Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive. Our mission cut through that
Speaker 1: information overload, help you get well informed fast ever, face
Speaker 1: those really repetitive IT tasks you know, onboarding users, maybe
Speaker 1: updating configs, running the same reports, and just think, ugh,
Speaker 1: there has to be a better way, like without needing
Speaker 1: to be some hardcore coder. Well, this deep dive is
Speaker 1: definitely for you today. We're really getting into the core
Speaker 1: insights from PowerShell Fast Track Hacks for Non Coders, second
Speaker 1: edition by Vikasukija. Our mission is basically to give you
Speaker 1: a shortcut a way to grasp how PowerShell can genuinely
Speaker 1: simplify complex IT admin stuff even if you've never really
Speaker 1: thought of yourself as a programmer. You're going to discover
Speaker 1: some fundamental concepts yeah, but also practical real role automation
Speaker 1: and some pretty powerful cheat codes that'll save you time
Speaker 1: reduce errors big time. So okay, let's umpack this. What
Speaker 1: is PowerShell at its core? And why is this deep
Speaker 1: dive such a potential game changer for IT pro who
Speaker 1: isn't like from a programming background.
Speaker 2: Well, what's really interesting here is how the author Vikasukija,
Speaker 2: people know him as tech wizard right over two decades
Speaker 2: in IT infrastructure. He frames PowerShell not as some super
Speaker 2: complex coding language, not at all. He calls it a
Speaker 2: task automation solution, comprising a command line shell and a
Speaker 2: scripting language, much more approachable, and the book's goal, he says,
Speaker 2: is to equip you with the skills to develop scripts
Speaker 2: through a hands on approach, so really practical for you,
Speaker 2: the IT admin. This means you can quickly learn to
Speaker 2: write your own scripts, automate all sorts of IT systems
Speaker 2: and processes without needing that computer science degree. It's really
Speaker 2: about solving everyday problems.
Speaker 1: That's a great way to put it, not about suddenly
Speaker 1: becoming developer, but getting practical skills for IT work. Speaking
Speaker 1: to practicalities, PowerShell's evolved a lot, hasn't it. I hear
Speaker 1: it's not just Windows anymore. How big a deal is
Speaker 1: that really for IT administration today? And what's it mean
Speaker 1: if you're managing different kinds of systems?
Speaker 2: Oh, it's a huge deal. Yeah. PowerShell seven especially it
Speaker 2: brought in serious cross platform capability, so it runs smoothly
Speaker 2: on Windows, Mac Os, Linux. That's a major shift from
Speaker 2: older versions like five point one, which were well Windows only, right,
Speaker 2: and for admins. Powertell seven also means better performance, less
Speaker 2: memory usage, faster scripts. That's pretty crucial when you're automating
Speaker 2: hundreds of things or running checks all the time. Let's
Speaker 2: you scale up without killing your systems. Now that said,
Speaker 2: PowerShell five point one is far from obsolete. Lots of
Speaker 2: scripts still use it, and most of those are compatible
Speaker 2: with powertell seven. Maybe meeting just minor tweaks okay, and
Speaker 2: running them is simple. PowerShell for five point one PFTRA
Speaker 2: version seven easy, so.
Speaker 1: You're covered whether you're on legacy stuff or the latest
Speaker 1: cloud environments. That's really key for anyone still managing older systems. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: so we get the big picture revolution. Let's zoom in
Speaker 1: a bit the actual building blocks for someone just starting.
Speaker 1: Where do we begin, Like just storing information?
Speaker 2: Yeah, good place to start. As variables, think of them
Speaker 2: as labeled boxes for your data. In PowerShell, they always
Speaker 2: start with a dollar sign f like that helps tell
Speaker 2: them apart from commands, and they just store stuff. Could
Speaker 2: be a number always one or textbad dollars pick gas simple,
Speaker 2: and when you want to see what's inside right host
Speaker 2: or right output, they just print it to the screen.
Speaker 2: Right host is kind of neat you can add color
Speaker 2: like a n heavy four ground color green for you know,
Speaker 2: success messages or whatever.
Speaker 1: God, And what about storing collections like lists of things,
Speaker 1: because in it it's rarely just one server or one
Speaker 1: user exactly.
