Stefan Stranger's Weblog - Manage your IT Infrastructure

"People are strange when you're a stranger" (The Doors)

Moving blog to Github pages

I'm moving my new blog posts to Github pages to keep sharing my knowledge on different IT related...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 10/06/2018

Automatically generating PowerShell cmdlets to manage or access a RESTful Web Service?

This week there was a conversation on Twitter about creating a WorldCup PowerShell Module using...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 06/16/2018

Connect to Azure SQL Database by obtaining a token from Azure Active Directory (AAD)

Scenario: Use an Access Token from an Azure Service Principal to connect to an Azure SQL Database....

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 06/06/2018

Parsing your ARM Template Output in VSTS Pipelines

Did you know you can store your ARM template output in a VSTS variable and parse that data for later...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 05/10/2018

Access my Docker for Windows Kubernetes Cluster from Debian WSL

Yesterday I tweeted about me being able to access my Docker for Windows Kubernetes Cluster from...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 04/02/2018

Lessons learned deploying Azure MarketPlace Virtual Machine

Last week I needed to deploy an Windows 2016 Data Science Virtual Machine from the Azure...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 03/25/2018

Installing Azure CLI on Debian GNU/Linux for WSL

We just released the Debian GNU/Linux for WSL. More information can be found at the following...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 03/08/2018

Running ACS-Engine in Docker container

This sprint I've been busy with the implementation of running Kubernetes in Azure. What is...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 01/05/2018

I've been using Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) for almost all my development projects. VSTS is a...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 12/07/2017

Running Universal Dashboard in a Docker Instance

Universal Dashboard Adam Driscoll the creator of the PowerShell Pro Tools for Visual Studio has...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 09/16/2017

Triggering Azure Automation Runbooks using the Azure ARM REST API

There are many ways to start an Azure Automation Runbook. You can start the Runbook from the Azure...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 08/09/2017

Testing Azure Resource Manager template functions

In Azure Resource Manager (ARM) you can use template functions to help deploy resources in Azure. I...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 08/02/2017

Using Azure Custom Script Extension to execute scripts on Azure VMs

With Azure Custom Script Extension you can download and execute scripts on Azure virtual machines....

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 07/31/2017

Azure Logic Apps - Schedule your Runbooks more often than every hour

In my last blog post I explained how you could use Azure Scheduler to have your Runbooks run more...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 06/23/2017

Azure Scheduler - Schedule your Runbooks more often than every hour

Have you ever wanted to schedule your Azure Automation Runbook every 15 minutes? Scenario Suppose...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 06/21/2017

Using Microsoft Flow with Web Services to send messages to Microsoft Teams

In this blog post I'm going to explain how you can use Microsoft Flow to query a REST API Web...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 06/01/2017

Using Pester for release validation in VSTS

Lately I'm using VSTS (Visual Studio Team Service) more often and I have also implemented several...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 05/25/2017

PSConf EU Summary Day 1

This week I attended the PowerShell Conference EU in Hannover in Germany and it was one of the best...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 05/07/2017

Sending messages to Microsoft Teams from Visual Studio Code

This week I released my first Visual Studio Code Extension for Microsoft Teams. Are you already...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 04/21/2017

Azure Automation new Microsoft Flow Service

Did you know we just added Azure Automation as new service for Microsoft Flow? Azure Automation...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 03/30/2017

Azure Automation Runbook Webhook lesson learned

You can start an Azure Automation Runbook with a webhook. A webhook allows you to start a particular...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 03/18/2017

Using PowerShell Modules in Azure Functions

Steve Lee published a couple of blog posts about how he created a PowerShell Open Source Community...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 02/27/2017

Run Azure Runbooks with a Bot in Microsoft Teams or Skype

While working on a customer scenario where Azure Automation Runbooks needed to be started as easy as...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 02/04/2017

PowerShell Azure Functions lessons learned

Lately I’m playing with PowerShell Azure Functions and I learned there are some things I needed to...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 01/29/2017

