Search results for 'app:weblogs' matching tags 'Getting Started', 'community', and 'scripting techniques'

Weekend Scripter: Scripting Wife Grabs the Keyboard

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Summary: The Scripting Wife reviews various community resources for learning Windows PowerShell.

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. It is the weekend and today we have a special guest blogger. She probably will not directly answer any specific questions about a script, nor will she solve a scripting scenario, but she does know who to go to for the answers. And, sometimes, that skill of knowing who to ask is just as important as knowing how to answer. I am talking, of course, about the lovely Scripting Wife.

The floor is yours, Teresa.

Happy Saturday, everyone. The last couple of months have been busy with vacations, conferences, user group meetings, and so on, and I have not had the pleasure to talk to you in a while.

Today, I want to bend your ear on how easy it is to find resources to help you with your work and to find opportunities to help others, too.

Opinions abound for whatever topic you choose and, like each person, opinions vary. I see the world and learn differently than anyone else, but my way of learning may be similar to someone else’s way of learning. Ed, for example, learns and teaches in an entirely different fashion.

Ed jokes with me every time he hears me recommend Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, by Don Jones, to a true beginner. Ed says, “Hey, my step-by-step book is for beginners, too.” I just smile and say, “Yes, Ed, I know.” The next book I recommend is Ed’s book, Windows PowerShell 3.0 Step by Step. And when I get a chance, I also mention Ed's book, Windows PowerShell 2.0 Best Practices.

The point is we all learn in different ways. The same is true for how we each share our knowledge. I do not think I am a good teacher and don’t like being the trainer. I am happy to share what I know—I am just not that confident in my teaching abilities.

We gather knowledge in different ways, too, and sometimes that depends on our physical location as well as the resources available to us.

The bottom line is that a wide variety of resources is available, and it is up to you to utilize what you can reach.

First thing we will talk about is user groups

Let's start with a person who works for a small company in a small town. Obviously, that person is not going to have access to enough local IT people to form a Windows PowerShell user group, but there are options. For example, the PowerShell Community Groups site has a Virtual User Group. Maybe you would want to sign up to be a member of that group because they broadcast a lot of different meetings. The Arizona PowerShell User Group (AZPOSH) is another good one because they usually broadcast their meetings and you can join in remotely. Keep your eyes tuned to Twitter as well (follow the @ScriptingWife and @ScriptingGuys on Twitter) because various Windows PowerShell user groups often tweet that they are getting ready to start a meeting and will tweet live meeting details.

Another thing to think about is keeping an eye out for user group meetings while you are traveling. You never know what you might find. Again, you can check the PowerShell Community Groups site to locate cities that have user groups; you may get lucky and find a user group in a town where you are traveling to.

Ed and I have been known to stop by meetings in cities we are traveling through on our way to another destination. We were just in Columbus, Ohio, on our way to Cleveland, and Ed made a presentation at the Central Ohio monthly meeting. To keep up with Ed’s appearances, check out the Script Center Community page. Also, because Ed rarely goes anywhere without me, on most occasions, I will also be present.

Let me give you a couple of hints: We will be in Europe for three weeks, traveling by train and visiting five user groups plus a lot of Windows PowerShell friends, MVPs, and Microsoftees. We leave in about ten days—I can’t wait. The user groups where Ed will be making presentations are in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, the Netherlands, and Munich.

I just covered the scenario for people who live in larger communities that have established user groups. Go on and join—even if you are an advanced scripter—it will be good for networking, and you will probably be able to help a beginner, too.

If you live in an area that has enough people to support a user group and you want to start one, check out this post I wrote back in the summer about starting a user group.

Internet resources for learning Windows PowerShell

After you’ve tapped into user groups, I think the Internet is your next friend for resources. If you get stuck in your script writing, you can ask questions in a couple of forums. Remember these folks are all busy professionals volunteering their time to help you get your script working—they are not there to write scripts for you. These forums are for learning and not just for reaching out and having someone do the work for you. The two forums I am most familiar with are the Official Scripting Guys Forum and the forum at www.PowerShell.org.

There is also the Script Center Repository and PoshCode, where many scripts are already written. You are welcome to use these scripts with no guarantees. Something relatively new is the Script Explorer that will automatically search the Script Center Repository and PoshCode for scripts. You can read about it at this Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog post.

