting, also known as credential theft or credential stealing, refers to the

collection sensitive authentication information from individuals or systems. The goal of credential harvesting is to obtain usernames, passwords, or other authentication tokens that allow access to protected resources. This post will cover a variety of different credential harvesting techniques, how to leverage those techniques using SpecterInsight, and how to view the data in Kibana.

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By: PracSec submitted:Dec 15 2023

PSEtw (github.com)
PowerShell module for capturing ETW events in realtime. Currently this supports Manifest and Trace

Logging ETW providers

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By: Jordan Borean submitted:Dec 15 2023

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

GitHub – wgross/ps-module-to-module-call: Example for showing propagation of Debug/Verbose between PS Script modules (github.com)
Example for showing propagation of Debug/Verbose between PS Script modules - GitHub -

wgross/ps-module-to-module-call: Example for showing propagation of Debug/Verbose between PS Script modules

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By: W.Gross submitted:Dec 15 2023

Intro to REST API calls with Powershell (youtube.com)
Making a REST API call with no Auth Token
By: Code Doge submitted:Dec 15 2023

Mastering Microsoft 365 PowerShell Scripting (practical365.com)
A common question at conferences is how to start with Microsoft 365 PowerShell scripting. We all

have our own approach. This article lays out a simple three-step method to write scripts to interact with Microsoft 365 objects.

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By: Tony Redmond submitted:Dec 15 2023

Community

Code in Action: Embracing Hands-On Learning with Jeff Hicks (powershellpodcast.podbean.com)
In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, guest Jeff Hicks leads a dynamic discussion on the power

of hands-on learning with PowerShell and the numerous benefits of learning by doing. Jeff challenges the community with a scripting challenge, encouraging active participation. The episode also features a showcase of some outstanding community blogs, including topics like PowerShell performance testing, web scraping, and module development. Jeff shares insights into his own remarkable modules, and the hosts delve into noteworthy community projects. Don't miss Jeff's scripting challenge and be sure to check out the community blogs and links discussed in this episode!

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By: The Powershell Podcast submitted:Dec 15 2023

Fun

Good practice questions for Powershell? (reddit.com)
I have few as a suggestions here, but i needed better suggestions from this forum as always, please

help..

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By: u/yashaswiu submitted:Dec 15 2023

Upcoming Events

PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit (powershellsummit.org)
April 8-11, 2024 - Bellevue, WA
By: The DevOps Collective submitted:Dec 15 2023

Do you have a suggestion for PowerShell Weekly? Do you know something that should be included? Let me know in the comments below, or on
twitter.

December 8, 2023

Announcements!

Long time PowerShell contributor Sean Kearney needs some help (gofundme.com)
One of the founding fathers of the PowerShell community, the man once dubbed The Honorary Scripting Guy, Sean Kearney, has fallen on some hard times and can use all the help and support he can get.
By: The PowerShell Community submitted:Dec 8 2023

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

Azure Arc Setup on Windows Server (thomasmaurer.ch)
With Windows Server 2022 and later you now get the Azure Arc Setup integrated on your Windows

Server. This allows you to onboard your Windows Server through a graphical wizard. With the wizard, you can easily onboard your Windows Server machine to Azure Arc. The wizard takes care of the following steps for you: verifying ...

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By: Thomas Maurer submitted:Dec 8 2023

Azure Bastion: Enable Azure Bastion Standard SKU features with Azure PowerShell (wmatthyssen.com)
In this blog post, you'll learn how to use an Azure PowerShell script to enable all Azure Bastion

Standard SKU.

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By: Wim Matthyssen submitted:Dec 8 2023

Azure Functions, PowerApps and Exchange Online (ingogegenwarth.wordpress.com)
Lately we were approached by different teams to help with some scenarios. These scenarios were a bit

tricky and complex as there is currently no solution out-of-the-box. Here some examples:

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By: Ingo Gegenwarth submitted:Dec 8 2023

Entra ID Captures Timestamp for Last Successful Sign In for User Accounts (office365itpros.com)
Entra ID captures the lastSuccessfulSignInDateTime property to record the last successful sign-in

action against user accounts. The new property is available through the Graph beta endpoint. Quite a difference can exist between the last successful sign in and the last sign in, as explored in this article.

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By: Tony Redmond submitted:Dec 8 2023

How to Export MS Teams Chat History with PowerShell (woshub.com)
In this article, we'll look at how to access and export the history of Microsoft Teams chat

conversations using PowerShell.

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By: Windows OS Hub submitted:Dec 8 2023

Mastering PowerShell Graph API: Easy-to-Follow Insights (adamtheautomator.com)
Master the PowerShell Graph API with our concise guide. Learn to access, read, and manage data

effortlessly, enhancing your API skills quickly and efficiently.