Speaker 2: That's where arrays and arraylists are indispensable. Arrays hold multiple
Speaker 2: items like servers are server one, server two, server three.
Speaker 2: But here's a really interesting point for performance, especially with
Speaker 2: like huge data sets. Traditional arrays, they're fixed size. If
Speaker 2: you add something, PowerShell actually has to create a whole
Speaker 2: new array in memory, copies everything over.
Speaker 1: Oh wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it can be really slow, uses a lot of resources.
Speaker 2: That's why the book suggests using arraylists as a thumb rule.
Speaker 2: Their performance rich when data set is huge because they're dynamic,
Speaker 2: they just grow as needed, much more efficient. You'd start
Speaker 2: one like this servers smong dot, collections dot a raylist
Speaker 2: at Okay, that's.
Speaker 1: A critical tip. Sounds subtle, but a massive performance difference.
Speaker 1: Definitely something to keep in mind for bigger scripts. So
Speaker 1: storing data is covered, but scripts need to make decisions
Speaker 1: right like if this condition is true, do this otherwise
Speaker 1: do that absolutely.
Speaker 2: That's exactly what conditional statements like I less are four.
Speaker 2: They let your script make choices. For instance, if a
Speaker 2: G nine checks a whyless is greater than nine? Pretty
Speaker 2: straightforward and PowerShell has a bunch of these comparison operators
Speaker 2: eq for equal mean not equal, olt less than even
Speaker 2: fancier ones like light contains to see if something's in
Speaker 2: a list, or g match for checking text patterns. Super
Speaker 2: useful for logs, okay, and you can combine conditions too,
Speaker 2: using a or or like if or AK ten lets
Speaker 2: you build complex logic.
Speaker 1: Right. So, ifils handles those branching decisions. But what if
Speaker 1: you have one variable and it could be I don't
Speaker 1: know five or six different specific things, and you need
Speaker 1: a different action for each. Is there something cleaner than
Speaker 1: just chaining a bunch of IFEL statements together. Yeah, gets
Speaker 1: messy fast.
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. That's the perfect use case for switch. It's
Speaker 2: much cleaner, way more readable than a long IFL sift
Speaker 2: chain when you've got one variable with multiple distinct values.
Speaker 2: Just makes your code easier to follow, easier to maintain.
Speaker 2: The basic idea is switch five's value five tag do
Speaker 2: something else default in check handle others. It just checks
Speaker 2: value against.
Speaker 1: Each case that clarifies things. Makes sense. So we can
Speaker 1: store data, check conditions. What about doing things over and over,
Speaker 1: like processing that list of one hundred users or checking
Speaker 1: one hundred servers. Copy pasting isn't going to cut it,
Speaker 1: no way.
Speaker 2: That's the whole point of loops. They're designed for executing
Speaker 2: a block of code repeatedly. PowerShell gives you a few types.
Speaker 2: Four each is really common, great for going through items
Speaker 2: in a collection, like four each user and user list.
Speaker 2: There's also four each object, which you often use with
Speaker 2: the pipe symbol, like user list, ford object two step
Speaker 2: do something with each user processes things as they come through,
Speaker 2: and the traditional for loop exists too, though maybe less
Speaker 2: common in day to day PowerShell scripting.
Speaker 1: Okay, and while what's the difference there? Right?
Speaker 2: Wild loops two main flavors, do wile and just While
Speaker 2: do wile runs the code first, then checks the condition
Speaker 2: good if you need the action to happen at least once,
Speaker 2: like prompting for input until it's valid oh okay, whereas
Speaker 2: while checks the condition before running the code perfect if
Speaker 2: you only want to proceed if the condition is met
Speaker 2: right at the start.
Speaker 1: Makes sense, especially that do wild distinction guarantees it runs once.
Speaker 1: So loops handle repetition. But what if you have a
Speaker 1: chunk of code you use all the time in different places,
Speaker 1: maybe even different scripts. Copy pasting seems risky, errors creep in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you've hit on something crucial for writing maintainable code. Functions.