Another great resource is the multitude of blogs written by Windows PowerShell experts and community leaders. Of course, the number one Windows PowerShell blog is the Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog, written by the Scripting Guy. Right now, he is cranking out an incredible amount of content. He is writing daily PowerTips (short one-liners about simple things, or cool commands he has found) as well as the longer daily blog posts. Whenever I am trying to locate anything related to Windows PowerShell, I go to the Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog and use the search function to locate relevant posts in his blog. If I cannot find an answer there, I generally go ask Ed in person.

Another Internet resource I am aware of is a blog by Jason Hofferle, guest blogger for Hey, Scripting Guy!, that lists free Windows PowerShell ebooks. If you find one not on his list, please let him know about it. I have also created a blog that lists all the resources I could think of, which includes much of the information in this blog post. If I have left out something, please let me know.

Working with the Windows PowerShell community

I enjoy hanging out with all the Windows PowerShell people and doing whatever I can to contribute. Some things you can do to help, without writing a single line of code, include the clerical and administrative work for some of the events.

Besides keeping track of Ed and his commitments, I work with Windows PowerShell MVP Hal Rottenberg and Jonathan Walz as the booking agent for guests on the PowerScripting Podcast. I keep track of the schedule and add people in as the Thursdays come around. Join us for the live recording in the chatroom some Thursday evening at 9:30 PM EDT (-5 GMT).

My newest project is working with www.PowerShell.org. I mainly spread the word about upcoming events, like the Windows PowerShell Summit in April 2013. I have my ticket purchased and am ready to go. It is exciting for me, as I love to be around people. When I look at the list of those already signed up I think, “Oh, I can’t wait to meet that person in real life,” or “I can’t wait to see this person again.” On a personal note, if you are around me for any length of time, you will see I am a big hugger of the people I really like. I will collect a bunch of hugs to hold on to until the next event.

Speaking of meeting people in real life—thanks to Twitter and the PowerScripting Podcast chatroom—I have a lot of friends that I still need to meet in person. I am slowly working my way through the list. The good thing is I add people to it all the time. I use Facebook, but that is mostly family and friends from my hometown. I do not use it for my Windows PowerShell activities and posts. I have a few Windows PowerShell friends that are friends on Facebook, but not very many. You can follow me on Twitter @scriptingwife. Also, Twitter is a fantastic way to learn about what’s going on and to hear about new blog posts, and so on—just keep an eye on #powershell.

I believe that is all I have to share; I hope I have not left off anything important. Have a Scriptastic Weekend.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions, send email to me at scripter@microsoft.com, or post your questions on the Official Scripting Guys Forum. See you tomorrow. Until then, peace.

Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy

Weekend Scripter: Ten Ways to Continue the Spirit of the PowerShell Scripting Games

Anonymous — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Summary: Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, answers the question about how to continue with the spirit of the Scripting Games.

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. I know it is the weekend, at least in Charlotte, North Carolina in the southern portion of the United States. But hey, I have been really busy this week, and I am behind on answering email sent to scripter@microsoft.com. So, I thought I would take today to answer one of my emails. Here we go…

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have to tell you that I am sort of in a daze. In fact, you might even say that I am becoming depressed. The reason? The 2012 Scripting Games are over, and I do not know what to do with all my spare time. I was used to going to work every day and checking out the Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog, reading about the Scripting Wife, keeping track of all the comments on the blogs and twitter…and now it is all over. Can you do another Scripting Games? I have really taken my Windows PowerShell to the next level, and I do not want to lose that momentum.

—EB

Hello EB,

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. I can tell you for a fact, there will not be another Scripting Games this year. We will probably do one again next year, but it took me more than six months of planning for this year’s games, and it would be impossible to do that more than once a year. In addition to my time and efforts, more than 60 Microsoft employees, Microsoft MVPs, and other IT Pros rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to assist with grading and writing expert commentaries and blogs. The Scripting Games are a big deal, and they involve lots of work by lots of people.

So, EB, what can you do to continue the spirit of the Scripting Games? There are a number of ways to do this. In no particular order, here is a list.