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By: Alex Asplund submitted:Dec 8 2023

PowerShell get file size (spguides.com)
Do you want to check file size in PowerShell? In this PowerShell tutorial, I will explain everything

about PowerShell get file size with various methods and examples. To check the file size using PowerShell, you can use the Get-Item command followed by the .Length property.

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By: Bijay Kumar submitted:Dec 8 2023

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

PoshCVE (github.com)
A PowerShell module for querying the National Vulnerability Database. Search for CVEs by ID, vendor,

product, and more.

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By: Dan Gough submitted:Dec 8 2023

PowerCLI script to check Cluster Overcommitment ratio (powershell.ro)
Efficient resource utilization is a key factor in maintaining a healthy VMware vSphere environment.

As virtualization environments grow, it becomes crucial to monitor and optimize resource allocation to prevent overcommitment, ensuring the smooth operation of virtual machines. In this blog post, we'll explore a PowerCLI script designed to check the Cluster Overcommitment Ratio

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By: Catalin Cristescu submitted:Dec 8 2023

Community

Breaking Down Barriers in PowerShell and Management with Kevin Cefalu (powershellpodcast.podbean.com)
In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, we engage in a dynamic discussion with Kevin Cefalu.

Kevin shares managerial insights, valuable lessons from the Summit, and the workings of Azure Durable Functions. The conversation shifts to the power of Pair Programming and Call for Presentations (CFP) and how this involved Andrew. We explore the usage of the .vscode folder and Plaster for workspace customization and conclude with Kevin's intriguing thoughts on AI applications. A powerful blend of knowledge, experience, and technology.

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By: The Powershell Podcast submitted:Dec 8 2023

Fun

fish shell (fishshell.com)
Billed as a command line shell for the 90s
By: fish shell submitted:Dec 8 2023

Do you have a suggestion for PowerShell Weekly? Do you know something that should be included? Let me know in the comments below, or on
twitter.

December 1, 2023

Announcements!

PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit Early Bird Tickets Now on Sale (powershell.org)
Unlock Your PowerShell Potential: PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit Tickets Now on Sale! Are you

ready to elevate your PowerShell and DevOps skills to new heights? The wait is over!

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By: James Petty submitted:Dec 1 2023

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

Ask Jeff November 2023 (jeffhicks.substack.com)
I am amazed at how quickly the year is flying by, and there is so much left on my to-do list for

2023. I guess we'd better get right to the monthly wrap-up.

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By: Jeff Hicks submitted:Dec 1 2023

Automate Text Summarization with OpenAI and PowerShell (devblogs.microsoft.com)
This easy-to-follow guide shows you how to use PowerShell to summarize text using OpenAI's GPT-3.5

API.

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By: Piyush Tripathi submitted:Dec 1 2023

Generating PowerShell module documentation with platyPS (mikefrobbins.com)
Creating accurate and efficient documentation is paramount in technical writing, especially for

PowerShell modules. platyPS, an open-source module, emerged as a solution for generating Markdown-based reference content for PowerShell modules. This article provides a comprehensive guide for using platyPS to create and maintain high-quality reference documentation for your PowerShell module, enhancing the experience for both module authors and users.

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By: Mike F Robbins submitted:Dec 1 2023

Getting Download Links from Webpages using PowerShell (blog.griff.systems)
Introduction I recently had the need to update the Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server on a

collection of Windows servers.

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By: Griff submitted:Dec 1 2023

Microsoft Intune PowerShell Detection scripts (powershellisfun.com)
When I deploy Win32 packages in Intune, I use PowerShell detection scripts to detect if the software

is installed on a system. In the blog post, I will show you how they work and why they are more flexible than file and registry checks. What are detection scripts in Intune?

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By: Harm Veenstra submitted:Dec 1 2023

PowerShell Perfomance-Test: Get the Maximum (devdojo.com)
Efficiency is key when working with PowerShell, and maximizing performance is a common goal for

script developers. In this post, we'll explore various techniques for retrieving the maximum number from arrays of different sizes, comparing well-known approaches like Measure-Object, Sort-Object and a more mathematical method.

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By: Christian Ritter submitted:Dec 1 2023

Reporting User and Group Assignments for Enterprise Applications (office365itpros.com)
A reader asked how to report user and group assignments for enterprise apps. As it turns out, this

isn't particularly difficult, if you know where to look. Our script uses the Graph SDK to check service principals, filters out the apps to check, and extracts the user and group assignments before reporting what it finds.

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By: Tony Redmond submitted:Dec 1 2023

Streamlining Security: Converting CRT Certificates to PEM (adamtheautomator.com)
Dive in and learn how to use and to convert CRT certificates to PEM via PowerShell scripts in this

ATA Learning tutorial!

