pwshguy

joined 2 years ago
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The PSWeekly module brings the full PowerShell Weekly newsletter experience right into your terminal.

With it, you can:

  • Read the latest issue directly in the terminal
  • Browse all past editions (5+ years of archives!)
  • Search the entire link collection by keyword

Coming soon:

  • Search by author
  • Filter by tags

PowerShell Weekly has been and will continue to be:

  • Hand-curated - not just an RSS dump
  • 100% free
  • No ads
  • No sponsorships
  • No email collection, tracking, or paywalls

Install it now and run Get-PSWeekly to read this week's edition

Install-Module PSWeekly

Built for terminal lovers, automation enthusiasts, and anyone who wants high-quality PowerShell content at their fingertips.

I'd love to hear your feedback and ideas for new features!

Link to PowerShell Gallery: https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/PSWeekly
As with all my modules it is FOSS: https://github.com/mdowst/PSWeekly

 

Announcements!

  • ANNOUNCING PSWeekly the Module!!!
    You can now read and search PowerShell Weekly without leaving the comfort of your shell. Because why should your terminal miss out on the good stuff? Simply Install-Module PSWeekly, then run Get-PSWeekly to get the most recent addition.

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

  • Better Control over Your Copilot Code Suggestions
    Copilot code completions and suggestions in the editor speed you up in your daily programming and coding activities, at every keystroke. They help you finish the line you’re typing or anticipate your next edit, making your workflow smoother and faster.
  • Remote HTTP access to self-hosted Ollama AI models
    In my previous post in the Ollama series with OpenAI OSS models, I explained how to install Ollama on an Ubuntu EC2 instance. If you followed my guide, you now have everything set up to remotely access gpt-oss-20b on your self-hosted Ollama installation via HTTP. I will also showcase how to connect to remote AI models in VS Code using popular coding assistants like Cline and Roo Code, as well as through AI apps such as the local Ollama client, BoltAI, and Anything LLM.
  • Auto Deploy Progressive Web Applications (PWA) using Intune or PowerShell
    In this article I will walk you through installing progressive web app’s, or PWA’s to endpoint machines using either PowerShell or Microsoft Intune. You may want to do this for users with frontline licenses that grant them web apps but not full desktop application’s.
  • Removing Obsolete Mobile Device Partnerships from Exchange Online
    This article discusses how to use PowerShell to find obsolete mobile device partnerships in Exchange Online (or Exchange Server) and remove the obsolete devices. Users won’t be able to remove obsolete mobile devices after the settings to manage mobile devices are removed from OWA and the New Outlook, so cleaning up the mess is the responsibility of administrators (like it usually always is).
  • PowerShell: Stop Outlook from Junking Legit Messages
    Outlook often struggles with erroneous junk mail classifications. It seems that some messages can pass through the SMTP perimeter scanning and email authentication, but still end up in Outlook’s junk folder. The internal workings of Outlook’s built-in message filters aren’t fully documented anywhere that I know of. This can lead to some perplexing situations.
  • Why is Microsoft Removing PowerShell 2.0 from Windows 11? Critical Steps You Must Take Now
    Will PowerShell 2.0 Removal Break Your Windows System?
  • How to Free Up and Automatically Manage Disk Space for WSL on Windows 10/11
    Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets you run a Linux environment directly on Windows. This is particularly useful for web development where you can develop and test applications in a Linux environment without leaving Windows.

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

  • Using the Indented.Net.IP PowerShell module for IPv4 Subnet math
    I still do some networking, although not as much as I did during my CCNP certification, and I eventually memorized subnet calculations. That, and using IP Calculators ;-) In this blog post, I will show you how you can use Chris Dent's PowerShell module for that.
  • PSTimers
    A PowerShell module with a variety of timer and countdown functions. A perfect compliment to the PSDates module.
  • Borg v 0.2.23
    BORG Backup Orchestrator for Reliable Groundwork. A modular PowerShell toolkit for automating SQL Server Docker container workflows, backup and restore operations, and local dev environment setup.

