DOWST.DEV

May 31, 2024

Announcements!

Celebrate the life of VBScript (oofhours.com)
Microsoft announced more of the timeline for VBScript this past week: Windows 11 24H2 makes it a

removable "feature on demand" (FOD), and sometime in 2027 is expected to be turned off

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By: Michael Niehaus submitted:May 31 2024

v7.5.0-preview.3 Release of PowerShell (github.com)
Come see what's new and upcoming in PowerShell 7.5
By: PowerShell submitted:May 31 2024

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

A simple PowerShell script template I use when creating new scripts (blog.danskingdom.com)
I spin up new PowerShell scripts all the time, whether just for quickly experimenting and testing

things out, or for projects that I know will be around for a while. There's a few basic things that I like all my scripts to have, so I've created a simple template that I use when creating new scripts.

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By: Dan Schroeder submitted:May 31 2024

Deploy Windows 11 with the free PowerShell framework OSDCloud (4sysops.com)
OSDCloud is a free PowerShell framework for deploying Windows 10 and Windows 11. The tool provides

simple methods for adding drivers and configuring settings in an image. After booting from a customized WinPE, either the OSDCloudGUI or an automated script initiates the installation.

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By: Wolfgang Sommergut submitted:May 31 2024

PowerShell Tool-Building 101: Building a Computer Inventory Report (adamtheautomator.com)
Join me on an exciting journey as we build a powerful PowerShell tool for generating computer

inventory reports! From CSV files to CIM queries and error handling, we'll walk you through each step as we go. Let's script our way to success!

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By: Adam Bertram submitted:May 31 2024

Practical PowerShell Series: Part 4 Branching (practical365.com)
In my previous article in the Practical PowerShell series, I discussed looping as part of flow

control. In this article, I cover another essential part of flow control: branching. Branching defines multiple paths for your code to follow, depending on conditions.

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By: Michel de Rooij submitted:May 31 2024

Querying DNS Records with PowerShell (techielass.com)
In this blog post explore how you can use PowerShell to query DNS records.
By: Sarah Lean submitted:May 31 2024

Working with Teams Messaging Using the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK (practical365.com)
This article describes how to use the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK to interact with Teams

messaging to create new one-to-one and group chats and post messages to chats and channel conversations.

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By: Tony Redmond submitted:May 31 2024

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

DependencySearch v 1.1.7 (powershellgallery.com)
Module contains functions that allows you to check for PowerShell code/script/module dependencies

through static code analysis (AST).

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By: Ondrej Sebela submitted:May 31 2024

MSIdentityTools PowerShell Module 2.0.58 released (blog.icewolf.ch)
Just a few Hours ago, Microsoft has released a new Version of MSIdentityTools PowerShell Module
By: Andres Bohren submitted:May 31 2024

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

Frontend PowerShell with Google Forms: Part 2 Replying with Gmail (youtube.com)
[OC] Learn how to integrate Gmail into your scripts to send automated email responses. You'll also

learn how to make your automations more flexible by accounting for things like hitting grid limits in Google Sheets.

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By: Matthew Dowst submitted:May 31 2024

PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking (jdhitsolutions.com)
Several years ago Don Jones and I wrote what we hoped would be the definitive book on PowerShell

scripting and toolmaking. The book takes all off our years of experience, not only from writing PowerShell code, to teaching and conference presentations where we hear first hand what people struggle with.

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By: Jeffery Hicks submitted:May 31 2024

Community

Inside IT Automation | E04 | Erwin van Hunen talks about PnP PowerShell, MS Graph, music and more (youtube.com)
Erwin is the 'Father' of PnP PowerShell, an open source PowerShell module that is used millions of

times everyday worldwide to perform automated tasks towards Office 365 and SharePoint. He is also a Microsoft MVP and well-known public speaker, and technology evangelist. As Chief Technolgy Officer he shapped products and services at Valo, Staffbase and Rencore. Currently he is Head of Product at MondayCoffee.