Join a local Windows PowerShell User Group. There is a master list of Windows PowerShell User Groups on the PowerShell Community Groups site. It lists user groups all over the world. There is even a virtual user group if a group does not exist in your area. Better yet, if a Windows PowerShell User Group does not exist in your area, start one. I have written about Windows PowerShell User Groups on several occasions. In one blog, Microsoft MVP, Tome Tanasovski, discussed why you might want to join a user group. Suffice it to say, joining a local Windows PowerShell User Group is a great way to continue the education you began with the Scripting Games.
Follow the #PowerShell tag on Twitter. Many Windows PowerShell MVPs and other Windows PowerShell community leaders use Twitter, and they all (including the Scripting Wife and me) follow the #PowerShell tag. When you develop a large circle of friends on Twitter, you can quickly become overwhelmed by messages. By using a Twitter client (I am currently using MetroTwit, which sports a nice clean Windows Metro-type interface), you can create search columns that filter out tweets by search tags that people include in the messages. This is great when I am using the Twitter client on my Windows 7 Smartphone. On Twitter, you will see various people mention blogs about Windows PowerShell, videos that they have uploaded, Windows PowerShell User Group meetings, in addition to the general give-and-take of people asking questions. It is a great way to become engaged in the community. By the way, my twitter handle is @ScriptingGuys, and the Scripting Wife’s handle is @ScriptingWife. We would love for you to follow us.
Join the Scripting Guys Group on Facebook. There are over three-thousand members in that group, and it is a great way to interact with people who have similar interests.
Become active in the Official Scripting Guys Forum. I talked about the value of becoming active in the forum in a blog that I wrote about how to learn Windows PowerShell. I gave an example from when I was first studying for the MCSE certification, but the lesson is still applicable. The forum is a great place to ask questions, and also a great place to learn Windows PowerShell better by helping others. There is an old adage (which is true), and it goes like this: “The best way to learn a subject is to teach it.” Answering questions on the Scripting Guys Forum is teaching—and a great way to learn.
Share scripts on the Scripting Guys Script Repository. When you have shared a script with the world on the Scripting Guys Script Repository, you have entered an elite world of scripters because you are now giving back to the scripting community in a real and substantial way. It is also fun because now you get to see how well your script is received by the community. Hey, maybe it will become a Top Ten Script and be mentioned by me in a Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog.
Watch the PowerScripting Podcast. The PowerScripting Podcast is a weekly podcast about Windows PowerShell that is recorded with a live audience. It is a lot of fun, and the interaction in the chat room makes it an enjoyable and substantial learning experience. The Scripting Wife does the scheduling for Microsoft MVP, Hal Rottenberg, and cohost, Jonathan Walz; and therefore, she is in the chat room each week. The advantage of recording live is that you have a chance to ask questions of the host via the chat room. Check it out.
Check out the Scripting with Windows PowerShell site in the Scripting Guys Script Center. This site hosts a number of podcasts and two video series with associated quizzes that comprise a number of learning opportunities.
Peruse the Scripting Community site. I list all of my upcoming appearances there. There is also an interactive map of Windows PowerShell User Groups in the U.S. and other resources.
Read a book about Windows PowerShell. There are a number of very good books about Windows PowerShell on the market. Each book has a different emphasis, and I own many of the current releases. One of the things I hit pretty hard in the Scripting Games this year was Windows PowerShell best practices. Therefore, you may want to get a copy of my Windows PowerShell 2.0 Best Practices book. It was published by Microsoft Press, and it includes hundreds of scripts and dozens of sidebars written by the Windows PowerShell product group at Microsoft and the Windows PowerShell community. (By the way, if you are coming to TechEd 2012 in Orlando, I will be hosting the Windows PowerShell Best Practices “birds of a feather” session with cohost, Windows PowerShell MVP, Don Jones. It will be a great session.)
Read the Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog on a daily basis. The Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog is one of the few blogs that publishes seven days a week, 365 days a year. This provides a substantial amount of new information about Windows PowerShell. In addition to being written in a causal and witty style, the content is excellent (if I do say so myself). Make it your Home page so you do not miss a single episode.

Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy

Discover the Top Ten Scripting Guys Forum Questions for 2011

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Summary: What do scripters need to know? Check out the top ten questions posted on the Scripting Guys Forum to find out.