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

  • Behind the PowerShell Pipeline
    Discover parts of PowerShell that lie under the surface that can make you a better PowerShell user and scripter. From one of the original PowerShell experts.
  • Turtles in PowerShell: Drawing Shapes with Code by James Brundage
    Join us for PowerShell Wednesday with James Brundage as he shows off Turtles in a PowerShell -- a fun way to create art with just a few simple commands. From drawing squares and hexagons to building fractals and animations, you’ll see how Forward() and Rotate() can unlock endless creativity right inside PowerShell.

Community

Events

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

 

Announcements!

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

  • Servy
    Servy lets you run any app as a Windows service with full control over working directory, startup type, process priority, logging, health checks, environment variables, dependencies, pre-launch scripts and parameters. A fully managed alternative to NSSM.
  • PixelPoSH
    PixelPoSH is a PowerShell module that generates customizable, random SVG backgrounds using the PSSVG DSL (no System.Drawing).
  • PowerShell Localization
    A Visual Studio Code extension that displays PowerShell localization variable values as decorations in your editor, making it easier to develop and debug internationalized PowerShell modules.

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

  • PowerShell in the Pipeline: Open Source CI/CD with GitHub Actions
    Learn how to build reliable CI/CD pipelines in GitHub with a focus on PowerShell. Microsoft MVP Emanuel Palm will show us the basics of GitHub Actions from VS Code, discuss community collaboration in open source projects, and show how to start automating your own modules or other projects.

Community

Fun

Events

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

 

Announcements!

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

  • How Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK Access Tokens Work
    If you use the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, you don’t need to worry about obtaining an access token because SDK cmdlets include automatic token management. Although you don’t need to know the details of the access token used in an SDK session, it’s possible to find and examine its contents, and even use the token with a Graph request. It's a nice to know thing that you’ll never need in practice.
  • PowerShell Find All Files With Extension
    Ever found yourself needing to quickly list every .pdf or .xlsx file scattered across hundreds of folders on your Windows laptop? PowerShell helps find every file with a particular extension—no matter where it’s hiding. In this tutorial, I will explain how to find all files with extensions using PowerShell with examples.
  • Investigating Document Exfiltration with the Graph Activity Log
    In this installment of our Graph Activity Log series, we’ll provide a practical playbook for using the Graph Activity Log and Kusto Query Language (KQL) to hunt for indicators of document exfiltration.
  • Linking all required resources to Nerdio via PSNerdio
    Second part of the series! This part is about linking all required resources to nerdio via PSNerdio. So, in the previous part of this series I mentioned that the PowerShell module created by Nerdio needs some love. I wanted to link my resourcegroups to Nerdio and that CMDlet was not working.
  • Exploring the PowerShell Gallery using PSGalleryExplorer
    The PowerShell Gallery is the primary source for downloading most of your modules. You can search and find information about them using the website or... By using the PSGalleryExplorer module from Jake Morison :) In this blog post, I will show you how to use it.
  • Timing Scripts
    How to manage time effectively in scripts

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

Community

  • From EntraAuth to PSConfEU with Fred Weinmann
    In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, host Andrew Pla reunites with PowerShell legend Fred, diving deep into productivity with hotkeys and key bindings, EntraAuth, C# integration, and community reflections from PowerShell Conference EU. Fred shares practical advice for improving your daily workflow, how to extend PowerShell with C#, and why participation in the community—whether through conferences or contributing modules—can be a game-changer for your career.

Events

  • Watch Live: Visual Studio Toolbox at VS LIVE! Redmond 2025
    On Tuesday, August 5, join us for a special edition of Visual Studio Toolbox Live—broadcast from VS LIVE!
  • PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit 2026 Call for Proposals (CFP)
    We are thrilled to invite you to submit your session proposals for the 2026 PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit, taking place in Bellevue, WA, from April 13-16, 2026. This Summit is the premier event for PowerShell and DevOps professionals, offering a unique opportunity to share knowledge, solve problems, socialize, and network with peers. Whether you're an Automater, Integrator, Problem-Solver, Tinkerer, Scripter, or Tech Wizard, this event is for you! 

