Monthly Archives: May 2007

System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory

Posted on Thursday 31 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

.NET has two main namespaces for accessing Active Directory.  System.DirectoryServices is a .NET wrapper for ADSI.  It contains two main .NET classes of interest – System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry whichis more directly accessible using the [ADSI] accelarator.  We use this for the manipulation … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Directory administration with PowerShell | Leave a comment

Microsoft Script Center

Posted on Thursday 31 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

Keep an eye on the Script Center next week there should be a PowerShell Guide for beginners and a downloadable (and cmdlet accessible) graphical help for PowerShell become available   Script Center is here  http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/default.mspx   PowerShell section is here … Continue reading →

Posted in Powershell | Leave a comment

MCITP certfications

Posted on Wednesday 30 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

Heard on a web cast today that the new generation of Microsoft certifications will have a limited life.   Technology Specialist (MCTS) will expire when a new version of the technology is released.  The exam will remain on the transcript … Continue reading →

Posted in General IT matters | 1 Comment

Community Day

Posted on Wednesday 30 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

The 21 June UK User Group Community Day at Microsoft UK offices in Reading is rapdily filling up.  If you want to attend I would advise booking soon.  The day will include presentations from the PowerShell, Exchange, Groove and Sharepoint … Continue reading →

Posted in Events | Leave a comment

PowerPad

Posted on Wednesday 30 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

Came across an interesting free new addition to the PowerShell toolset on the PowerShell newsgroup http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/list/en-us/default.aspx?&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.windows.powershell&p=1&tid=a3b829f6-50d5-43a8-82e8-523f888c2628   PowerPad is an editor come scratch pad for interactive PowerShell development.  One of the great strengths of PowerShell is the ability to test … Continue reading →

Posted in Powershell | Leave a comment

Using Interop Assemblies

Posted on Tuesday 29 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

PowerShell is able to work directly with COM objects by using the New-Object cmdlet. If we wanted to work with Word for instance we could use the following to open Word with a new document ready to accept input. $word … Continue reading →

Posted in Powershell | 4 Comments

PowerShell: The Flexibility

Posted on Tuesday 29 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

After using PowerShell for a while you realise that there are many ways of performing the same task. If you search the Internet for examples for performing a task in PowerShell you will be likely to find several, in some … Continue reading →

Posted in Powershell | Leave a comment

PowerShell Guide – WMI

Posted on Monday 28 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

I have completed the AD section of the guide and added a section on WMI as well.  As always comments are appreciated.  The Guide can be found here  http://www.codeplex.com/PsObject/Wiki/View.aspx?title=PSH%20Community%20Guide&referringTitle=Home   Please read and comment if you find anything that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Powershell | Leave a comment

UserAccountControl

Posted on Monday 28 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

The UserAccountControl is an attribute on Active Directory Objects that describes the state of the object.  The attribute is treated as a series of bit flags each of which has a separate meaning.  For instance a normal account takes the … Continue reading →

Posted in Active Directory administration with PowerShell | Leave a comment

Information dissemination

Posted on Monday 28 May 2007 by richardsiddaway

I was recently asked if it was OK to reproduce the key points of a PowerShell talk that I gave.  My answer is that the more the information is spread around the better.    As I’ve said before I think … Continue reading →

Posted in Powershell | Leave a comment