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. Today I want to look at the top ten questions on the Scripting Guys Scripting Forum. The Scripting Guys Forum is a great place to ask questions about VBScript or Windows PowerShell. I really appreciate the hard work of the moderators as they keep up with a massive number of questions from numerous people. As shown in the image that follows, the Official Scripting Guys Forum gets lots of questions, and those questions generate a significant number of views.

So why look at the top questions on the Scripting Guys Forum? Well for one thing, it will show you what scripters are interested in. For another, there is a good chance that if someone else has a problem, it might be the answer to a problem you are experiencing. So check it out. In addition to finding specific answers to specific questions, the forum itself it a great way to learn scripting. I even wrote about it once.

The number one question on the Scripting Guys Forum is not actually a scripting question; it is Where is the hyper terminal application in Windows 7? The smart-alec answer, is that it is at the same place it was in Windows Vista—a better answer is that it is no longer available in the operating system. Check out the forum question and answer. Or, perhaps I should say, answers. This is a long thread and the readers post numerous solutions, in addition to interesting background information and links. Cool stuff.

The number two question on the Scripting Guys Forum is a scripting question; in fact, it is a Windows PowerShell question about appending to CSV files. In part, due to this question and to other questions I have received, I wrote an entire week’s worth of Hey, Scripting Guy! blogs about working with CSV files. In fact, there have been several blog posts about working with CSV files from Windows PowerShell. Check out the Hey, Scripting Guy! blogs, and also look at the forum question because there are several excellent answers about appending to a CSV file when working with Windows PowerShell. Good stuff.

The number three question on the Scripting Guys Forum is about a batch file that pings multiple computers. The original poster wanted to understand how the file actually works, and our awesome forum members jumped in with a line-by-line explanation. This type of post is great, and it is helpful for people who need to learn batch scripting, especially for those occasions when Windows PowerShell is not available.

The number four question is a VBScript question about the useraccounts.commondialog' Active X component not working in Windows Vista or in Windows 7. This is a very specific problem, and luckily, there is a very specific answer. Check it out if you run into this problem.

The number five question on the Scripting Guys Forum is also a VBScript problem, but it deals with permission denied when working with WMI on a remote computer. It turns out that there is a registry key that needs to be modified. This is an interesting thread that could just as well be a problem when using the Get-WmiObject cmdlet from within Windows PowerShell.

The number six question deals with attempting to prompt for and hide a password from within a batch script. The conversation in the thread is lively. If possible, I would prefer to use Windows PowerShell, because I can easily use the Read-Host cmdlet. Here is a Hey, Scripting Guy! blog about Masking Passwords in Windows PowerShell.

Now, this is interesting…The number seven question on the Scripting Guys Forum is about Using Task Scheduler for a power script on Windows Server 2008. Why is that interesting? Well for one thing, on New Year’s day, I reviewed the top ten Hey, Scripting Guy! blog posts of 2011, and guess what? One of the top blogs was about using the Task Scheduler, and now we see Task Scheduler showing up again as a topic. Luckily, I have written several blogs that talk about working with scheduled tasks and Windows PowerShell. Some of the blogs are really, really good. I will leave it to you to figure out which ones are most excellent.

The number eight question on the Scripting Guys Forum is also a Windows PowerShell question. This time, the question also involves Active Directory. The question is, How can I update thumbnailPhoto AD attribute with Windows PowerShell? This is a good question. Luckily, one of the regular readers happened to have a script that accomplishes this task. Cool.

At number nine, we have another VBScript question…but the answer could easily translate to Windows PowerShell. The question is How do I empty the recycle bin for all users? I know I spent several hours once upon a time writing a VBScript script to do this very thing. Luckily, one of the moderators was able to point the way to a useful solution…and save you a few hours’ work. This is great stuff; check it out.

And rounding out our top ten list for questions on the Official Scripting Guys Forum, is a question about using Windows PowerShell to rename computer accounts. There is a lively discussion and several sensible solutions. Check it out; you will be glad you did.

I am issuing a special invitation to join our scripting community by engaging with fellow scripters via the Official Scripting Guys Forum. There is always a lot of excellent discussion, and it is fun to post answers and follow the resulting conversation.

Join me tomorrow when I have a guest blog written by Microsoft PFE, Ashley McGlone, about using Windows PowerShell to work with Active Directory schema updates. It is an excellent blog that you do not want to miss.

Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy