1 00:00:03,439 --> 00:00:05,759 Welcome to episode 398 2 00:00:05,759 --> 00:00:08,720 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro podcast recorded 3 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:11,619 live on 03/25/2025. 4 00:00:11,759 --> 00:00:13,844 This is a show about Microsoft three sixty 5 00:00:13,844 --> 00:00:15,924 five in Azure from the perspective of IT 6 00:00:15,924 --> 00:00:17,925 pros and end users, where we discuss the 7 00:00:17,925 --> 00:00:20,085 topic or recent news and how it relates 8 00:00:20,085 --> 00:00:22,564 to you. This week, Ben and Scott are 9 00:00:22,564 --> 00:00:24,804 both out at the annual MVP summit. And 10 00:00:24,804 --> 00:00:26,589 while we can't talk about what we're learning 11 00:00:26,589 --> 00:00:28,689 out here, we can talk to other MVPs 12 00:00:28,750 --> 00:00:30,750 that are out here with us. So, for 13 00:00:30,750 --> 00:00:33,629 this episode, Ben sits down with Harm at 14 00:00:33,629 --> 00:00:36,829 Feinstra for a chat. They discuss everything from 15 00:00:36,829 --> 00:00:39,469 Harm's experience becoming an MVP to what he's 16 00:00:39,469 --> 00:00:41,685 been doing with PowerShell, as well as his 17 00:00:41,685 --> 00:00:43,844 work around Microsoft Intune, and how he even 18 00:00:43,844 --> 00:00:46,005 uses PowerShell with some of the Intune and 19 00:00:46,005 --> 00:00:48,244 other Microsoft three sixty five work that he 20 00:00:48,244 --> 00:00:48,744 does. 21 00:00:50,804 --> 00:00:53,204 So we're here, MVP summit. Scott and I 22 00:00:53,204 --> 00:00:54,325 are actually both out here. We do a 23 00:00:54,325 --> 00:00:57,969 few interviews. So Scott's somewhere off gallivanting around 24 00:00:57,969 --> 00:01:00,369 with other people, but Harm, you ran into 25 00:01:00,369 --> 00:01:00,869 Scott 26 00:01:01,329 --> 00:01:02,850 yesterday. Yes, sir. Right? You run a product 27 00:01:02,850 --> 00:01:04,209 round table, you were talking with him, and 28 00:01:04,209 --> 00:01:06,129 we're like, hey, we should do a podcast 29 00:01:06,129 --> 00:01:08,894 interview with Harm while you're here. So Yep. 30 00:01:08,974 --> 00:01:10,575 We're sitting down here in one of the 31 00:01:10,575 --> 00:01:13,054 buildings at Microsoft and you wanna introduce yourself, 32 00:01:13,054 --> 00:01:14,734 tell us a little bit about who you 33 00:01:14,734 --> 00:01:16,814 are. Yes. Who is Harm? Who who is 34 00:01:16,814 --> 00:01:19,295 Harm? My name is Harm Feynstra, typical Dutch 35 00:01:19,295 --> 00:01:22,094 name. I'm a partial MVP since last year. 36 00:01:22,094 --> 00:01:24,239 That's the reason why I'm here, my first 37 00:01:24,479 --> 00:01:26,099 annual MVP Summit. Congratulations 38 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:27,700 on your first one. 39 00:01:28,719 --> 00:01:30,239 Oh, it's been it's it's been a while. 40 00:01:30,239 --> 00:01:31,840 It it was not easy getting there, but 41 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:32,420 Yeah. 42 00:01:32,879 --> 00:01:33,280 And, 43 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:36,079 in my normal day to day thing, I'm 44 00:01:36,079 --> 00:01:38,319 an IT consultant. I work for Next, which 45 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:39,700 is a company in The Netherlands, 46 00:01:40,265 --> 00:01:43,724 and we do IT things for larger companies 47 00:01:44,024 --> 00:01:47,625 in The Netherlands. Mostly government, hospitals, industry, those 48 00:01:47,625 --> 00:01:49,465 kind of things. Okay. Companies that move slow 49 00:01:49,465 --> 00:01:50,905 and you have lots of red tape to 50 00:01:50,905 --> 00:01:53,590 cut through and Yes. But you also get 51 00:01:53,590 --> 00:01:56,329 very interesting things. So, yeah, so again, congratulations 52 00:01:56,390 --> 00:01:58,469 on MVP. It'll be We'll talk a little 53 00:01:58,469 --> 00:02:00,469 bit more about that, but how's the summit 54 00:02:00,469 --> 00:02:02,469 been so far? We're like, I mean technically 55 00:02:02,469 --> 00:02:03,689 it's kind of the first 56 00:02:04,069 --> 00:02:05,984 day and we can't talk a whole lot 57 00:02:05,984 --> 00:02:08,064 about our experience Is that just no content? 58 00:02:08,064 --> 00:02:10,064 No. Right. Yeah. No content, but have you 59 00:02:10,064 --> 00:02:12,784 been enjoying it so far? Yes. Besides all 60 00:02:12,784 --> 00:02:14,085 the sessions that I attended 61 00:02:14,544 --> 00:02:15,284 so far, 62 00:02:15,665 --> 00:02:18,224 getting to know and see the actual people 63 00:02:18,224 --> 00:02:20,580 that you only know online here is great. 64 00:02:20,659 --> 00:02:22,819 The community is great. Yep. Right. And that's 65 00:02:22,819 --> 00:02:24,580 always the part like this and all the 66 00:02:24,580 --> 00:02:26,659 conferences. Like, people are like, well, it's virtual. 67 00:02:26,659 --> 00:02:27,939 I can see all the sessions. And it's 68 00:02:27,939 --> 00:02:29,780 like It's not the same. I I did 69 00:02:29,780 --> 00:02:30,759 that last year 70 00:02:31,060 --> 00:02:32,199 because I was, 71 00:02:32,580 --> 00:02:34,740 I became an MVP in March. 72 00:02:34,740 --> 00:02:35,240 Okay. 73 00:02:35,615 --> 00:02:37,615 And I just missed the MVP summit because 74 00:02:37,615 --> 00:02:40,034 of that. And I attended a few sessions. 