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By: ScriptRunner submitted:May 31 2024

PowerShell on Linux and Beyond with Steven Judd (powershellpodcast.podbean.com)
In this celebration-themed episode of the PowerShell Podcast, Steven Judd makes his long-awaited

return. We announce the first PowerShell Podcast MVP winner. We share tips about regex and URL encoding and dive deep into PowerShell on Linux, CloudShell, and becoming a lifelong learner. All this and more!

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By: The Powershell Podcast submitted:May 31 2024

Upcoming Events

DFWSMUG MMS Review and National Peanut Butter Cookie Day – June Meetup (mailchi.mp)
June 12th 2024 at Microsoft MTC in Las Colinas. In-person only event.
By: DFWSMUG submitted:May 31 2024

PowerShell Conference Europe (psconf.eu)
June 24th - 27th 2024 - Hilton Old Town - Antwerp, Belgium
By: PSConfEU submitted:Jan 19 2024

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 find me on your preferred social media.

May 24, 2024

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

A Powershell GUI using DotNet Windows.Forms to start AWS Lambda Functions and display their output (gist.github.com)
A Powershell GUI using DotNet Windows.Forms to start AWS Lambda Functions and display their output -

powershell-gui-aws-lambda-start-functions.ps1

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By: Anor E. Feldstraw submitted:May 24 2024

Automating PowerShell tasks with Container App Jobs (jannemattila.com)
I previously wrote about Automating maintenance tasks with Azure Functions and PowerShell. That

combo has been my go-to solution for many automation tasks.

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By: Janne Mattila submitted:May 24 2024

Find the Teams Meetings Attended by a Specific User Using PowerShell (o365reports.com)
Ever wondered how much time your team members spend in Teams meetings? Or perhaps you're tasked with

analyzing an individual's meeting activity within Teams. Look no further! In this blog, we'll explore the methods to obtain user-specific Teams meeting reports. Here, we'll also introduce a crafted PowerShell script that simplifies the process...

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By: Praba submitted:May 24 2024

Parameters for PowerShell Scripts and Functions (powershellisfun.com)
Using parameters for your Scripts and Functions is very powerful. You don't have to hardcode things

in them, making running them from a command line easier. This blog post will show you the parameters I use in most of my scripts and how they work.

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By: Harm Veenstra submitted:May 24 2024

Remove store apps from a Windows image (4sysops.com)
In professional environments, most store apps delivered with Windows are of little value, prompting

admins to remove them from the image before deployment. However, you should avoid indiscriminately deleting them, as some system-relevant apps may be among them. PowerShell can be used to remove the crapware selectively.

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By: Wolfgang Sommergut submitted:May 24 2024

Upload a PowerShell Script to Intune (With PowerShell) From Scratch (adamtheautomator.com)
Automate deploying PowerShell scripts to Intune devices with Azure app registration, Graph API, and

more in this step-by-step tutorial.

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By: Adam Bertram submitted:May 24 2024

Use the Azure OpenAI GPT-4o (all-in-one-model) with PowerShell! (alexholmeset.blog)
On May 13th GPT-4o was released in preview in the Azure OpenAI Playground. No API access, only

accessible in the browser. Today I was going into the playground to test something with the GPT-4o model, but could not find it. What had happened? Turnes out it suddenly was in GA and available to choose under ... Continue reading Use the Azure OpenAI GPT-4o (all-in-one-model) with PowerShell!

