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luke.geek.nz

An IT Engineer with a love for all things IT including (but not limited to), Microsoft Azure, Automation and Service Management!

  1. Using PowerShell DSC for Windows Hardening

    I am not a DSC (Desired State Configuration) expert, however, the technology has always interested me and as such, something I like to dabble in it. There are many reasons for using PowerShell DSC and hopefully today, I can help enlighten you towards some of its use. DSC can be used for things such as: Installing IIS and other Windows Features – and making sure they are installed! Installing Apache – Yes – even on...…

  2. Using PowerShell to start the DFS Namespace service

    Distributed File System (DFS) has some service dependencies - so if those don’t start the DFS Namespace service will also not start. The dependencies are: Remote Registry Security Accounts Manager Server Workstation I have seen the Remote Registry service become the culprit of the DFS-N service not starting. In my experience, this had been caused by antivirus software changing the Remote Registry service to Disabled start-up type so when the DFS-N server restarts, one of...…

  3. Using PowerShell to disable SMB1

    Although the new versions of Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10 no longer install SMB1 as default, the majority of us are still using older systems, such as earlier versions of Windows 10, Windows 7 and Server 2012 R2 which still has SMB1 enabled. Unfortunately, you may still find legacy systems in your environments that might rely on SMB1, such as legacy Windows Server 2003 or Linux systems, so this is something you shouldn’t just...…

  4. Using PowerShell to connect to Microsoft Azure

    Microsoft Azure has a good user portal where you can do most things, however when it comes to automation, gathering a lot of information at once and more in-depth scenarios that the Portal doesn’t quite offer – PowerShell is used. Before you can use PowerShell to connect to Microsoft Azure, you need to install the Azure Resource Manager modules first – follow the guide below: Install and configure Azure PowerShell Once the AzureRM module has...…

  5. How can I learn how to use Microsoft Azure?

    Microsoft Azure is an ever-evolving public cloud offering. In layman’s terms essentially, the servers or virtual hosts you would usually host in your own datacentre are hosted in secure regions all over the world. Normal capacity concerns that you would have needed to manage in the past such as storage and memory are managed by Microsoft directly – giving you the ability to concentrate on what really matters – your applications and users. More information...…