75 00:02:40,094 --> 00:02:40,594 Firstly, 76 00:02:41,375 --> 00:02:42,814 it's not the same. You don't get to 77 00:02:42,814 --> 00:02:44,495 feel from the room. You don't talk to 78 00:02:44,495 --> 00:02:45,955 people. You don't have the hallway 79 00:02:46,254 --> 00:02:49,680 talks. Yeah. The hallway talks are, like, same 80 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:51,120 thing yesterday. There were some sessions I was 81 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:52,239 gonna go, so we sat down at a 82 00:02:52,239 --> 00:02:53,919 table and started talking to some people, and, 83 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,159 like, three hours later, we're still sitting at 84 00:02:56,159 --> 00:02:57,840 the table. And that's just stuff you don't 85 00:02:57,840 --> 00:02:58,979 get in 86 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:01,199 virtual, whether it's this or I would say 87 00:03:01,199 --> 00:03:03,939 even conferences. Like, as conferences start coming back, 88 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,634 whether it's Ignite, I'm assuming same thing in 89 00:03:06,634 --> 00:03:08,555 The Netherlands. Some of the in person stuff 90 00:03:08,555 --> 00:03:10,314 has started to be open. Meetup with fans, 91 00:03:10,314 --> 00:03:13,275 so yes. Yeah. So what was your experience? 92 00:03:13,275 --> 00:03:15,455 Like, this is always an interesting thing in 93 00:03:15,514 --> 00:03:17,854 talking to different MVPs is that experience 94 00:03:18,290 --> 00:03:20,930 to becoming an MVP. And I know talking 95 00:03:20,930 --> 00:03:22,230 to people that aren't MVPs, 96 00:03:22,689 --> 00:03:25,010 they sometimes have that question as, what does 97 00:03:25,010 --> 00:03:26,550 that path look like? 98 00:03:26,849 --> 00:03:28,950 Everybody, I feel like it's been a little 99 00:03:29,010 --> 00:03:31,170 different in how they got there, what that 100 00:03:31,170 --> 00:03:32,469 process was. So 101 00:03:32,814 --> 00:03:34,574 what has that kind of been like going 102 00:03:34,574 --> 00:03:35,074 from 103 00:03:35,455 --> 00:03:37,074 moving into becoming an MVP? 104 00:03:37,375 --> 00:03:40,814 Well, first, you have to really know what 105 00:03:40,814 --> 00:03:43,134 it takes to become an MVP. You really 106 00:03:43,134 --> 00:03:45,134 gotta put yourself out there. You have to 107 00:03:45,134 --> 00:03:46,514 do your community work. 108 00:03:46,909 --> 00:03:48,750 You you don't necessarily need to speak at 109 00:03:48,750 --> 00:03:50,590 events. That's the thing that hold held me 110 00:03:50,590 --> 00:03:52,430 back because, well, I must be a speaker. 111 00:03:52,430 --> 00:03:54,349 Otherwise, I won't become an amputee. That's not 112 00:03:54,349 --> 00:03:56,050 true. I do a lot for the community, 113 00:03:56,110 --> 00:03:56,769 and that's 114 00:03:57,150 --> 00:03:59,789 enough for becoming an amputee. You still need 115 00:03:59,789 --> 00:04:02,234 to be like somebody like a Microsoft full 116 00:04:02,234 --> 00:04:04,495 time employee or another MVP has to, 117 00:04:05,114 --> 00:04:07,354 try to make you one. Yep. Yep. Fill 118 00:04:07,354 --> 00:04:09,914 up that nomination. The the nomination part. Well 119 00:04:09,995 --> 00:04:12,474 yep. But when that's I think it took, 120 00:04:12,474 --> 00:04:14,400 like, six months for me to become an 121 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,060 MVP because the MVP program changed during 122 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:19,060 during last 123 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,399 September, October last year, and it took like 124 00:04:22,399 --> 00:04:25,060 six months. So yeah. Got it. 125 00:04:26,685 --> 00:04:28,845 Every email that you receive from Microsoft, you 126 00:04:28,845 --> 00:04:30,764 think, this is the moment that they'll tell 127 00:04:30,764 --> 00:04:32,524 me that my name's been and and no, 128 00:04:32,524 --> 00:04:35,185 it's just another status update. It'll take some 129 00:04:35,324 --> 00:04:37,324 longer. We're still working on it. Yeah. It'll 130 00:04:37,324 --> 00:04:39,324 be Yeah. Yeah. And it's interesting that you 131 00:04:39,324 --> 00:04:41,189 bring up the speaker because it is. Like, 132 00:04:41,189 --> 00:04:42,629 you and I were actually talking. We had 133 00:04:42,629 --> 00:04:44,569 lunch together too, and we're hanging out, and 134 00:04:44,789 --> 00:04:47,350 we both, like, do Facebook groups that have 135 00:04:47,350 --> 00:04:48,870 a bunch of people in it moderate that, 136 00:04:48,870 --> 00:04:51,209 and I know you moderate some other communities 137 00:04:51,349 --> 00:04:54,329 where it's not necessarily speaking. That's 138 00:04:54,654 --> 00:04:56,574 one avenue, but it can be something like 139 00:04:56,574 --> 00:04:58,115 a Facebook group or moderating 140 00:04:58,574 --> 00:05:02,354 a community on another website or doing podcasts. 141 00:05:02,495 --> 00:05:04,334 You can contribute in so many ways. Yeah. 142 00:05:04,334 --> 00:05:05,475 Blogs. I noticed 143 00:05:06,014 --> 00:05:07,703 your blog. I went and checked out your 144 00:05:07,703 --> 00:05:09,294 blog too, and I'm like, he does way 145 00:05:09,294 --> 00:05:10,884 better at writing articles on his blog than 146 00:05:10,884 --> 00:05:12,475 I do. My last blog post was like 147 00:05:12,475 --> 00:05:14,066 a year ago. Yeah. And I think that's 148 00:05:14,066 --> 00:05:15,657 another one is people are MVPs are like, 149 00:05:15,657 --> 00:05:17,248 oh, I had a blog all the time. 150 00:05:17,248 --> 00:05:18,839 I haven't blogged in like a year, a 151 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:20,275 year and a half. Yeah. Because I do 152 00:05:20,275 --> 00:05:22,115 the podcast and I do other community stuff. 