Speaker 2: Functions are basically reusable blocks of code that you define
Speaker 2: once and can call from anywhere in your script. They
Speaker 2: cut down redundancy massively, make your code way more organized,
Speaker 2: easier to debug. Two like a simple AD function function
Speaker 2: AD eight dollars D dollars plus B dollars. Then you
Speaker 2: just call AD five to six whenever you need it.
Speaker 1: So, putting it all together, what does this mean for
Speaker 1: someone just wanting to automate stuff? It really sounds like
Speaker 1: PowerShell gives you the essential tools, you know, without needing
Speaker 1: a whole computer science background.
Speaker 2: That's precisely it. These foundational bits, variables, arrays, conditions, loops, functions,
Speaker 2: they're absolutely crucial. They let you build robust, effective scripts
Speaker 2: for real production environments. They're the building blocks. Once you
Speaker 2: get these, you can really start automating your work.
Speaker 1: Okay, building on those basics, let's get practical. Because scripts
Speaker 1: aren't just about doing a task right. They need to
Speaker 1: be smart track things take input in different ways. For admins,
Speaker 1: logging and auditing often just as important as the automation itself.
Speaker 2: Couldn't agree more. One of the first practical things for
Speaker 2: any script is handling dates and logs. Timestamps are vital
Speaker 2: tracking operations, creating unique filenames, building those audit trails. Get
Speaker 2: date gives you the current data and time easily, and
Speaker 2: you can format it however you need IILCHA, mmddxcmd, SDS whatever.
Speaker 2: Then you can, like the book says, glue them all
Speaker 2: together for unique log names like skipsees be eighteen, ASU
Speaker 2: eight twenty twenty five, thirty three five five dot log.
Speaker 2: It's also great for more complex stuff like getting the
Speaker 2: first or last day of the month for reports, or
Speaker 2: maybe a midnight timestamp for daily summaries.
Speaker 1: Super practical. I can totally see using that to create
Speaker 1: dated folders like can fig back up twenty two five
Speaker 1: zero eight when you know exactly when that.
Speaker 2: Backup runs exactly, And the book even provides some ready
Speaker 2: made functions cheat codes basically to make this easier. There's
Speaker 2: right log automatically creates timestamp logs even lets you specify
Speaker 2: severity information warning error makes logs structured and critically set
Speaker 2: recycle logs. This automatically deletes old log files based on age,
Speaker 2: say older than thirty days, Super important to avoid filling
Speaker 2: up server drives. Right works locally remotely specific paths, very flexible.
Speaker 2: Oh and there's even start progress bar for giving some
Speaker 2: visual feedback while long scripts run, so you're.
Speaker 1: Not just automating the job, but the cleanup too. That's
Speaker 1: a huge time saver. What about getting data into the scripts?
Speaker 1: Admins are always dealing with lists, users from HR server lists,
Speaker 1: guys can figs from spreadsheets.
Speaker 2: Yeah, handling input to your scripts is absolutely essential for
Speaker 2: real world stuff. Probably the most common method for providing
Speaker 2: a script with structured input data is import CSV. Perfect
Speaker 2: for bulk operations. Think updating hundreds of user accounts, migrating mailboxes.
Speaker 2: You import a CSV file, maybe with columns like user
Speaker 2: email title. Then you loop through accessing data like I
Speaker 2: dot user or I email connects directly to things like
Speaker 2: updating active directory, user attributes, city, state, job title. All
Speaker 2: that and you can weave right log right into that process.
Speaker 2: Log Each updates successful or not, leaves a clear audit trail.
Speaker 1: So it's not just fire and forget you know exactly
Speaker 1: what happened precisely.
Speaker 2: Now. For simpler lists, maybe just a text file with
Speaker 2: server names one per line, use get content and you
Speaker 2: typically loop through that using for each object. Or hey,
Speaker 2: sometimes the data might just be an array you define
Speaker 2: right in the script, like servers at server zero one,
Speaker 2: server zero two. If it's a short list, and what
Speaker 2: if you need.
Speaker 1: The script to ask the user something all t running
Speaker 1: which server? Or are you sure bad? That kind of thing?
Speaker 2: Interactive input read host is your friend.
Speaker 1: There.
Speaker 2: It prompts the user and waits for their input. It
Speaker 2: gets really powerful with a secure string. Use that to
Speaker 2: securely tap your passwords or other sensitive info. It encrypts
Speaker 2: the input immediately, so it's never stored or logged as plaintext.