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By: Alexander Holmeset submitted:May 24 2024

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

dbatools.ai v 1.0 (powershellgallery.com)
dbatools.ai is a copilot for SQL Server databases
By: Chrissy LeMaire submitted:May 24 2024

Keep Microsoft Teams status Available instead of away using PowerShell (powershellisfun.com)
It is one of the things I hear my colleagues, and even my girlfriend, mention regularly... Why does

Microsoft Teams think I'm away while I'm not / My PC isn't locked yet... I read a few solutions, setting your status duration to a date in the future, etc... Didn't work 🙁 What does work is running my simple PowerShell scripts, which I will show you in this blog post 🙂

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By: Harm Veenstra submitted:May 24 2024

Posh-ACME v 4.23.1 (powershellgallery.com)
ACME protocol client for obtaining certificates using Let's Encrypt (or other ACME compliant CA)
By: Ryan Bolger submitted:May 24 2024

ps-arch-wsl v 0.1.1 (powershellgallery.com)
Install Arch Linux on Windows the easy way.
By: Scott McKendry submitted:May 24 2024

WinGet.CommandNotFound (devblogs.microsoft.com)
We are pleased to announce the release of WinGet.CommandNotFound! This PowerShell module is a

feedback provider plugin for PowerShell that leverages the Windows Package Manager to provide suggestions for packages to install when a native command cannot be found. The command-line predictor feature in PowerShell enables this module to display WinGet packages as predictive suggestions.

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By: Christopher Nguyen submitted:May 24 2024

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

Frontend PowerShell with Google Forms: Part 1 Getting your data (youtube.com)
[OC] Learn how to get data from a Google Form into PowerShell, by building a repeatable and reusable

automation you can use to with any form.

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By: Matthew Dowst submitted:May 24 2024

The PowerShell Practice Primer (leanpub.com)
A collection of over 100 PowerShell learning exercises targeted for beginners developed by

PowerShell MVP and veteran teacher Jeff Hicks.

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By: Jeff Hicks submitted:May 24 2024

Community

PowerShell on the road at MMS-MOA with Sven De Groote and Chris Thomas (powershellpodcast.podbean.com)
On this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, Andrew is back on the road, attending the MMS 2024 at MOA

conference. Andrew catches up with Sven De Groote and Chris Thomas. Andrew and Sven take a dive into the PSAppDeployToolkit. Later in the episode, Andrew and Chris chat about PSADT, Chris' PowerShell journey, his talk at MMS-MOA, and more.

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By: The Powershell Podcast submitted:May 24 2024

Upcoming Events

PowerShell Conference Europe (psconf.eu)
June 24th - 27th 2024 - Hilton Old Town - Antwerp, Belgium
By: PSConfEU submitted:Jan 19 2024

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 find me on your preferred social media.

May 17, 2024

Announcements!

PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit 2024 (youtube.com)
Come check out all of the recorded sessions from this years summit.
By: PowerShell.org submitted:May 17 2024

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

Check Windows 11 Hardware Readiness with PowerShell Script (woshub.com)
In this article, we'll look at how to use the official Microsoft HardwareReadiness.ps1 PowerShell

script to perform a bulk Windows 11 hardware compatibility check on domain computers.

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By: Windows OS Hub submitted:May 17 2024

Configure ‘Allow logon locally’ automatically using PowerShell and Microsoft Intune (imab.dk)
I know Microsoft Intune has the ability to configure this particular user rights assignment natively

already. At time of writing, the new security baseline for Windows 11 23H2 in Intune configure this as well, restricting local logons to the built-in groups: Users and Administrators. This solution does something else. This solution grabs the currently logged on user and configures the 'Allow logon locally' policy to ONLY allow this very user as well as Administrators to be able to log on locally.

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By: Martin Bengtsson submitted:May 17 2024

Deprecated PowerShell Modules and Azure AD Graph retirement (powershellisfun.com)
You created a script or function a while back that people in the company use a lot, and suddenly...

They come to you telling you that it doesn't work anymore. 🙁 The module you used has become deprecated, cmdlets don't all work anymore, etc. In this blog post, I will show the three most prominent modules that have become deprecated and where you can find good information about the successor to adjust your scripts.

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By: Harm Veenstra submitted:May 17 2024

Hyper-V: Enabling VM Resource Metering (sid-500.com)
It is a good idea to monitor your Hyper-V VMs to get an overview of where resources are being

consumed.

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By: Patrick Gruenauer submitted:May 17 2024

PowerShell Basics: Navigating CSV Files (adamtheautomator.com)
In this tutorial, we're diving into the essentials of handling CSV files using PowerShell, covering

a variety of scenarios you might encounter in the real world. This guide will help sysadmins and IT professionals manage data effectively, demonstrating the power and flexibility of PowerShell in working with different types of CSV files.

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By: Adam Bertram submitted:May 17 2024

PowerShell Testing Mastery with Data-Driven Pester (adamtheautomator.com)
I've been using Pester for a long time off and on. I've always been obsessed with ensuring

reliability in my PowerShell code. After writing the Pester Book and mentioning some of the methodologies I used with Pester v4 I'll present in this blog post, I've since learned Pester v5 makes my work so much easier.

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By: Adam Bertram submitted:May 17 2024

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

Detecting Windows Terminal with PowerShell (mikefrobbins.com)
In the evolving landscape of software development and system administration, understanding your

environment is essential for ensuring that scripts and commands run as expected. One useful PowerShell function that helps identify whether a script is running within Windows Terminal is my Test-IsWindowsTerminal function. This function is valuable for developers and system administrators who must tailor their scripts based on the terminal environment.

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By: Mike F Robbins submitted:May 17 2024

Find your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses (yobyot.com)
A PowerShell function to display the current IPv4 and IPv6 addresses of the machine. Useful to

include in $PROFILE

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By: Alex Neihaus submitted:May 17 2024

PowerShell Script to Check Active Directory Member Servers for Automatic Services’ Status (techbloggingfool.com)
I've been caught by an automatic service not starting after system reboots from things like

patching.

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By: Kevin Trent submitted:May 17 2024

Community

For the love of PowerShell and Curling with Frank Lesniak (powershellpodcast.podbean.com)
In this special MMSMOA episode of the PowerShell Podcast, Andrew is joined by Frank Lesniak. We

touch base after PowerShell Summit, hear about tracking airplanes with ADS-B and raspberry pi's. Frank talks about classes and how they almost caused him to fall out of love with PowerShell. We also recount what most be the most brutal display of athleticism, curling.

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By: The Powershell Podcast submitted:May 17 2024

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 find me on your preferred social media.

May 10, 2024

Announcements!

Windows Terminal Preview 1.21 Release (devblogs.microsoft.com)
Windows Terminal is back with another preview release! Windows Terminal Preview 1.21 introduces

long-awaited features like Buffer Restore and fontfall back as well as new experimental features like Scratchpad and the ability to load up an image as a texture. There's also a LOT MORE stuff so check out the rest of this blog post to learn more!

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By: Microsoft submitted:May 10 2024

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

Finding the specific day of the month with PowerShell (claytonerrington.com)
Advanced usage of PowerShell's Get-Date function for finding dates
By: Clayton Errington submitted:May 10 2024

Get-FileHash of 100G files (reddit.com)
An interesting thread on reading file hashes.
By: r/PowerShell submitted:May 10 2024

More Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK Problems (office365itpros.com)
Some problems emerged in V2.17 and V2.18 of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. In one case,

Microsoft changed cmdlet names. In another, it's an identity issue caused by incompatible assemblies. In both cases, questions have to be asked about the level of testing done by Microsoft before they release a new module. Bugs do happen, but testing should catch the obvious problems.

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By: Tony Redmond submitted:May 10 2024

Read, Modify, and Parse JSON File (Object) with PowerShell (woshub.com)
JSON is a popular text-based format for representing and transmitting structured data based on

JavaScript object syntax. There are two cmdlets in PowerShell that allow you to work with the...

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By: Windows OS Hub submitted:May 10 2024

Report SharePoint Online Files Using the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK (practical365.com)
This article describes creating a SharePoint Online files report using the Microsoft Graph

PowerShell SDK. While keeping digital debris online might have been unimportant in the past, it's something that can wreak havoc in the era of generative AI when tools like Copilot for Microsoft 365 are happy to consume obsolete and inaccurate material.

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By: Tony Redmond submitted:May 10 2024

Upload a file to Connectwise and Attach it to a Service Ticket with PowerShell (thelazyadministrator.com)
I have recently been automating a lot within Connectwise PSA. One of the items I set out to do is to

upload a file and attach it to a service ticket. This led me to the following article, but after doing some testing, I found that some file types were not properly rendering on the Connectwise side, making me believe there was something wrong with the encoding.

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By: Brad Wyatt submitted:May 10 2024

Using $using in PowerShell for local variables in remote sessions (powershellisfun.com)
When running scripts that connect to remote systems using Invoke-Command, you can use your local

variables in the remote session which makes things a lot easier. In this blog post, I will show you how 🙂

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By: Harm Veenstra submitted:May 10 2024

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

AutomateNOW v 1.0.18 (powershellgallery.com)
Interact with the API of an AutomateNOW! instance
By: AutomateNOW-Fan submitted:May 10 2024

Maester v 0.0.127 (powershellgallery.com)
Pester based test automation framework to monitor your Microsoft 365 security configuration.
By: Maester submitted:May 10 2024

Microsoft 365 Tenant-to-Tenant Migration Assessment Version 2 (practical365.com)
In this blog, Sean Mcavinue reviews an update to his original Tenant-to-Tenant Migration Assessment,

which is designed to gather key data to consider during the migration planning process.

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By: Sean McAvinue submitted:May 10 2024

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

Pick Up The PowerShell Practice Primer (jdhitsolutions.com)
I've updated The PowerShell Practice Primer with even more PowerShell 7 content. Now over 120

challenges to test your skill and knowledge.

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By: Jeff Hicks submitted:May 10 2024

Community

PowerShell Perspectives: Ryan Lancial on Company Culture and Authentic Careers (powershellpodcast.podbean.com)
In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, I'm joined by Ryan Lancial - Security Engineer at Red

Canary. We talk about our shared history, his journey to security, what makes a good company culture, succeeding with no degree, the value of authenticity, and more!

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By: The Powershell Podcast submitted:May 10 2024

Fun

PixelPoSH (github.com)
PixelPoSH is a PowerShell module that generates customizable graphical backgrounds using

System.Drawing in .NET. This tool allows users to create images with various graphical patterns like bubbles, concentric circles, stripes, and squares. It's perfect for quickly generating backgrounds for desktops, websites, or any project that could use a splash of color and creativity.

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By: Dieter Beckers submitted:May 10 2024

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 find me on your preferred social media.

May 3, 2024

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

Encrypting secrets locally (devblogs.microsoft.com)
Keeping security folks happy (or less upset which is the best we can hope for)
By: Rod Meaney submitted:May 3 2024

New PowerShell Command Parameters in ConfigMgr 2403 (deploymentresearch.com)
Here is a list of the Configuration Manager (SCCM) PowerShell module changes in version 2403. So far

only the Save-CMSoftwareUpdate changes has been documented, but I have found a few more changes when poking around in the 2403 PowerShell module. Here is a list of the Configuration Manager (SCCM) PowerShell module changes in version 2403.

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By: Johan Arwidmark submitted:May 3 2024

Partition Windows drive in WinPE using PowerShell (4sysops.com)
An essential step towards automating the Windows setup process is replacing the system drive's

interactive partitioning with a script. Microsoft's examples for this purpose rely on batch files and Diskpart. However, installing PowerShell in Windows PE allows for a much more elegant solution.

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By: Wolfgang Sommergut submitted:May 3 2024

PowerShell: the object-oriented shell you didn’t know you needed (chriswarrick.com)
PowerShell is an interactive shell and scripting language from Microsoft. It's object-oriented - and

that's not just a buzzword, that's a big difference to how the standard Unix shells work. And it is actually usable as an interactive shell.