Installing Linux packages on an Azure VM using PowerShell DSC

I’m currently working at a customer who is moving to our Azure Cloud and wants to deploy their Azure...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 01/12/2017

Using the Azure ARM REST API – End to end Example Part 2

This blog post is a continuation of the third blog post in this Azure (ARM) REST API series. Please...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 11/20/2016

Use Microsoft Flow to send a message to Microsoft Teams

Yesterday I wrote short blog post on how you could use a Webhook Connector to send data from...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 11/04/2016

Using the Azure ARM REST API – End to end Example Part 1

In the first two blog post about using the Azure (ARM) REST API I explained how to get the Access...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 11/04/2016

Use Webhook Connector to send data from PowerShell to Microsoft Teams

Yesterday we announced Microsoft Teams, a new chat-based workspace in Office 365. Microsoft Teams is...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 11/03/2016

Using the Azure ARM REST API – Get Subscription Information

In the fist blog post over using the Azure ARM REST API I explained how to retrieve the Access Token...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 10/29/2016

Using the Azure ARM REST API – Get Access Token

This week I’ve been busy with trying to figure out how you can ‘directly’ talk to the Azure ARM REST...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 10/21/2016

Using the HTTP OMS Data Collector API for real-world scenario’s–Part 3

This is the third part in this using the HTTP OMS Data Collector API for real-world scenario’s...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 09/23/2016

Using the HTTP OMS Data Collector API for real-world scenario’s–Part 2

In the first part of this blog post series I started with a PowerShell function to retrieve stock...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 09/07/2016

Using the HTTP OMS Data Collector API for real-world scenario’s–Part 1

If you are a user of the Operations Manager Suite (OMS) you probably have seen the announcement we...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 09/05/2016

Using Xterm as terminal for PowerShell on Linux

You could have not missed the information that we open sourced PowerShell and that it is available...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 08/22/2016

Using Wunderlist Module in Azure Automation–Part 2

In the first part of this blog post series about using Using Wunderlist Module in Azure Automation I...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 08/08/2016

Using Wunderlist Module in Azure Automation–Part 1

Last week I released my first version of the PowerShell Wunderlist Module on the PowerShell Gallery....

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 08/08/2016

Setting up Source Control for Azure Automation

Did you already noticed that you can now setup Source Control for your Azure Automation account?...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 08/05/2016

Using ARM Policies to implement Runbook Best Practices

Have you ever heard of Azure Resource Manager Policies? With policies, you can prevent users in your...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 07/01/2016

Developing Azure Automation Runbooks–using correct modules

When developing Runbooks for Azure Automation I noticed that it’s important to use the same (Global)...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 06/15/2016

Using Verbose messages in Azure Automation Runbooks

While developing PowerShell scripts I like to add Verbose messages to my scripts. If you want to...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 06/10/2016

Ignore OMS Assessment Recommendations

Did you know you can ignore OMS Assessment recommendations by putting a text file that OMS will use...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 03/16/2016

Call Word vba Macro from PowerShell

This week I was asked to help with removing tables in a large Word (docx) document when tables...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 03/15/2016

Re-blog: Collecting Microsoft Band Data in OMS Using PowerShell in OpsMgr

This blog post references a blog post from one of my PFE collegues Wei Hao Lim. He used my...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 01/31/2016

Sealing referenced Management Packs for MP Authoring

This week I again had the ‘pleasure’ of needing sealed Management Packs when trying to author...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 10/22/2015

Downloading MP Wiki info

As OpsMgr engineers we regularly check the Microsoft Management Pack Wiki for update info about...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 10/08/2015

Integrate solutions with Azure Automation - Part 1 (Wunderlist)

In the last couple of months I’ve been using Azure Automation more and more to integrate...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 07/24/2015

Update: Installing Windows Live Writer on Windows 10

UPDATE: I just found out that with the correct version of WLW you can install it without all the...

Author: Stefan Stranger Date: 07/23/2015

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