Speaker 2: Absolutely vital for things like Office three sixty five logins
Speaker 2: or apikes. What you get back is a PS credential
Speaker 2: object that's PowerShell's secure way to handle those credentials within
Speaker 2: the script.
Speaker 1: This really makes scripts feel more intelligent. We're moving beyond
Speaker 1: just simple commands to something that gathers info, logs progress,
Speaker 1: even cleans up.
Speaker 2: Indeed, these methods let you build scripts that are not
Speaker 2: just powerful, but also robust auditible, user friendly. They handle
Speaker 2: data the way you actually encounter it in day to
Speaker 2: day It work. It's about building real solutions.
Speaker 1: Okay, moving beyond just text input, what about more interactive ways,
Speaker 1: maybe even graphical? And then let's tackle something huge modules.
Speaker 1: How can we make scripts even more user friendly, say
Speaker 1: for someone who isn't super technical?
Speaker 2: Well, for more interactive input, the book actually shares a
Speaker 2: neat cheat code function. Let's you create a simple GUI button.
Speaker 2: Now it's probably less common for pure server automation, but
Speaker 2: it creates a basic Windows form, you know, textboxes and ok.
Speaker 2: Button makes scripts feel more engaging, maybe more intuitive for
Speaker 2: users who prefer clicking over typing. The values they enter
Speaker 2: get passed back to your script in an array like
Speaker 2: return dollars. Interesting, and another really useful interactive bit is
Speaker 2: a simple yes no prompt. You can use a wscript
Speaker 2: dot shell pop up crucial for getting confirmation before doing
Speaker 2: something critical like do you want to overwrite ad attributes?
Speaker 2: Stops accidents, essential safety check.
Speaker 1: That's a handy trick, especially for scripts running locally. Okay,
Speaker 1: now let's talk modules. The book calls them the batteries
Speaker 1: of power show. What are they exactly and why are
Speaker 1: they so important for modern automation? Right?
Speaker 2: Modules? Think of them as a package that contains PowerShell members, fnmellets, functions,
Speaker 2: variables all bundle together. They're not just code packages, though,
Speaker 2: they're really essential for interacting with a wide range of
Speaker 2: products and services. We're talking Azure Office three sixty five,
Speaker 2: Exchange Online, Teams, Serpoint Online, even aws everything. So you're
Speaker 2: not just automating local stuff, You're orchestrating big, enterprise wide
Speaker 2: workflows using tools built specifically for those platforms.
Speaker 1: That really frames their importance. So where do you find
Speaker 1: these batteries and how do you plug them in?
Speaker 2: The main hub is the PowerShell Gallery at www dot
Speaker 2: PowerShell gallery dot com. It's the central repository for almost
Speaker 2: all public modules. Installing is usually simple, install module, dash name,
Speaker 2: Azure aid for example. You can update them too, update
Speaker 2: module or install module names. Some module forced to overwrite
Speaker 2: an existing version and remove module gets rid of them.
Speaker 2: Since PowerShell v three modules often load automatically when you
Speaker 2: try to use one of their commands, pretty slick, but
Speaker 2: import module still works if you need to load one explicitly.
Speaker 2: Oh in just a quick note, snappins. That's the legacy
Speaker 2: approach Older stuff like Exchange two thousand and seven, two
Speaker 2: thousand sen maybe quest eight tools modules are the way forward.
Speaker 1: Got it? And speaking of specific modules, the AUSO has
Speaker 1: his own right the v sadmin cheap module. What's special
Speaker 1: about that one? Ah?
Speaker 2: Yes, the v sadmin module. It's a really powerful resource
Speaker 2: Visus built himself, packed with functions to streamline common, often
Speaker 2: tricky admin tasks. Like it has converts CSV to Excel
Speaker 2: huge benefit. Converts CSV to a proper Excel file without
Speaker 2: needing Excel installed on the server. That's amazing for automation wow,
Speaker 2: Or get AD group members Recursive gets all members of
Speaker 2: an AD group, even if they're nested deep inside other groups.