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

 

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

  • Smarter AI Edits in Visual Studio Copilot
    When we first set out to get smarter AI edits in Visual Studio Copilot, we knew we were tackling a deeply complex problem. It wasn’t just about generating great suggestions—it was about figuring out how to seamlessly apply those suggestions to your code.
  • How to Delete Recurring Planner Tasks with PowerShell
    Are you using PowerShell and Microsoft Planner? I feel it doesn’t get the love it deserves, and to be honest, I hadn’t used PowerShell with Planner in a while, but wanted to get back into it. I first starting using the Microsoft.Graph.Planner and found some limitations that were possible if you used the Graph API directly.
  • Mount an NFS Share on Windows 11 with PowerShell
    The Network File System (NFS) is a widely used file-sharing protocol in Linux environments. However, many Windows administrators may not know you can mount an NFS share easily on Windows 11 and Windows Server. This guide shows you step-by-step instructions on activating NFS for Windows and mounting a share using PowerShell.
  • PowerShell v5.x and v7.x differences
    This is a question I often get: Why or when should I use PowerShell v5 or v7? In this blog post, I will highlight key points from the excellent Microsoft Learn article on this topic and share some personal experiences.
  • Combine Images
    So I decided to let Powershell combine the images for me vertically to allow me to have one long image as the end result.
  • PowerShell to verify the auditing status for our Organization
    Today I am sharing small informative article. This article is regarding verifying if an auditing is turned on or not for our organization using PowerShell.
  • Securing a Departing Employee’s OneDrive File Sharing
    Secure a departing employee's OneDrive with Microsoft 365 group restrictions. Step-by-step guide for SharePoint Admin Center & PowerShell. Keep data safe!

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

  • August 2025 Update for Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook
    The August 2025 update for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook is available for subscribers to download. The eBook now includes over 350 content-rich pages packed full of practical examples of how to use PowerShell to automate Microsoft 365 operations. It’s an essential tool for anyone who needs to use PowerShell in a Microsoft 365 environment.

Community

  • Are PowerShell Pros Ready for C# - Ryan Coates
    In this insightful episode of the PowerShell Podcast, host Andrew Pla welcomes longtime friend and seasoned technologist Ryan Coates. Together, they explore the intersection of PowerShell and C#, discuss the natural evolution of tech careers, and examine the role of continuous learning in long-term success.
  • Move your Automation to the Cloud using Azure Automation with Morten Mynster
    Still using schedule task on multiple servers? How about trying some Azure automation to centralize the management logging and getting the added benefit of Source control for your scripts.

Events

  • Watch Live: Visual Studio Toolbox at VS LIVE! Redmond 2025
    On Tuesday, August 5, join us for a special edition of Visual Studio Toolbox Live—broadcast from VS LIVE!
  • PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit 2026 Call for Proposals (CFP)
    We are thrilled to invite you to submit your session proposals for the 2026 PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit, taking place in Bellevue, WA, from April 13-16, 2026. This Summit is the premier event for PowerShell and DevOps professionals, offering a unique opportunity to share knowledge, solve problems, socialize, and network with peers. Whether you're an Automater, Integrator, Problem-Solver, Tinkerer, Scripter, or Tech Wizard, this event is for you! 

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 1 points 9 months ago

PowerShell does not have a built in PDF reader, so it is not possible without installing a module or calling a third party app. The PSWritePDF module will do what you are asking. The module can be installed from the gallery, so you could technically install and import it in a single line.

 

Announcements!

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

  • Finding Group Policy settings by category
    A PowerShell script to search for GPO settings by category.
  • Install Microsoft AI Shell on Mac
    Microsoft has released AI Shell v1.0.0‑preview.5, which provides a Windows-only security patch, while Preview 4 delivered substantial improvements—enhanced macOS side‑pane support in iTerm2, Entra ID authentication, expanded Invoke‑AIShell functionality (with new -PostCode, -CopyCode, and -Exit flags)—all based on community feedback to improve workflows across Azure OpenAI, macOS, and PowerShell. This article also explains how to install Microsoft AI Shell on macOS.
  • Be Careful with Retention Labels Configured with Created Date Expiration
    Retention policies and retention labels have been around for about 8 years. Some of the older retention settings might use file created dates to remove items. No doubt basing retention on creation dates made perfect sense at the time, but experience shows that maybe basing retention on the last modified date can be better. All explored here together with a script to update retention labels in OneDrive.
  • Microsoft Teams Direct Routing: Phone Number Inventory
    In this article, Thorsten Pickhan covers how to add Direct Routing phone numbers to the internal Teams Phone Number database, how to remove phone numbers, and the benefits of doing so.
  • Ordering and Choices in PowerShell
    Ah! Hash tables! Ever since I saw a presentation by Anthony Howell ( Blog ), aka PoshWolf, about them, read the blog post by Kevin Marquette ( Blog ) about them, and was enlightened by multiple PowerShell community members (e.g. Chris Dent, Mathias "IISResetMe" Jessen, etc.) about them, I’ve loved hash tables.

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

  • NetTrace v 1.4.0
    A professional PowerShell module for Windows network tracing using the native netsh trace utility with circular file management, non-blocking background operation, and enterprise-grade persistence capabilities.

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

  • PowerShell Runspaces Deep Dive - Jordan Borean, Justin Grote
    This lecture explores PowerShell RunSpaces, providing an in-depth examination of their functionality, applications, and intricacies beyond basic tutorials typically found online. Justin Grote and Jordan Borean lead the discussion, aiming to equip participants with a deeper understanding of what's happening behind the scenes when utilizing RunSpaces, ultimately unveiling the “magic” that occurs during execution.
  • Check Email Read Status with PowerShell & Microsoft Graph API!
    Learn how to use Microsoft Graph API with PowerShell to check the read status of emails in Outlook 365. In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through the steps to authenticate with Graph API, access email data, and determine whether an email has been read or not.

Community

  • PowerShell Community Call - July 17th, 2025
    View the replay of the July 2025 PowerShell Community Call
  • The Power of Splatting and Team Empowerment
    In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, Andrew Pla welcomes longtime friend and DevOps Endpoint Engineer David Richmond. Fresh off his PowerShell Wednesday presentation, David shares insights into the power of splatting in PowerShell, centralizing automations, and driving organizational change through best practices and leadership. The conversation explores the evolution of automation practices, Git adoption in Ops, secrets management using Azure Key Vault, and how empowering others can multiply technical impact. It’s an inspiring blend of deep PowerShell knowledge and practical career development advice.

Fun

Events

  • PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit 2026 Call for Proposals (CFP)
    We are thrilled to invite you to submit your session proposals for the 2026 PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit, taking place in Bellevue, WA, from April 13-16, 2026. This Summit is the premier event for PowerShell and DevOps professionals, offering a unique opportunity to share knowledge, solve problems, socialize, and network with peers. Whether you're an Automater, Integrator, Problem-Solver, Tinkerer, Scripter, or Tech Wizard, this event is for you! 
  • SQL Saturday Baton Rouge 2025 (#1110)
    Come July 26th and see Mike Robbins present Mastering #PowerShell Functions and Script Modules: Build, Reuse, and Share Your Code Like a Pro.

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

 

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

Community

Events

  • PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit 2026 Call for Proposals (CFP)
    We are thrilled to invite you to submit your session proposals for the 2026 PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit, taking place in Bellevue, WA, from April 13-16, 2026. This Summit is the premier event for PowerShell and DevOps professionals, offering a unique opportunity to share knowledge, solve problems, socialize, and network with peers. Whether you're an Automater, Integrator, Problem-Solver, Tinkerer, Scripter, or Tech Wizard, this event is for you! 
  • SQL Saturday Baton Rouge 2025 (#1110)
    Come July 26th and see Mike Robbins present Mastering #PowerShell Functions and Script Modules: Build, Reuse, and Share Your Code Like a Pro.

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

 

Announcements!

  • Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK V2.29 Now Available
    Version 2.29 of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK can now be downloaded from the PowerShell Gallery. Initial tests show that the release is stable. However, it’s recommended that you deploy V2.29 on a few workstations to test essential scripts before proceeding to a full-scale roll-out. V2.29 does not address the issue with PowerShell runtime in Azure Automation, but overall, first indications are that V2.29 is a good release.
  • Microsoft finally bids farewell to PowerShell 2.0
    Users still clinging on to PowerShell 2.0 just received notice to quit as the command-line tool is officially leaving Windows.