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By: Chris Warrick submitted:May 3 2024

Removing Outlook Add-ins From Mailboxes with PowerShell (office365itpros.com)
The Share to Teams Outlook add-in posts an email to a Teams chat or channel conversation. I was

asked how to disable the add-in for some mailboxes. Here's how to do the job using PowerShell to find a set of target mailboxes and then turn off Send to Teams for each mailbox.

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By: Tony Redmond submitted:May 3 2024

The only PowerShell Command you will ever need to find out who did what in Active Directory (evotec.pl)
While the title of this blog may be a bit exaggeration, the command I'm trying to show here does

it's best to deliver on the promise. What you're about to witness here is something I've worked on for a while now, and it meets my basic needs. If you don't have SIEM product or products that monitor who does what in Active Directory this command makes it very easy, even for people who don't have much experience in reading Event Logs. If you'd like to learn about working with Windows Event Logs here's a great article I wrote recently - PowerShell - Everything you wanted to know about Event Logs and then some.

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By: Evotec submitted:May 3 2024

Your Go-To PowerShell Template for HTTP-Triggered Azure Functions (adamtheautomator.com)
Struggling with messy Azure Functions PowerShell code? Learn how to adapt your scripts for

serverless, validate HTTP parameters, throw descriptive errors, and bind PowerShell output to HTTP responses for robust web-friendly functions.

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By: Adam Bertram submitted:May 3 2024

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

365Automatedlab V2.10.1 Released! (clatent.com)
I know I said every 2 weeks, but I lied. I wanted to get this out! It is now possible to add a

manager when creating a new user. Also added a feature so that when you use the parameter -UseDevelope...

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By: Clayton Tyger submitted:May 3 2024

PSMake (github.com)
PSMake is an all-in-one project management and lifecycle toolset for PowerShell.
By: 38th Engineering Squadron submitted:May 3 2024

Report on Non-Compliant Intune devices (powershellisfun.com)
I received a question on the Microsoft Tech Community forum regarding creating a report about

non-compliant Intune devices. The report should give insight into what device has what issue with which setting; the person asking the question was already working on a Microsoft Graph script but couldn't find a suitable way. In this blog post, I will show how to create this report. There are other scripts out there, but I always like a challenge (And Microsoft Graph can be quite a challenge sometimes 😉 )

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By: Harm Veenstra submitted:May 3 2024

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

Pick Up The PowerShell Practice Primer (jdhitsolutions.com)
A number of years ago, I published book on Leanpub, designed to help you teach yourself PowerShell.

After you get through the first Month of Lunches book, what do you do next? The best way to learn PowerShell is to do it. But it might be challending trying to figure out what to do. I...

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By: Jeffery Hicks submitted:May 3 2024

Practical PowerShell: Flow Control (practical365.com)
"Control, Control, You Must Learn Control." I rarely quote Yoda's wisdom in articles, but this is an

exception. After discussing advanced functions in the second Practical PowerShell article, the other important scripting skill to master is using the flow control cmdlets. These cmdlets are not just theoretical concepts; they are practical assets that can significantly enhance your PowerShell scripts.

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By: Michel de Rooij submitted:May 3 2024

Community

Inside IT Automation E03 (youtube.com)
Matthew Dowst talks about PowerShell, Python, writing books and more
By: Matthew Dowst submitted:May 3 2024

The PowerShell & Global DevOps Summit 2024 Bar session 4 (powershellpodcast.podbean.com)
In this episode, we have 2 interviews: Danny Stutz and Carrie Cargil. We start things off chatting

with Danny and hearing about his first time speaking at Summit and how his career has gone. He shares some of his keys to success and he is someone to keep your eye out for.

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By: The Powershell Podcast submitted:May 3 2024

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 find me on your preferred social media.

PowerShell Weekly – Your weekly round up of all things PowerShell

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