Speaker 2: Saves a ton of manual effort. Then there's get off
Speaker 2: and save encrypted password crucial for handling credentials securely saving
Speaker 2: them to ENCRYPTI files or getting ps credential objects for
Speaker 2: PowerShell commands.
Speaker 1: That secure credential handling sounds vital. Where are cloud stuff
Speaker 1: like connecting to Microsoft three sixty five That could be
Speaker 1: fiddley sometimes.
Speaker 2: Absolutely The launch and remove functions are great for that,
Speaker 2: like launchioll for Exchange Online, launch SPO for SharePoint Online.
Speaker 2: They simplify the whole connection and disconnection process. And importantly
Speaker 2: they support using a client ID and certificate for app authentication.
Speaker 2: That's the modern secure way for scripts to connect without
Speaker 2: needing usernames and passwords stored anywhere.
Speaker 1: Much better, definitely.
Speaker 2: The module also helps with hybrid environments by encouraging command
Speaker 2: prefixes like get EO mailbox versus get mailbox so you
Speaker 2: know which environment you're targeting, avoids confusion. Plus little helpers
Speaker 2: like new random password for generating complex passwords right there
Speaker 2: in your script.
Speaker 1: This is fantastic stuff. So you can make scripts interactive,
Speaker 1: tap into this huge library of modules for different systems
Speaker 1: and even use custom ones like vsadmin for specific shortcuts.
Speaker 1: Really expands what's possible, right.
Speaker 2: And it brings up a good point in this world
Speaker 2: of just information everywhere, how do you manage your own
Speaker 2: automation effectively? Modules are key. They give you the tools
Speaker 2: for specific platforms, and things like visadmin are designed to
Speaker 2: really simplify those common everyday admin headaches.
Speaker 1: Okay, we've got our toolkit built. Let's talk about making
Speaker 1: scripts truly production ready error reporting and well just reporting
Speaker 1: in general, because a silent failure that can be worse
Speaker 1: than no script at all.
Speaker 2: You absolutely nailed it. Error reporting is a non negotiable
Speaker 2: they must have you need to know if something breaks.
Speaker 2: PowerShell has a built in variable error It holds all
Speaker 2: the errors from your current session. You can grab the
Speaker 2: most recent error eer dollars and email at using tenmail message,
Speaker 2: or the sabin module has a send email function that's
Speaker 2: better at handling the whole error array. If you want
Speaker 2: more context and super important, remember error dot clear at
Speaker 2: the start of your script, Otherwise you might send old,
Speaker 2: irrelevant errors for a complete play by play. Start transcript
Speaker 2: and stop transcript are fantastic. They log everything output commands,
Speaker 2: entered errors to a text file, great for debugging or auditing,
Speaker 2: and you can also explicitly log errors using that write
Speaker 2: log function we mentioned setting the severity to error.
Speaker 1: Okay, so we can log comprehensively and get notified. But
Speaker 1: what about making the script itself tougher so it doesn't
Speaker 1: just fall over when it hits a snag.
Speaker 2: That's where tricatch blocks are essential. They provide a more
Speaker 2: structured way to handle exception errors. Basically, you put the
Speaker 2: code that might fail inside the triblock. If an error occurs,
Speaker 2: the catch block runs instead of the script crashing. Inside
Speaker 2: the catch, you can log the specific error, send an
Speaker 2: email notification, maybe try an alternative action, or just exit gracefully.
Speaker 2: It makes your scripts much more robust, much more reliable
Speaker 2: for production use.
Speaker 1: Okay, that makes scripts resilient. Now, once it has run
Speaker 1: successful or not, you often need to present the results,
Speaker 1: maybe to management, maybe just for your own records. That's
Speaker 1: where good reporting comes in.
Speaker 2: Absolutely reports are essential tools. Presenting data clearly helps stakeholders
Speaker 2: understand what's happening, helps improve processes. Export CSV is probably
Speaker 2: the workhorse here, a powerful and flexible tool for getting
Speaker 2: data into spreadsheets. Exporting mailbox details, name, email address, quota
Speaker 2: from Exchange simple effective right. For more complex CSV reports,
Speaker 2: you might need to pull data from multiple places, maybe
Speaker 2: get user info from ad than mailbox stats from Exchange.
