title: Home.md
date: 2020-11-16 00:00:00+02:00
draft: false
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Use PowerShell jobs to ping many from many with log
Once in a while you want to check how stable a connection is between computers. You might want to ping one or two machines from several others to find out if there is some issues with the network somewhere. You could use the built-in cmdlet Test-Connection and log the results to a log file but then you will not be able to log timeouts since the cmdlet returns an error when timeouts occur.
PowerShell logo made with CSS3
If you are following this blog you might have noticed some small changes here and there. I have been playing around with CSS in search of something that I like. While playing with CSS I started to wonder how hard it would be to create the PowerShell logo with only CSS, and it turned out it was not that hard. Unfortunately it requires some CSS3 components which not all browsers support, so depending on your browser the logo in the end of this post might or might not show properly.
What is this here-string people are talking about?
When long strings need to be generated it could sometimes be cumbersome to keep adding strings together, especially if you want the string to contain several lines, tabs and special characters. Here-string can solve that problem and is very easy to use. Lets first look at a simple example of how regular strings work with variables, new lines and tabs. After that we look at an example of how to use here-string instead to make the code easier to read.
Dynamic parameters in PowerShell executes before you know it
When creating script cmdlets in PowerShell you can use dynamic parameters to create some advanced parameters. A few months back I was playing around a bit with dynamic parameters to see how it works and I noticed that the logic for the dynamic parameters is executed as soon as the verb is written in the console within PowerShell ISE. Let’s create a cmdlet to prove this theory. The cmdlet below will simply open a text file in the PowerShell ISE from the folder C:\temp.
Making PowerShell expressions easier
Expressions in PowerShell have a weird syntax and can quickly become complicated and hard to read. I thought about a way to make the syntax a bit easier to read and came up with a solution that might work for some cases. This solution contains two classes which can be used when piping to Select-Object for example. The first class describes the actual expression. class Xpression { [string]$Name [scriptblock]$Expression [hashtable] getExpression() { return @{ Name = $this.
Simple select from database with PowerShell
There are a few ways of getting data from SQL Server in PowerShell. This is one way of doing it which is quite simple and does not require the SQL Server module. The sample below shows how to get started. If you are planning on creating a script for serious use you need to add error handling and investigate a bit more what each line actually does so that you are in full control.
How to use splatting in PowerShell
I still hear a lot of people who don’t know how splatting works in Powershell. Splatting was introduced in Powershell 2.0 so it has been around for a while and it can make scripts look more clean and easy to read. This is how Microsoft explains splatting: Splatting is a method of passing a collection of parameter values to a command as unit. Windows PowerShell associates each value in the collection with a command parameter.
Get-IMDBmovie using Invoke-WebRequest
Some time ago I was playing around a bit with Invoke-WebRequest and wanted to know a bit more about what I could do with that cmdlet. I ended up creating a cmdlet to get movie information from IMDB.com. I thought I would share how that script since the same principles can be applied in many situations. PS C:\> Get-ImdbMovie -Title 'Star Trek' Title : Star Trek Into Darkness Directors : J.
Classes in Powershell 5.0
One of the big new features in Powershell 5.0 is classes. You can now define your own classes and create objects based on those custom classes. You can even create your own version of an existing class using inheritance. In previous version of Powershell it was actually possible to create classes, but you had to write code in other languages like C# or Visual basic and then use that piece of code as the definition of the class.
How to get started with Powershell
Do you want to get started with Powershell but you dont know where to start? To get you started I have collected a bunch of links which has helped a lot of people to get going with Powershell. These links range from the most basic introductions to advanced scripting and history lessons. Lets start with the basic stuff to anyone new to Powershell. These links are also good if you have learned by yourself over the years, since it might help you break bad habbits you dont know you have.
Use PowerShell jobs to ping many from many with log - February 6, 2016
Once in a while you want to check how stable a connection is between computers. You might want to ping one or two machines from several others to find out if there is some issues with the network somewhere. You could use the built-in cmdlet Test-Connection and log the results to a log file but then you will not be able to log timeouts since the cmdlet returns an error when timeouts occur.
PowerShell logo made with CSS3 - July 27, 2015
If you are following this blog you might have noticed some small changes here and there. I have been playing around with CSS in search of something that I like. While playing with CSS I started to wonder how hard it would be to create the PowerShell logo with only CSS, and it turned out it was not that hard. Unfortunately it requires some CSS3 components which not all browsers support, so depending on your browser the logo in the end of this post might or might not show properly.
What is this here-string people are talking about? - July 24, 2015
When long strings need to be generated it could sometimes be cumbersome to keep adding strings together, especially if you want the string to contain several lines, tabs and special characters. Here-string can solve that problem and is very easy to use. Lets first look at a simple example of how regular strings work with variables, new lines and tabs. After that we look at an example of how to use here-string instead to make the code easier to read.
Dynamic parameters in PowerShell executes before you know it - July 21, 2015
When creating script cmdlets in PowerShell you can use dynamic parameters to create some advanced parameters. A few months back I was playing around a bit with dynamic parameters to see how it works and I noticed that the logic for the dynamic parameters is executed as soon as the verb is written in the console within PowerShell ISE. Let’s create a cmdlet to prove this theory. The cmdlet below will simply open a text file in the PowerShell ISE from the folder C:\temp.
Making PowerShell expressions easier - July 14, 2015
Expressions in PowerShell have a weird syntax and can quickly become complicated and hard to read. I thought about a way to make the syntax a bit easier to read and came up with a solution that might work for some cases. This solution contains two classes which can be used when piping to Select-Object for example. The first class describes the actual expression. class Xpression { [string]$Name [scriptblock]$Expression [hashtable] getExpression() { return @{ Name = $this.
Simple select from database with PowerShell - July 14, 2015
There are a few ways of getting data from SQL Server in PowerShell. This is one way of doing it which is quite simple and does not require the SQL Server module. The sample below shows how to get started. If you are planning on creating a script for serious use you need to add error handling and investigate a bit more what each line actually does so that you are in full control.
How to use splatting in PowerShell - July 9, 2015
I still hear a lot of people who don’t know how splatting works in Powershell. Splatting was introduced in Powershell 2.0 so it has been around for a while and it can make scripts look more clean and easy to read. This is how Microsoft explains splatting: Splatting is a method of passing a collection of parameter values to a command as unit. Windows PowerShell associates each value in the collection with a command parameter.
Get-IMDBmovie using Invoke-WebRequest - March 4, 2015
Some time ago I was playing around a bit with Invoke-WebRequest and wanted to know a bit more about what I could do with that cmdlet. I ended up creating a cmdlet to get movie information from IMDB.com. I thought I would share how that script since the same principles can be applied in many situations. PS C:\> Get-ImdbMovie -Title 'Star Trek' Title : Star Trek Into Darkness Directors : J.
Classes in Powershell 5.0 - March 1, 2015
One of the big new features in Powershell 5.0 is classes. You can now define your own classes and create objects based on those custom classes. You can even create your own version of an existing class using inheritance. In previous version of Powershell it was actually possible to create classes, but you had to write code in other languages like C# or Visual basic and then use that piece of code as the definition of the class.
How to get started with Powershell - February 22, 2015
Do you want to get started with Powershell but you dont know where to start? To get you started I have collected a bunch of links which has helped a lot of people to get going with Powershell. These links range from the most basic introductions to advanced scripting and history lessons. Lets start with the basic stuff to anyone new to Powershell. These links are also good if you have learned by yourself over the years, since it might help you break bad habbits you dont know you have.