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

  • CleanupMonster v 3.1.5
    This module provides an easy way to cleanup Active Directory from dead/old objects based on various criteria. It can also disable, move or delete objects. It can utilize Azure AD, Intune and Jamf to get additional information about objects before deleting them.
  • Free up RAM in Windows with taskkill, PowerShell, and Sysinternals RAMMap
    Freeing up RAM on Windows can significantly improve system performance, especially when certain applications consume excessive memory. In this guide, you’ll learn how to free up RAM using taskkill on the command prompt, PowerShell, wmic, and the free Sysinternals RAMMap tool, with step-by-step instructions for each method.
  • Send Email Alert for Break Glass Account Activity
    Break glass accounts in Microsoft 365 are used for emergency access when admin accounts get locked out. But since they hold global admin privileges, they’re a prime target for attackers.
  • Practical Graph: Tracking Critical App Actions Through Audit Events
    App management audit events are captured when changes are made to Entra registered and enterprise apps. Critical app management audit events should be closely monitored to ensure that permissions are used properly and attackers haven't attempted to penetrate the tenant to extract data. This article explains how to find and analyze audit data for some critical app management audit events and run the code as an Azure Automation runbook.
  • How to Remove SharePoint Sharing Links using PowerShell   
    In our earlier blog we explored how to export all sharing links to track and audit file sharing across your SharePoint Online environment. The post helped admins identify various link types, spot risky shares, and gain visibility into shared content across sites.
  • PowerCLI Reimagined: Deep Dive into VCF PowerCLI 9.0
    Introduction PowerCLI has long established itself as one of the most trusted and widely adopted automation tools across VMware environments.
  • How to Update PowerShell on Windows (All Methods)
    PowerShell may take time to respond to your commands or return with errors. At times, PowerShell may also fail to open on your Windows PC. So, if you think that PowerShell is outdated on your device, it’s time to update it to the latest version.

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

Community

  • Building Layers of Protection and Purpose - Miriam Wiesner
    In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, we catch up with returning guest and security research program manager at Microsoft, Miriam Wiesner. Recorded live at PowerShell Conference EU in Malmö, Sweden, we dive into her fascinating journey from Premier Field Engineer to her current role in security research. Miriam reflects on her early talks about Just Enough Administration (JEA), shares insights into MFA bypass techniques involving browser cookies (with a fun appearance from Cookie Monster), and emphasizes the importance of defense-in-depth and layered security.

Events

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

 

Apologizes for the abridged version of PowerShell Weekly. It's a holiday and my nephew's waiting on me to take him fishing. I owe you all an extra-large edition next week. Thanks for understanding!

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

  • Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell Second Edition
    The Office 365 for IT Pros team are thrilled to announce the availability of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell (2nd edition). This completely revised 350-page book delivers the most comprehensive coverage of how to use Microsoft Graph APIs and the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK with Microsoft 365 workloads. Existing subscribers can download the second edition now free of charge.

Community

  • Behind the Shell with Microsoft
    In this episode, recorded live at PSConfEU, Andrew catches up with some of the PowerShell team from Microsoft to talk all things PowerShell—from AIShell to PSResourceGet to the future of DSC and OpenSSH.

Events

  • NYC Agentic Foundation – First Meetup
    I’ll be attending. They're demoing Claude, Roo, and early agentic workflows. If you're into orchestration, multi-agent coordination, or spec-driven dev (AIDD, anyone?), it's worth a look.

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 2 points 10 months ago

An external USB monitor. It's old so it's actually only a USB 2.0.

 

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

  • Token Protection Extends to Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK Sessions
    The conditional access policy condition for token protection now extends to Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK interactive sessions. Any account within the scope of a CA policy that requires token protection can use Web Account Manager (WAM) to sign in and check that everything is secure and ready to go. It’s a protection that might be of interest to administrators and developers that access sensitive data in Graph SDK sessions.
  • PowerShell 101: Creating a Module Manifest
    Maybe you've put together some great functions but struggle to make them cohesive, intuitive, or shareable. Without a way to define your module's identity and functionality, managing or scaling as your scripts evolve into robust tools can be a headache. Not unless you have a module manifest in place.
  • Reboot with PowerShell: Use Restart-Computer to restart locally, remotely, and automate reboots for multiple Windows computers
    Rebooting a Windows PC via PowerShell is a routine administrative task. This guide will teach you how to use the PowerShell cmdlet Restart-Computer to reboot a local Windows PC, restart a remote computer, and automate the reboot process for multiple systems.
  • 10 Powerful PowerShell Select-String Examples
    As a PowerShell administrator, I mostly worked with the PowerShell Select-String cmdlet. So, I thought to show you 10 real examples of Select-String in PowerShell.
  • Practical Graph: Finding Owners for Ownerless Apps from Audit Data
    When administrators create new Entra ID apps, the apps don't have an owner unless an owner is explicitly assigned. The net result is that a tenant can end up with many ownerless apps. In this article, we explain how to find ownerless apps, and how to use audit data to find suitable owners for those apps. All done with PowerShell, of course.