Speaker 2: Based on a list of users, you'd fetch the data
Speaker 2: from each source, combine it into a custom object in PowerShell,
Speaker 2: and then export that combined object to CSV.
Speaker 1: And what about those tricky fields that have multiple values,
Speaker 1: like recipients on an email log? How does CSV handle that?
Speaker 2: Good question? For multi valued attributes, export CSV lets you
Speaker 2: use custom expressions. You can join all the values into
Speaker 2: a single string, maybe separated by commas or semicolons like
Speaker 2: aud at name recipients, expression at of recipients next join
Speaker 2: makes the CSV readable clever.
Speaker 1: Okay, CSV is great, but sometimes you need something nicer
Speaker 1: looking like Excel or even HTL for a dashboard.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for Excel reporting it often looks more polished and
Speaker 2: user friendly, especially for management charts formatting. All that. Method
Speaker 2: one is using a cheap function like save cs V
Speaker 2: to Excel from vsadman. But remember that usually needs Excel
Speaker 2: actually installed where the script runs.
Speaker 1: Ah.
Speaker 2: Okay, limitation there, which brings us to method two, the
Speaker 2: import Excel module. This thing is seriously powerful, probably the
Speaker 2: most popular and powerful PowerShell module for Excel work. Key
Speaker 2: advantage it lets you create and manipulate real Excel files
Speaker 2: without needing Excel installed. Huge for server automation. Cannot stress
Speaker 2: that enough.
Speaker 1: That is a game changer. Wow, and HTML.
Speaker 2: Hmail reporting is great for visual dashboards. Think traffic light
Speaker 2: indicators showing service status read for down, green for up.
Speaker 2: Easily viewable in a browser. You can even use online
Speaker 2: HTML editors like HTML dash online dot com editor to
Speaker 2: design your table or layout. Then grab the HTML code
Speaker 2: and embed it right into your PowerShell script to populate
Speaker 2: with live data. The Exchange health check example uses this.
Speaker 1: This is truly getting to power user level building in
Speaker 1: safety nets, robust error handling, and then presenting results professionally.
Speaker 1: That knowledge is invaluable.
Speaker 2: It really is. Knowledge is great, but it's most valuable
Speaker 2: when understood and applied right. These techniques ensure errors get logged, reported,
Speaker 2: handled properly, and that your data gets presented clearly. Leads
Speaker 2: to more reliable systems, better decisions. Transforms a simple script
Speaker 2: into a proper solution.
Speaker 1: We've covered so much basics, data handling, security, error handley, reporting, shoe.
Speaker 1: Now let's get into some advanced hacks, cool ways to
Speaker 1: manipulate data, and then, crucially, how do we glue all
Speaker 1: these pieces together solve those real world problems right?
Speaker 2: Some miscellaneous keywords that are data manipulation masters, split super
Speaker 2: useful breaks a string into pieces based on a character,
Speaker 2: like splitting an email first dot last at domain dot
Speaker 2: com on the dat and at to get first name,
Speaker 2: last name domain. Replace does what it says, substitutes text.
Speaker 2: Maybe replace dot wit in that email address if you
Speaker 2: need it. For a file name selects string. This is
Speaker 2: like rep for powersheld people searches for text patterns inside files. Example,
Speaker 2: get child items, CE data logs, select string to pattern
Speaker 2: r instantly finds all lines containing error in your logs.
Speaker 2: Massive time saver for troubleshooting.
Speaker 1: Definitely faster than opening each file. What about compare object
Speaker 1: sounds powerful?
Speaker 2: Oh it is? Compare object is highly efficient for comparing
Speaker 2: two sets of data files or raise whatever. Perfect for
Speaker 2: comparing AD group memberships. Find who's in group A but
Speaker 2: not group B or vice versa. Let's you synchronize groups,
Speaker 2: add the missing or remove the extras ensure they match perfectly.
Speaker 2: Also great for emerging CSV files based on a common field,
Speaker 2: like matching up user details with their OneDrive usage sets.
Speaker 1: This is absolutely the aha moment. We've seen all these tools, variables, loops, modules,
Speaker 1: error handling, reporting, and now you're showing how they connect,
Speaker 1: how they solve actual common IT problems. Takes it from
Speaker 1: theory to real.
Speaker 2: Results exactly, and there's always more to learn. But seeing
Speaker 2: how the pieces fit that lets you build really sophisticated,
Speaker 2: efficient solutions for your daily work. Let's walk through that
Speaker 2: scenario again, adding users from an HR file to an
Speaker 2: AD group for say fileshare access your scripts. Would you know,
Speaker 2: maybe add some headers for clarity, import the modules needed,
Speaker 2: visadmin active directory, define your variables, dot log file path,
Speaker 2: the user list file, the AD group name. Maybe how
Speaker 2: many old logs to keep. Then the main loop go
Speaker 2: through each user in the list, check if they're already
Speaker 2: in the group using get ady user member of If not,
Speaker 2: add them with AD eighty group member, and critically sprinkle
Speaker 2: writ log calls throughout log who's being processed, who's added,
Speaker 2: any errors encountered, and at the end set recyclogues to
Speaker 2: clean up those old log files automatically. See that one
Speaker 2: example pulls together variables, file input loops, eighty commands, logging,
Speaker 2: clean up almost everything we've discussed.
Speaker 1: It really crystallizes it, and it shows powershells adaptability. Right,
Speaker 1: It's not just for one thing. The joy is seeing
Speaker 1: these tools apply everywhere.
Speaker 2: That adaptability is its core strength. It's used everywhere with
Speaker 2: Microsoft Exchange, cleaning databases, finding orphan mailboxes, tracking messages, reporting quotas,
Speaker 2: setting quotas you name it, active directory, exporting group members, recursively,
Speaker 2: setting attributes from CSPs, exporting attributes to Excel, adding removing
Speaker 2: users from files, native ad modules, quest modules, Office three
Speaker 2: sixty five detailed exchange online reports, message tracking in the cloud, searching,
Speaker 2: the unified audit log for teams, activity exchange changes, and.
Speaker 1: Beyond the Microsoft stack too.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, AZUREAD or Entra as it's called now, adding
Speaker 2: removing users from cloud groups, checking memberships, assigning admin roles,
Speaker 2: checking provisioning, sink errors, and a really key thing here
Speaker 2: the Microsoft Graph module. The old AZURID and MSOL modules,
Speaker 2: they're on their way out. Microsoft Graph is the unified API,
Speaker 2: the future one way to manage Azure Office three sixty
Speaker 2: five teams, SharePoint, tons more, definitely the way to go
Speaker 2: for future proofing scripts. Good to know even AWS. The
Speaker 2: AWS PowerShell module lets you manage AWS resources like get
Speaker 2: a two instants to list your virtual servers, plus all
Speaker 2: the general tech CSV file operations, quick tricks for headers,
Speaker 2: data cleaning, and don't forget rejx regular express, super powerful
Speaker 2: for matching complex text patterns, validating emails, pulling specific data
Speaker 2: from messilog files. Huge potential. There.
Speaker 1: What a comprehensive tour from PowerShell basics right through to
Speaker 1: advanced data slicing, secure connections, error handling, reporting across just
Speaker 1: about every major IT platform. This deep dive has seriously
Speaker 1: armed you, the listener, with insights and tools to really
Speaker 1: streamline your IT work.
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, and this knowledge means you can take those repetitive,
Speaker 2: time consuming tasks and automate them, improve efficiency and sure
Speaker 2: things are done consistently. Makes you a more effective, more
Speaker 2: valuable IT pro even if you know you didn't start
Speaker 2: out as a coder. It's about using the right tool
Speaker 2: for the job.
Speaker 1: We really encourage you to try some of these cheat
Speaker 1: codes out, explore those ready made scripts maybe at tech wizard,
Speaker 1: dot cloud, downloads like the book mentions, and just to
Speaker 1: leave you with a final thought to chew on, given
Speaker 1: how much time automation can save, what's one small, maybe
Speaker 1: seemingly insignificant, repetitive task in your own digital life or
Speaker 1: workflow that you could maybe start automating today, And how
Speaker 1: I might tackling just that one small thing ripple out
Speaker 1: and save you hours, maybe even days over the next year.
Speaker 1: Something to think about.