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By: Arman Castillote submitted:Dec 1 2023

Terminal Chat in Windows Terminal Canary (devblogs.microsoft.com)
At Build 2023, we announced that Windows Terminal users will be able to take advantage of natural

language AI to recommend commands, explain errors and take actions within Windows Terminal. Since then, we have been listening to customer feedback and iterating on our AI chat experiments in Windows Terminal.

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By: Christopher Nguyen submitted:Dec 1 2023

Using a specific PowerShell profile for a Console session, Windows Terminal, PowerShell ISE, or Visual Studio Code (powershellisfun.com)
I ran into this somewhere during this week. I wanted to have different PowerShell profiles for other

applications. (I don't need all my functions and scripts being loaded in every PowerShell session or by a Scheduled Task) In this blog post, I will show you how to change your PowerShell profiles and make them specific for an application.

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By: Harm Veenstra submitted:Dec 1 2023

Using PowerShell and Twilio API for Efficient Communication in Contact Tracing (devblogs.microsoft.com)
Learn to integrate PowerShell with Twilio API and streamline communication for COVID-19 contact

tracing initiatives.

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By: Piyush Tripathi submitted:Dec 1 2023

Where the heck is the PowerShell Module loading from? (blog.darrenjrobinson.com)
If you're anything like me you always have PowerShell open, and often both PowerShell and Windows

PowerShell. And PowerShell in VSCode and Terminal (and sometimes Jupyter Notebook, and WSL - Windows Subsystem for Linux).

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By: Darren Robinson submitted:Dec 1 2023

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

PowerShell-ALC (github.com)
Example ALC structures to use with in a PowerShell module - GitHub - jborean93/PowerShell-ALC:

Example ALC structures to use with in a PowerShell module

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By: Jordan Borean submitted:Dec 1 2023

Wingetposh v1.0.1 (github.com)
Winget helper written in Powershel
By: yves848 submitted:Dec 1 2023

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

AI-Powered Coding: Unleashing Data and SQL Mastery with GPT Function Calling (youtube.com)
Experience the synergy of AI and coding - tune in to see how GPT Function Calling transforms

external tools and database management with Doug Finke on the Microsoft VS Code Livestream.

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By: Doug Finke submitted:Dec 1 2023

Community

In Code We Trust: Being Thankful for PowerShell (powershellpodcast.podbean.com)
In this special gratitude-filled episode of the PowerShell Podcast, we take time to appreciate the

wonderful world of PowerShell - where tech and community coalesce. We highlight some splendid community projects, highlighting their large impacts and innovative approaches. As we recall our podcast journey, we revel in a nostalgic look back while also envisioning a powerful future. From personal anecdotes revealing how PowerShell has shaped our tech lives to a thought-provoking expose on error handling, the episode is a wholesome tableau of learning, reflection, and connection. It's a delightful mix of the cerebral and the personal - with plenty to be thankful for!

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By: The Powershell Podcast submitted:Dec 1 2023

OnRamp2024 Program Unveiled (powershell.org)
The PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit proudly announces the OnRamp Program for 2024 to foster

inclusivity and provide opportunities for aspiring IT professionals.

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By: James Petty submitted:Dec 1 2023

PowerShell Pulse: Monthly Tech Talks & Community Showcase (meetup.com)
Welcome to PowerShell Pulse, a monthly virtual gathering that brings the vibrancy and innovation of

the PowerShell community right to your screen! Call for speakers now open.

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By: Doug Finke submitted:Dec 1 2023

PowerShell Summit & More: A Chat with James Petty (powershellpodcast.podbean.com)
In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, we were joined by Microsoft MVP and PowerShell.org CEO

James Petty. We dove into the core of what PowerShell.org brings to the community and James' instrumental role in driving this platform forward. James shared insightful details about the future of the eagerly awaited PowerShell Summit, highlighting the significant and welcome changes in store for next year. The conversation also hailed his latest literary creation, 'Learn PowerShell Scripting in a Month of Lunches,' as we explored the evolution in content and approach compared to its predecessor. Adding to this rich mix were James' anecdotes from his time as a professor teaching PowerShell at a college, providing a truly riveting podcast that celebrates the wide-reaching influence of PowerShell.

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By: The Powershell Podcast submitted:Dec 1 2023

Fun

Automating life tasks (reddit.com)
Been automating a lot of my task at work away with powershell. What are some things in your daily

life that you could use powershell to automate away?

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By: u/wrestler0609 submitted:Dec 1 2023

Let’s have a look at what commands we use (gist.github.com)
Let's have a look at what commands we use. GitHub Gist: instantly share code, notes, and snippets.
By: Joel Bennett submitted:Dec 1 2023

Upcoming Events

Advent of Code 2023 (adventofcode.com)
Today is the first day!
By: Advent of Code submitted:Dec 1 2023

Do you have a suggestion for PowerShell Weekly? Do you know something that should be included? Let me know in the comments below, or on
twitter.

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