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

  • EntraFIDOFinder Update
    June( v0.0.18) update is here and we skipped May as I could tell they were still making some changes so I didn’t push them to the PowerShell gallery. This month they removed 50+ keys as they were unapproved models, but there are still over 150 keys that are Entra Attestation capable!

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

  • Optimizing Visual Studio Code for PowerShell, 2025 Edition
    In this session, Justin Grote presents an in-depth overview of optimizing Visual Studio Code (VS Code) specifically for PowerShell development. He begins by establishing the importance of VS Code as the recommended editor for PowerShell, having evolved from a basic text editor to a powerful tool that supports a variety of programming languages and capabilities. The lecture aims to provide a structured approach for setting up VS Code for PowerShell users, whether they are new to the environment or seasoned developers looking to refine their setup.
  • Lightning Demos from PSConfEU
    See the Lightning Demos from PSConfEU 2025

Community

  • A Conversation from the Heart of PSConfEU
    In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, host Andrew Pla reports live from PowerShell Conference Europe 2025 in Malmö, Sweden. With energy high and community engagement stronger than ever, Andrew chats with key figures shaping the PowerShell ecosystem.
  • The Dos and Don'ts of PowerShell with Steven Judd and Gilbert Sanchez
    In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, we’re joined by Steven Judd and Gilbert Sanchez, two active contributors and speakers in the PowerShell community. We talk about the Dos and Don'ts of PowerShell. We cover topics like documentation, testing, community, how you should view yourself in your growth, and even get some top tips on logging from those who have done PowerShell at the highest levels. 
  • PowerShell Community Call
    June 2025 Community Call recording

Events

  • NYC Agentic Foundation – First Meetup
    I’ll be attending. They're demoing Claude, Roo, and early agentic workflows. If you're into orchestration, multi-agent coordination, or spec-driven dev (AIDD, anyone?), it's worth a look.

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

 

Announcements!

Blogs, Articles, and Posts

  • Automating Network Diagnostics with Globalping PowerShell Module
    Are you tired of manually running network diagnostics like Ping, Traceroute, or DNS queries? The Globalping PowerShell Module is here to save the day! With its easy-to-use cmdlets, you can automate measurements from probes distributed across the globe.
  • QuietShell – Executing PowerShell without a Console Window
    For some time I’ve used a simple VBScript wrapper in code projects and scheduled tasks to allow silent execution of PowerShell scripts in the user context without displaying a console window: But with the deprecation of VBScript and it’s eventually being removed from the Windows OS, it was time to look at alternative ways
  • AI Inception: Building AI Solutions with AI for AI
    Last month I had the pleasure of speaking at the Sydney event for Global Azure. My session was the title of this post, AI Inception: Building AI Solutions with AI for AI. One key component of my talk was on Recursive AI.
  • Download Windows Themes using PowerShell
    You can switch your Windows Theme using the Settings app and the Microsoft Store, but you can also download them from the Microsoft site using PowerShell to save them locally for easy switching between them. In this blog post, I will show you how.

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

  • DiskReportingTools
    A set of PowerShell tools for disk reporting and visualization. The tools rely on CIM cmdlets so this module requires a Windows platform.
  • AIShell.Ollama.Agent
    This agent is used to interact with a language model running locally or remotely by utilizing the Ollama API. Before using this agent locally you need to have Ollama installed and running.
  • Updating the Entra ID Custom Banned Password List with PowerShell
    Microsoft 365 tenants with Entra P1 or P2 licenses can use a custom banned password list to stop people using specific terms in their passwords. The idea is to prevent easily-guessed terms being used in passwords. You could also block words deemed to be objectionable. In any case, this article explains how to maintain the custom blocked password list with a PowerShell script.
  • GenXdev v 1.184.2025
    GenXdev PowerShell Utilities and helpers

Community

  • The Life and Code of The PoSh Wolf
    This week, we sit down with Anthony Howell, better known as The PoSh Wolf, for an inspiring and entertaining conversation about PowerShell, community, and creativity. From his early days in a two-person IT department to speaking at PowerShell Summit, Anthony shares how passion, persistence, and curiosity have fueled his journey. He dives into his creative use of PowerShell for managing game servers and even building a Discord bot, proving that automation isn't just for enterprise tasks. We explore how side projects can grow into real skills, the value of sharing in the community, and how embracing mistakes makes us all better. Anthony also gives insights into using .NET in PowerShell, learning Go, and building resilient systems for fun and work.

Events

Check out psweekly.dowst.dev for all past editions as well as a searchable archive.

 
[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 3 points 11 months ago

Either my wife or I will bust out "Bye, Felicia" at least once a week.

[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The Taco Bell jingle has lived rent free in my head for 20 years now

[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 3 points 11 months ago

Thanks! That's why it takes so long between my videos coming out. That and I have a full time job, 2 kids, coach my daughter's soccer team, and suck at video editing.

[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 13 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Mine is definitely a passion project. I make videos on automation using PowerShell. I aim to make videos that teach the thought process and fundamentals and not just step by step tutorials. I've been busy moving halfway across the country but plan to start uploading some more once I'm settled in two weeks.

https://youtube.com/@DowstDevMvp

[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 1 points 1 year ago

Projects, Scripts, and Modules

  • All About the Office 365 for IT Pros GitHub Repository
    The Office365ITPros GitHub repository holds over 300 PowerShell scripts showing how to interact with Microsoft 365 and Entra ID. Anyone can contribute to Office365ITPros by forking the code to a copy of the repository and making changes to scripts there. If you want, you can push the changes back to us so that we can consider their inclusion in Office365ITPros. It's a great example of community in action.
  • Creating a ConfigMgr (SCCM) Bootable Media – PowerShell Style
    Here is a PowerShell script that will create Bootable Media for ConfigMgr.
  • pipEnv v 0.1.2
    Unofficial installer, runner and utilities for pipenv.

Books, Media, and Learning Resources

Community

  • PowerShell Changed My Life... with Adam Bacon.
    In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, Andrew catches up with returning guest Adam Bacon. Adam shares an update on his career and shares how PowerShell has played a huge role in helping him accomplish his dream. 
  • The Art and Science of PowerShell Module Development with Fred Weinmann
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[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago

No Azure DevOps automatically increments it every time you run the pipeline.

[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Just looking at it from the point of view of making the script more portable and easier for someone else to run, there are a few things I would address.

The first is the Write-Host commands all over the script. I would recommend converting those to Write-Verbose. Here is a great explanation when to use Write-Host vs other outputs.

There are also numerous Write-Output commands in the script. Anything sent to the Write-Output will be returned to the calling console. If you need to take additional actions based on the results of this script, this could cause issues. You can run into problems with the New-Item commands in there too, as they will produce output. You might consider saving them to a variable or piping to Out-Null.

Also, there is no need to call exit and set an exit code in the way you are. If you want to write and error but have the script continue you can use, Write-Error. If you want the processing to terminate then use throw. Doing it this way will allow PowerShell’s built-in error handling to take care of the exit codes. It will also give you greater flexibility with using Error Action Preferences and using try/catch statements.

Finally, you have a path hardcoded for the workingDir. I would suggest making this a parameter or using an environment variable as this will make it more portable. Also, when creating the log variable, you will want to use the Join-Path cmdlet instead of just joining strings.

[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 1 points 2 years ago

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  • PSSaturday Karlsuhe Call for Speakers
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[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 1 points 2 years ago

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[–] pwshguy@programming.dev 10 points 2 years ago

I remember before scrambling they just put blocks that prevented you from going to certain channels. I somehow figured out if you ran the cable box through the VCR first and put it on channel 2 while the TV was still on 3, it would shift all the channels down one. Cinemax was channel 14, which our box just would not go to. But it would go to 13, so doing my little trick teenage me got to watch a lot of skinamax.

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