Showing archive results for 2013

Now that you understand the value and need of Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC), and how to declaratively express the intent of machine configuration via the new configuration keyword, you might be wondering how the configuration happens. Configuration on a machine works because of DSC resources. Windows Server 2012 R2 and Window...

Desired State Configuration is a new management platform in Windows Powershell that enables devOps scenarios on Windows. It enables system administrators and devOps to configure a system declaratively, enforce the configuration and reuse configuration. One core aspect of it is the language extension for Configuration keyword in Powershell. You can...

One of the best things about PowerShell is its strong community.  Events like the annual PowerShell Summit are a great way to get involved and learn more about PowerShell. As in the past, the PowerShell team will present several sessions at the PowerShell Summit.  This year, we want to get your input on the sessions that we will present. ...

Some background A new breed of configuration management tools has been created to manage the platforms, applications, and infrastructure of the cloud, and keep the cloud running with high availability. The need for these new tools and infrastructure comes from the increase in scale, rapid rate of change, and complexity of the cloud. But exist...

In the previous post for this series, we saw how System.Management.Automation.PowerShell class can be used to run PowerShell commands in a C# application. In all those cases, the runspace that we used was created in a default manner. In this post, we'll look at ways to customize the runspace that we create to execute the commands. Why do we need to...

One thing I really like about Windows PowerShell ISE is its ability to expose its underlying script object model, to allow users to customize the scripting experience to suit their style and need. At the heart of customizing ISE is the $psISE object. The $psISE object allows you to control the various functional aspects of ISE. You can get a good ...

With the release of Windows Management Framework 4.0 (WMF 4.0), our package that lets you use management technologies from Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 on some of Microsoft’s older operating systems, we have been hearing one question fairly often. I’d like to address it here, so that there can be more self-help, and hopefully ...

Windows Management Framework 4.0, our package that lets you use management technologies from Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 on some of Microsoft’s older operating systems, is now available for you to download and install. This full-release version of Windows Management Framework 4.0 includes even more improvements than our Preview rel...

In addition to being a scripting language, Windows PowerShell is also used as a platform in many applications. This is possible because the Windows PowerShell engine can be hosted inside an application. This blog post and the next will deal with the various APIs available for hosting Windows PowerShell in a C# application. The most important type...

Common Information Model (CIM) cmdlets have been around for a while, and come in handy when you are performing any CIM operation in PowerShell. They are easy to use, and provide a good user experience. In this blog post, I cover a few tips and tricks that can be useful for users of CIM cmdlets. To get started, let’s get the complete list of ...