153 00:05:22,115 --> 00:05:23,475 So So so you have that, but I 154 00:05:23,475 --> 00:05:25,555 have my, like, weekly blog. And it sometimes 155 00:05:25,555 --> 00:05:27,415 it's difficult. You have to have new subjects 156 00:05:27,475 --> 00:05:29,475 every week. Yep. But you get good at 157 00:05:29,475 --> 00:05:31,074 it. Does AI help you come up with 158 00:05:31,074 --> 00:05:32,995 subjects and insight? No. No. It can help 159 00:05:32,995 --> 00:05:34,435 with them all. Yeah. And it it it's 160 00:05:34,435 --> 00:05:36,539 all based on things that I see at 161 00:05:36,539 --> 00:05:39,339 my customers' locations, things that I automate at 162 00:05:39,339 --> 00:05:41,899 home. Yeah. Those are my topics. Yeah. Okay. 163 00:05:41,899 --> 00:05:44,800 Real life. Yeah. So why PowerShell? 164 00:05:45,259 --> 00:05:46,800 Like, that's an interesting 165 00:05:47,180 --> 00:05:49,019 category, and we we were talking a little 166 00:05:49,019 --> 00:05:50,800 bit about that too. But how do you, 167 00:05:51,164 --> 00:05:53,324 I guess, why PowerShell MVP? And then we 168 00:05:53,324 --> 00:05:55,264 can even talk about how you got into 169 00:05:55,485 --> 00:05:57,644 PowerShell too. So Yeah. That's one thing we 170 00:05:57,644 --> 00:05:59,245 both like and I think we both do 171 00:05:59,245 --> 00:06:00,925 different things with it. Yeah. But You can 172 00:06:00,925 --> 00:06:04,044 use PowerShell basically for any Microsoft product because 173 00:06:04,044 --> 00:06:05,870 it's almost, like, mandatory that you have to 174 00:06:05,870 --> 00:06:08,129 have some PowerShell Some different architecture. 175 00:06:08,750 --> 00:06:11,569 With it. I think it started with batch 176 00:06:11,709 --> 00:06:15,629 DOS batch CMD scripting. Okay. I even skipped 177 00:06:15,629 --> 00:06:16,930 the whole VBS part. 178 00:06:17,389 --> 00:06:17,889 But, 179 00:06:18,365 --> 00:06:20,685 yes, because you need automation. As an IT 180 00:06:20,685 --> 00:06:23,004 admin, you need automation, and I don't like 181 00:06:23,004 --> 00:06:25,324 clicking stuff, being a click ops kind of 182 00:06:25,324 --> 00:06:25,824 guy. 183 00:06:26,444 --> 00:06:28,605 So you automate things in. Oh, we have 184 00:06:28,605 --> 00:06:30,944 people waving at us. Yeah. More friends. Right? 185 00:06:31,084 --> 00:06:33,185 More more people from The Netherlands. Yes. 186 00:06:33,930 --> 00:06:36,250 But you start to automate, like, everything because, 187 00:06:36,490 --> 00:06:38,009 as as a good admin, you're a lazy 188 00:06:38,009 --> 00:06:40,490 admin. You automate Right. You know. There's even 189 00:06:40,490 --> 00:06:42,730 that website, like, to go to the lazyadminYeah..com 190 00:06:42,730 --> 00:06:45,464 website for Yeah. Yeah, for PowerShell scripts. Yeah. 191 00:06:45,944 --> 00:06:48,824 But yes. So so that's where everything started, 192 00:06:48,824 --> 00:06:51,144 I guess, because I really like automating stuff 193 00:06:51,144 --> 00:06:51,644 being 194 00:06:52,105 --> 00:06:55,704 this smarter, more efficient at end. Yeah. Yeah. 195 00:06:55,704 --> 00:06:57,464 So that's that's the thing that really drove 196 00:06:57,464 --> 00:06:59,544 me to PowerShell1.zero, 197 00:06:59,544 --> 00:07:01,064 if you can even call it that because 198 00:07:01,064 --> 00:07:03,459 that's that's that's Monet. That's the project name 199 00:07:03,519 --> 00:07:05,680 back then. That's that's been a while. I 200 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:07,839 think I did that because was so I'm 201 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,259 gonna go back and we'll talk about, like, 202 00:07:10,319 --> 00:07:12,480 when you started writing PowerShell. Was that, like, 203 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,365 02/2006? 204 00:07:14,365 --> 00:07:16,925 Two thousand '6? Yeah. Sometime in there. Yep. 205 00:07:16,925 --> 00:07:19,004 Okay. So how did you start writing PowerShell 206 00:07:19,004 --> 00:07:21,884 then? What moved you from because before that 207 00:07:21,884 --> 00:07:23,485 it was like command line, right? Yep. Right? 208 00:07:23,485 --> 00:07:25,665 You did this stuff. You're just calling executables. 209 00:07:25,725 --> 00:07:28,365 Yeah. Batch scripts. Yep. Or not the batch, 210 00:07:28,365 --> 00:07:31,029 batch files. Right? Yep. Yeah. So how do 211 00:07:31,350 --> 00:07:33,509 what caused you to kinda transition into PowerShell? 212 00:07:33,509 --> 00:07:34,569 What drew you to PowerShell? 213 00:07:35,029 --> 00:07:36,970 Because I tried automating 214 00:07:38,069 --> 00:07:40,709 analyzing logs using batch scripting, and it took, 215 00:07:40,709 --> 00:07:43,375 like, weeks of getting the right formats. And 216 00:07:43,375 --> 00:07:44,754 I tried it in PowerShell 217 00:07:45,134 --> 00:07:47,055 even with the early versions, and I was 218 00:07:47,055 --> 00:07:50,254 done in fifteen minutes. Okay. So, yeah, I 219 00:07:50,254 --> 00:07:52,334 really saw the power of it straight away. 220 00:07:52,334 --> 00:07:55,709 Yep. Yeah. Yeah. That's funny. I started so 221 00:07:55,709 --> 00:07:57,569 I came SharePoint background. Yep. 222 00:07:57,949 --> 00:07:59,069 And that's where I was going in my 223 00:07:59,069 --> 00:08:00,910 head when I was thinking about PowerShell one 224 00:08:00,910 --> 00:08:01,350 was 225 00:08:01,790 --> 00:08:04,990 Yep. PowerShell '2 thousand seven, which beta started 226 00:08:04,990 --> 00:08:07,709 coming out 02/2005, '2 thousand '6, had STS 227 00:08:07,709 --> 00:08:09,889 ADM. It was their whole command line interface. 228 00:08:09,949 --> 00:08:13,224 Yep. And I started writing PowerShell scripts to 229 00:08:13,224 --> 00:08:15,784 wrap around the command line interface so that 230 00:08:15,784 --> 00:08:17,644 I could put, like, command line interface 231 00:08:18,024 --> 00:08:20,745 commands to go work with different SharePoint sites 232 00:08:20,745 --> 00:08:23,224 in a loop because writing a loop in 233 00:08:23,224 --> 00:08:25,305 PowerShell was way easier than 234 00:08:25,944 --> 00:08:28,740 Yeah. So so you've been doing PowerShell for 235 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,120 quite a while then. Yeah. How have you 236 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,320 seen that change over time? Like, how have 237 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,720 you gotten excited about it? We're talking about 238 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,360 one. Today, we're at version seven. Version seven. 239 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:41,625 Yeah. Yeah. How has it kinda changed and 240 00:08:41,625 --> 00:08:42,125 evolved 241 00:08:42,585 --> 00:08:44,985 and even how you've used it over the 242 00:08:44,985 --> 00:08:46,664 course of the last or even the sun 243 00:08:46,664 --> 00:08:48,264 really will know? We got it. The last, 244 00:08:48,264 --> 00:08:51,625 like, six, eight Eighteen eighteen years, nineteen years? 245 00:08:51,625 --> 00:08:52,904 Yeah. It's been a 246 00:08:53,785 --> 00:08:57,509 well, since PowerShell version two and three four 247 00:08:57,509 --> 00:08:59,590 came out and since version five, which is, 248 00:08:59,590 --> 00:09:02,070 like, basically included in every Windows version now 249 00:09:02,309 --> 00:09:02,809 Yep. 250 00:09:03,429 --> 00:09:05,509 It has evolved from just being there for 251 00:09:05,509 --> 00:09:06,009 Windows 252 00:09:06,389 --> 00:09:09,544 to also being that's PowerShell six core to 253 00:09:09,544 --> 00:09:11,304 a multi platform thing. And that's the thing 254 00:09:11,304 --> 00:09:13,544 that I really like about Microsoft, not tiny 255 00:09:13,544 --> 00:09:14,444 bit of Microsoft 256 00:09:14,745 --> 00:09:15,245 advocates 257 00:09:15,784 --> 00:09:18,105 here, but, the the whole cross platform thing. 258 00:09:18,105 --> 00:09:19,384 You can run it on Linux, you can 259 00:09:19,384 --> 00:09:20,745 run it on macOS, you can run it 260 00:09:20,745 --> 00:09:22,049 on Windows. Yep. 261 00:09:22,429 --> 00:09:24,670 Make make stuff so much easier. It's it's 262 00:09:24,670 --> 00:09:28,110 platform independent now. Yeah. What's that so I 263 00:09:28,110 --> 00:09:29,790 guess, do you run it on macOS? What 264 00:09:29,790 --> 00:09:31,309 do you use? Do you have you switched 265 00:09:31,309 --> 00:09:33,070 to macOS or you No. No. No. Still, 266 00:09:33,070 --> 00:09:34,910 I'm I'm a I'm a hardcore Windows user. 267 00:09:34,910 --> 00:09:35,889 Okay. Yeah. 268 00:09:36,495 --> 00:09:38,254 But I used it on Linux, even on 269 00:09:38,254 --> 00:09:40,575 my Raspberry Pi at home, for example. You 270 00:09:40,575 --> 00:09:43,054 can use it on everything. Yep. Yeah. It 271 00:09:43,054 --> 00:09:45,375 was it was fun. Like, I got excited 272 00:09:45,375 --> 00:09:46,654 about that too because I've been a Mac 273 00:09:46,654 --> 00:09:48,894 guy for years, and if you've listened to 274 00:09:48,894 --> 00:09:50,559 the podcast, you know I've 275 00:09:50,940 --> 00:09:52,720 kind of You tried to use it to 276 00:09:52,779 --> 00:09:53,919 Windows and, like, 277 00:09:54,379 --> 00:09:55,519 oh, man. But 278 00:09:55,899 --> 00:09:57,659 it is nice to see it and have 279 00:09:57,659 --> 00:09:59,899 that ability to use it across all of 280 00:09:59,899 --> 00:10:01,339 them. Yeah. You only have to learn it 281 00:10:01,339 --> 00:10:03,600 once, and you can reapply it on multiple 282 00:10:03,659 --> 00:10:06,235 OS. Exactly. Or even in the cloud, like, 283 00:10:06,235 --> 00:10:07,754 you can go to run it in Cloud 284 00:10:07,754 --> 00:10:10,235 Shell now, which I think, technically, I think 285 00:10:10,235 --> 00:10:12,254 Cloud Shell runs a lot on a Linux 286 00:10:12,555 --> 00:10:15,035 back ground. It's like a Linux container that's 287 00:10:15,035 --> 00:10:17,610 being started. Yeah. Yeah. So if you're writing 288 00:10:17,610 --> 00:10:20,029 PowerShell in the cloud, you're actually using Linux. 289 00:10:20,889 --> 00:10:22,970 Yeah. It runs on Linux. Yeah. Like like 290 00:10:22,970 --> 00:10:24,809 most of the things in Azure. It does. 291 00:10:24,809 --> 00:10:27,070 Yeah. So what are ways you use PowerShell? 292 00:10:27,210 --> 00:10:29,850 Like, as you, again, started using a cross 293 00:10:29,850 --> 00:10:31,309 platform, day to day work, 294 00:10:32,164 --> 00:10:34,004 what are some of those ways that you 295 00:10:34,004 --> 00:10:36,245 found that that you really enjoy it, that 296 00:10:36,245 --> 00:10:37,544 save you a bunch of time? 297 00:10:38,725 --> 00:10:40,964 Mostly the automation part of the the whole 298 00:10:40,964 --> 00:10:43,445 use management thing, but also for the migrations 299 00:10:43,445 --> 00:10:45,764 that I do, mostly for, like, exchange line 300 00:10:45,764 --> 00:10:46,264 migrations. 301 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:49,839 I just script all the best creation stuff 302 00:10:49,839 --> 00:10:51,279 out so that I don't need to, like, 303 00:10:51,279 --> 00:10:54,720 manually CSV everything or I can be so 304 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:55,459 much more 305 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,879 productive and faster in creating stuff than using 306 00:10:58,879 --> 00:11:00,879 their normal click ups kind of way. Yeah. 307 00:11:00,879 --> 00:11:01,274 Yeah. 308 00:11:01,915 --> 00:11:04,634 So you said Exchange migrations? Yep. Also. That's 309 00:11:04,634 --> 00:11:06,575 one. What other one? Exchange? 310 00:11:07,035 --> 00:11:08,715 A lot of Microsoft three sixty five or 311 00:11:08,715 --> 00:11:11,375 even outside of Microsoft three sixty five? Microsoft 312 00:11:11,595 --> 00:11:14,335 Graph interfaces for creating stuff in Intune, 313 00:11:14,955 --> 00:11:18,259 configuration profiles, platform scripts, those kind of things. 314 00:11:18,259 --> 00:11:18,759 Yep. 315 00:11:19,139 --> 00:11:21,620 Okay. Do you have a favorite? Like, if 316 00:11:21,860 --> 00:11:23,059 do you have a library of all these 317 00:11:23,059 --> 00:11:24,819 scripts that you've written that you have? I 318 00:11:24,819 --> 00:11:26,659 have my own GitHub repository, and I have 319 00:11:26,659 --> 00:11:28,259 the one that I use to provide. One? 320 00:11:28,259 --> 00:11:29,620 Do you keep it private so we can't, 321 00:11:29,620 --> 00:11:31,299 like, go and get it? Yes. And we 322 00:11:31,299 --> 00:11:32,865 also have a company one. Yep. 323 00:11:33,825 --> 00:11:36,784 That's really customer related stuff in there. Right. 324 00:11:36,784 --> 00:11:38,705 Well, a lot of it's, like, almost intellectual 325 00:11:38,705 --> 00:11:40,784 property. Right? Like Yeah. As a company, because 326 00:11:40,784 --> 00:11:42,144 I've done the same thing. I'm always on 327 00:11:42,144 --> 00:11:44,225 that fence of especially as an MVP. Yeah. 328 00:11:44,225 --> 00:11:45,504 Do I create a bunch of scripts that 329 00:11:45,504 --> 00:11:47,825 I share externally? Do I try to keep 330 00:11:47,825 --> 00:11:50,759 some of them internal? And Yeah. I like 331 00:11:50,759 --> 00:11:53,080 sharing with the community, and the community, also 332 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:54,700 shares a lot of stuff with me. So 333 00:11:54,759 --> 00:11:56,840 you'll benefit from that, but you can't share 334 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,100 every line of code. Yeah. Especially when you 335 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:03,105 really invest hours in customers' time. Yes. So 336 00:12:03,184 --> 00:12:04,945 it can't. Right. You can't, like, get paid 337 00:12:04,945 --> 00:12:06,304 to write a script for a customer and 338 00:12:06,304 --> 00:12:08,464 then just be, oh, here. Here it's it 339 00:12:08,464 --> 00:12:10,784 now. Yeah. No. Do you have a favorite 340 00:12:10,945 --> 00:12:13,664 like, if you think through your repositories and 341 00:12:13,664 --> 00:12:15,424 all the scripts you've written, did you ever 342 00:12:15,424 --> 00:12:17,039 write one that you're, like, you were just 343 00:12:17,039 --> 00:12:18,480 so proud of? You're like, oh, the script 344 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:20,399 is amazing. This is the best script I've 345 00:12:20,399 --> 00:12:21,460 ever written. Or 346 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:24,639 I I think the one that I used 347 00:12:24,639 --> 00:12:27,000 for Windows Sandbox, if you know the the 348 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,139 the the Windows feature that you can actually 349 00:12:29,285 --> 00:12:30,184 run like a 350 00:12:30,644 --> 00:12:32,965 disposable Windows VM on Windows, Windows Sandbox. I 351 00:12:32,965 --> 00:12:34,184 have not played with that. 352 00:12:34,485 --> 00:12:36,004 You can put that on your back wall. 353 00:12:36,004 --> 00:12:37,764 I'm a Mac OS. Go on my list. 354 00:12:37,764 --> 00:12:38,884 Yeah. You can tell you listened to the 355 00:12:38,884 --> 00:12:40,085 package. You're like, just add it to your 356 00:12:40,085 --> 00:12:41,144 list. You never do. 357 00:12:41,524 --> 00:12:43,789 Yeah. But I can spin up a, a 358 00:12:43,789 --> 00:12:45,870 Windows sandbox, connect my Versus code to it, 359 00:12:45,870 --> 00:12:48,110 and start running my code in a in 360 00:12:48,110 --> 00:12:48,750 a disposable 361 00:12:49,309 --> 00:12:51,710 doesn't even matter if I completely screw that 362 00:12:51,710 --> 00:12:52,450 VM up. 363 00:12:53,070 --> 00:12:54,830 That's the whole process. So it makes my 364 00:12:54,830 --> 00:12:57,695 personal development a lot easier. Got it. 365 00:13:01,514 --> 00:13:03,674 Do you feel overwhelmed by trying to manage 366 00:13:03,674 --> 00:13:05,995 your Office three sixty five environment? Are you 367 00:13:05,995 --> 00:13:09,214 facing unexpected issues that disrupt your company's productivity? 368 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,600 Is here to help. Much like you take 369 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:13,860 your car to the mechanic that has specialized 370 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:15,759 knowledge on how to best keep your car 371 00:13:15,759 --> 00:13:18,879 running, Intelligink helps you with your Microsoft cloud 372 00:13:18,879 --> 00:13:20,740 environment because that's their expertise. 373 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,519 Intelligink keeps up with the latest updates in 374 00:13:23,519 --> 00:13:25,625 the Microsoft cloud to help keep your business 375 00:13:25,625 --> 00:13:27,945 running smoothly and ahead of the curve. Whether 376 00:13:27,945 --> 00:13:29,945 you are a small organization with just a 377 00:13:29,945 --> 00:13:32,345 few users up to an organization of several 378 00:13:32,345 --> 00:13:35,144 thousand employees, they want to partner with you 379 00:13:35,144 --> 00:13:38,524 to implement and administer your Microsoft cloud technology. 380 00:13:39,230 --> 00:13:42,769 Visit them at inteliginc.com/podcast. 381 00:13:42,990 --> 00:13:49,730 That's intelligink.com/podcast 382 00:13:50,110 --> 00:13:52,245 for more information or to schedule a thirty 383 00:13:52,245 --> 00:13:54,345 minute call to get started with them today. 384 00:13:54,644 --> 00:13:58,004 Remember, Intelligink focuses on the Microsoft cloud so 385 00:13:58,004 --> 00:13:59,705 you can focus on your business. 386 00:14:01,845 --> 00:14:03,285 So do you tend to do that then 387 00:14:03,285 --> 00:14:05,045 when you're writing these scripts to spin them 388 00:14:05,045 --> 00:14:07,940 up in a separate sandbox just to? Yes. 389 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:09,759 And especially to test them because if it 390 00:14:09,759 --> 00:14:11,360 runs on my machine, I can't put my 391 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,279 machine in production for everybody. So it has 392 00:14:13,279 --> 00:14:14,799 to run on on a key machine as 393 00:14:14,799 --> 00:14:17,040 well. Yep. So Okay. I always test my 394 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:18,720 code like that. Yep. Got it. So that 395 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:20,000 script to just kind of spin it up, 396 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:21,600 you're like, I'm gonna go develop scripts. So 397 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:23,615 I spin up that sandbox. Yep. And I 398 00:14:23,615 --> 00:14:25,695 can connect my Versus code to it and 399 00:14:25,695 --> 00:14:27,875 immediately start developing in a Windows VM 400 00:14:28,254 --> 00:14:30,894 safely. Okay. Yep. So does that script do 401 00:14:30,894 --> 00:14:32,575 all of that then from spinning it up 402 00:14:32,575 --> 00:14:34,195 to Yep. Just like installing 403 00:14:35,070 --> 00:14:37,710 or installing Visual Studio. Running the script actually 404 00:14:37,710 --> 00:14:40,110 starts up the Windows Sandbox installs feature. If 405 00:14:40,110 --> 00:14:41,330 it's not already installed, 406 00:14:41,710 --> 00:14:43,549 it pushes out the the agent to it. 407 00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:45,629 It tries to determine what IP address it 408 00:14:45,629 --> 00:14:47,950 has, and it connects official code with using 409 00:14:47,950 --> 00:14:48,450 SSH. 410 00:14:48,830 --> 00:14:49,394 The whole 411 00:14:49,875 --> 00:14:53,095 step step step step. Yeah. Yes. Yep. Alright. 412 00:14:53,955 --> 00:14:56,455 Very cool. And any other types of automation 413 00:14:56,675 --> 00:14:57,175 that 414 00:14:57,875 --> 00:15:00,274 Hyper V management for my lab environment. Yes. 415 00:15:00,274 --> 00:15:03,394 Okay. Completely Windows updating all my Windows VMs 416 00:15:03,394 --> 00:15:03,809 because 417 00:15:04,289 --> 00:15:05,970 it's been a hassle to update, like, 20 418 00:15:05,970 --> 00:15:07,889 VMs, keep them up to date, so I 419 00:15:07,889 --> 00:15:09,889 automate them. Yep. That that's why you gotta 420 00:15:09,889 --> 00:15:12,210 use Azure. What about those Azure VMs and 421 00:15:12,210 --> 00:15:13,269 spinning those up? 422 00:15:13,730 --> 00:15:15,250 Yeah. But those cost a lot more than 423 00:15:15,250 --> 00:15:17,110 what I have on my laptop. Yeah. 424 00:15:17,649 --> 00:15:18,149 Yeah. 425 00:15:18,735 --> 00:15:20,174 Yeah. I I run a lot of stuff 426 00:15:20,174 --> 00:15:22,174 on my laptop just because, oh, I do 427 00:15:22,174 --> 00:15:24,034 have my MPM, my partnership, 428 00:15:24,414 --> 00:15:27,134 official studio, like, 150 429 00:15:27,134 --> 00:15:29,774 a month. Yep. But that's usually not enough. 430 00:15:29,774 --> 00:15:31,615 It goes back. Yeah. Yeah. You you run 431 00:15:31,615 --> 00:15:33,475 through that money in a hurry. Yeah. 432 00:15:35,899 --> 00:15:38,139 What are their lessons learned? Like as you've 433 00:15:38,139 --> 00:15:40,080 gone through and worked with PowerShell 434 00:15:41,500 --> 00:15:44,320 over the years as you've learned about it, 435 00:15:45,019 --> 00:15:48,059 if other people are wanting to get started 436 00:15:48,059 --> 00:15:50,845 with PowerShell or like you'd be like, you 437 00:15:50,845 --> 00:15:53,105 know what, you wanna start learning it, here's 438 00:15:53,325 --> 00:15:55,084 a tip or a trick, here's something that 439 00:15:55,084 --> 00:15:56,784 I was struggling with. 440 00:15:57,164 --> 00:15:58,865 Like how would you guide people? 441 00:15:59,725 --> 00:16:01,644 I used to be Yeah. I mean I 442 00:16:01,644 --> 00:16:03,700 would've can't hope a lot of people use 443 00:16:03,700 --> 00:16:05,700 PowerShell, but every bit there's always people that 444 00:16:05,700 --> 00:16:07,300 are new to it, right? Yeah. If you're, 445 00:16:07,300 --> 00:16:09,540 like, really new to it, Microsoft Learn has, 446 00:16:09,540 --> 00:16:12,019 like, a a complete course. I think it's 447 00:16:12,019 --> 00:16:13,559 AAC 40 448 00:16:13,940 --> 00:16:15,700 c something. Okay. You can you can you 449 00:16:15,700 --> 00:16:17,240 can find it on Microsoft Learn. 450 00:16:17,585 --> 00:16:18,965 This has, like, a really 451 00:16:19,585 --> 00:16:22,004 step by step first introduction to PowerShell. 452 00:16:23,504 --> 00:16:24,004 And 453 00:16:24,705 --> 00:16:27,264 if you're feeling comfortable with that, then you 454 00:16:27,264 --> 00:16:29,504 can start writing your scripts. But the things 455 00:16:29,504 --> 00:16:31,184 that I did in the past, like hard 456 00:16:31,184 --> 00:16:34,070 coding stuff, not making things, like, reusable, 457 00:16:34,529 --> 00:16:36,389 that's the thing that you learn just by 458 00:16:36,529 --> 00:16:39,090 practicing more. It's not something you develop, like, 459 00:16:39,090 --> 00:16:40,870 straight away. Yeah. Writing 460 00:16:41,250 --> 00:16:43,970 writing functions, which kind of brings into The 461 00:16:43,970 --> 00:16:46,049 next time We talked about this even getting 462 00:16:46,049 --> 00:16:48,205 into PowerShell, like, developers. 463 00:16:48,585 --> 00:16:50,904 Scott and I always joke about making fun 464 00:16:50,904 --> 00:16:52,985 of developers, and we're not developers. But then 465 00:16:52,985 --> 00:16:54,825 you write PowerShell, and even some of the 466 00:16:54,825 --> 00:16:57,565 conferences and stuff put PowerShell under a development 467 00:16:57,865 --> 00:16:58,365 track. 468 00:16:59,304 --> 00:17:02,000 What are your thoughts? Scripting, coding, development? 469 00:17:02,539 --> 00:17:04,059 How do you I don't see myself as 470 00:17:04,059 --> 00:17:05,980 a developer. No. I'm I'm not like a 471 00:17:05,980 --> 00:17:07,039 c sharp developer. 472 00:17:07,420 --> 00:17:09,500 I'm a I'm a scripter. That's I think 473 00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:11,339 that's the correct term for it. I I 474 00:17:11,339 --> 00:17:13,440 I use a framework which is already there 475 00:17:13,660 --> 00:17:15,464 to my benefit, but I'm not really a 476 00:17:15,464 --> 00:17:17,865 programmer. I can't build this from scratch. Okay. 477 00:17:17,865 --> 00:17:18,365 No. 478 00:17:18,744 --> 00:17:20,744 But you still can go write functions. Right? 479 00:17:20,744 --> 00:17:23,484 Do you still need, like, mini programming? Maybe. 480 00:17:23,625 --> 00:17:24,125 No. 481 00:17:24,505 --> 00:17:27,565 No. But but functions are good. Reusable functions, 482 00:17:27,625 --> 00:17:29,940 creating modules. Yep. Yep. I have not done 483 00:17:29,940 --> 00:17:31,700 much with creating modules. Have you created a 484 00:17:31,700 --> 00:17:33,779 bunch of different modules too? Like I'm I'm 485 00:17:33,779 --> 00:17:35,299 I'm working on that because that's a skill 486 00:17:35,299 --> 00:17:37,539 that I don't master at at this moment 487 00:17:37,539 --> 00:17:38,039 because 488 00:17:38,500 --> 00:17:40,659 writing separate scripts and functions is a lot 489 00:17:40,659 --> 00:17:42,755 easier than Right. Publishing a 490 00:17:43,134 --> 00:17:45,134 mobile module to the PowerShell gallery, that's a 491 00:17:45,134 --> 00:17:47,055 thing that I still want to do, but 492 00:17:47,055 --> 00:17:49,855 that's something something's holding me back. And perhaps 493 00:17:49,855 --> 00:17:52,095 it's scary because more people will see your 494 00:17:52,095 --> 00:17:54,575 codes and Uh-huh. Will probably comment on that. 495 00:17:54,575 --> 00:17:55,075 Yep. 496 00:17:55,509 --> 00:17:56,950 Do you have a module you wanna publish, 497 00:17:56,950 --> 00:17:58,069 like, in the back of your mind? You 498 00:17:58,069 --> 00:17:59,269 don't have to share which one, but are 499 00:17:59,269 --> 00:18:00,950 you like, I wanna create a module to 500 00:18:00,950 --> 00:18:03,669 do this? I wrote two or three scripts 501 00:18:03,669 --> 00:18:06,630 for Active Directory permissions reporting stuff, which is 502 00:18:06,630 --> 00:18:08,390 really easy for the auditing stuff that I 503 00:18:08,390 --> 00:18:10,704 also do for customers. Okay. Finding a module 504 00:18:10,704 --> 00:18:12,304 for that would be great because it's so 505 00:18:12,304 --> 00:18:15,105 much easier to download, install, and use that 506 00:18:15,105 --> 00:18:17,105 in a customer's environment in a in a 507 00:18:17,105 --> 00:18:19,264 way that you should actually do that. Yeah. 508 00:18:19,264 --> 00:18:22,144 Right. Yeah. Very cool. Any other tips or 509 00:18:22,144 --> 00:18:23,845 tricks as you think about 510 00:18:24,304 --> 00:18:24,804 PowerShell, 511 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:26,660 different 512 00:18:27,039 --> 00:18:29,759 I know you talked about there's another vendor 513 00:18:29,759 --> 00:18:30,259 that 514 00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:32,180 you've done some podcasts for 515 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,440 script script runner, I think. Are there other 516 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:36,980 tools that you've used 517 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,015 like script runner? I know I am always 518 00:18:40,015 --> 00:18:42,575 in Versus Code when I'm writing PowerShell, but 519 00:18:42,575 --> 00:18:44,414 any other tools that you've used that you 520 00:18:44,414 --> 00:18:45,875 really like when you're 521 00:18:46,894 --> 00:18:48,575 writing some of those scripts? ScriptRunner is more 522 00:18:48,575 --> 00:18:51,615 like a platform, but for for tool wise 523 00:18:51,615 --> 00:18:54,700 things. Yeah. That when I see people starting 524 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:55,899 IEC again, 525 00:18:57,079 --> 00:18:59,240 and I've had I always tell them, no. 526 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,279 Yes. No. Why? Why? Please use Versus Code 527 00:19:02,279 --> 00:19:03,960 because it's it's so much better. And it 528 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,440 can do version five and version seven. The 529 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:08,904 IEC only does five. So Yeah. You're you're 530 00:19:08,904 --> 00:19:12,025 really limiting yourself. But Fisco is great. PowerShell 531 00:19:12,025 --> 00:19:14,265 development is is really great. Yeah. I keep 532 00:19:14,265 --> 00:19:17,244 waiting for Microsoft to, like, forcefully remove ISE 533 00:19:17,305 --> 00:19:17,805 from 534 00:19:18,424 --> 00:19:20,744 all these different Windows versions or because it's 535 00:19:20,744 --> 00:19:22,424 still is it it's still in Windows is 536 00:19:22,424 --> 00:19:24,659 it in Windows 11? I haven't even looked. 537 00:19:24,659 --> 00:19:27,059 Yeah. Yeah. Yes. It's it's still there. If 538 00:19:27,059 --> 00:19:29,059 you use things like out grid view, which, 539 00:19:29,059 --> 00:19:30,819 like, kind of shows, like, a Windows pane 540 00:19:30,819 --> 00:19:32,500 of the things that you selected, it's it's 541 00:19:32,500 --> 00:19:34,659 a user's IC. So if you remove that, 542 00:19:34,659 --> 00:19:37,505 you also remove that capability from your strips. 543 00:19:37,505 --> 00:19:39,465 Yeah. So you have to be aware of 544 00:19:39,465 --> 00:19:42,144 that. Technical debt that Microsoft has incurred with 545 00:19:42,144 --> 00:19:43,585 some of this stuff. Yeah. It's the most 546 00:19:43,744 --> 00:19:45,904 people ask the most questions about why isn't 547 00:19:45,904 --> 00:19:48,785 PowerShell seven included in Windows by default. And 548 00:19:48,785 --> 00:19:49,765 that's the whole 549 00:19:50,579 --> 00:19:53,380 Windows shipping, the amount of work you have 550 00:19:53,380 --> 00:19:55,159 to put into it, the dot net framework, 551 00:19:55,299 --> 00:19:58,179 dependencies of that. So yeah. Yeah. Maybe we'll 552 00:19:58,179 --> 00:19:59,700 see that in future. Maybe I know. I 553 00:19:59,700 --> 00:20:02,099 haven't ran into that with as I've been 554 00:20:02,099 --> 00:20:04,019 playing more in Windows again and switching some 555 00:20:04,019 --> 00:20:05,554 of mine, like, you open up the terminal 556 00:20:05,554 --> 00:20:06,375 and I'm like, 557 00:20:06,674 --> 00:20:09,234 oh, yeah. PowerShell seven isn't here. I need 558 00:20:09,234 --> 00:20:10,434 to go install it, and then I need 559 00:20:10,434 --> 00:20:12,674 to switch my terminal to default to PowerShell 560 00:20:12,674 --> 00:20:14,994 seven instead of PowerShell five. Yeah. And the 561 00:20:14,994 --> 00:20:16,755 the most things that you do probably even 562 00:20:16,755 --> 00:20:19,519 still work in five. They do. It's surprising. 563 00:20:19,519 --> 00:20:21,119 And I every once in a while, I 564 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:23,380 still actually do run into stuff that doesn't 565 00:20:23,519 --> 00:20:26,319 work yet in seven. Okay. I think some 566 00:20:26,319 --> 00:20:28,240 of the dependent some of the stuff in 567 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,960 core maybe isn't fully there yet. There's some 568 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:33,119 stuff again, being a SharePoint guy, I ran 569 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:35,174 into this, and this was part of my 570 00:20:35,174 --> 00:20:37,515 motivation for switching back to Windows 571 00:20:37,894 --> 00:20:38,394 is, 572 00:20:38,855 --> 00:20:41,335 well, it works on macOS. There are certain 573 00:20:41,335 --> 00:20:41,835 modules 574 00:20:42,535 --> 00:20:45,494 that rely on certain DLLs or certain Yeah. 575 00:20:45,494 --> 00:20:49,095 The whole SharePoint yeah. Right. Certain underlying files 576 00:20:49,095 --> 00:20:51,579 that just aren't there on macOS and just 577 00:20:51,660 --> 00:20:53,259 they don't work there. Yeah. So that's why 578 00:20:53,259 --> 00:20:55,259 you need and using, like, a Windows VM 579 00:20:55,259 --> 00:20:57,359 on your Mac kinda yeah. 580 00:20:57,660 --> 00:21:00,059 It runs better on a native, Windows laptop. 581 00:21:00,059 --> 00:21:02,539 Yeah. It it does. As much as I 582 00:21:02,539 --> 00:21:04,605 do miss my Mac, there are certain things 583 00:21:04,605 --> 00:21:07,164 as I've scripted that Yeah. They do still 584 00:21:07,164 --> 00:21:09,244 just work better on Windows. Yep. So what 585 00:21:09,244 --> 00:21:11,005 other stuff with cloud? I know we talked 586 00:21:11,005 --> 00:21:12,865 about you do some Intune stuff. 587 00:21:13,325 --> 00:21:14,625 When it comes to PowerShell, 588 00:21:14,924 --> 00:21:16,605 you talked about some of the stuff with 589 00:21:16,605 --> 00:21:18,779 AD, with Hyper V. How have you used 590 00:21:18,779 --> 00:21:21,019 PowerShell as it relates to some of the 591 00:21:21,019 --> 00:21:23,279 cloud stuff, to Microsoft three sixty five, 592 00:21:23,980 --> 00:21:25,120 Intune, Entra? 593 00:21:25,500 --> 00:21:28,460 The whole Microsoft Graph thing. Yeah. Yeah. Besides 594 00:21:28,460 --> 00:21:29,680 as Graph, it's still 595 00:21:30,474 --> 00:21:33,115 somewhat hard to learn and it's there are 596 00:21:33,115 --> 00:21:35,194 a lot of commandlets in it. You really 597 00:21:35,194 --> 00:21:37,274 need to know to how to navigate through 598 00:21:37,274 --> 00:21:40,234 that. But using Microsoft Graph to automate all 599 00:21:40,234 --> 00:21:42,815 the intra creation of users, mailboxes, 600 00:21:43,289 --> 00:21:43,789 or 601 00:21:44,330 --> 00:21:46,170 things that you can do in Intune using 602 00:21:46,170 --> 00:21:47,070 Microsoft Graph, 603 00:21:47,529 --> 00:21:49,690 getting I use this for reporting a lot. 604 00:21:49,690 --> 00:21:52,809 Okay. Yeah. The customers will want reliable reports. 605 00:21:52,809 --> 00:21:55,049 They wanna have good overviews and I yeah. 606 00:21:55,049 --> 00:21:56,330 There's no way around it. You have to 607 00:21:56,330 --> 00:21:58,625 script. Right. Yep. Yeah. Pull it all out. 608 00:21:58,684 --> 00:21:59,884 And so once you pull it out, you 609 00:21:59,884 --> 00:22:01,404 write your PowerShell script, go pull it all 610 00:22:01,404 --> 00:22:02,845 from the graph. Do you tend to just 611 00:22:02,845 --> 00:22:04,285 pull it from the graph and export it 612 00:22:04,285 --> 00:22:07,424 to a CSV or Excel to do reporting? 613 00:22:07,484 --> 00:22:10,305 Or how do you Most customers still like 614 00:22:11,109 --> 00:22:13,369 receiving stuff in Excel files. So CSV, 615 00:22:13,909 --> 00:22:15,909 okay. But there's an import Excel module from 616 00:22:15,909 --> 00:22:16,409 Darkthink 617 00:22:16,869 --> 00:22:19,190 that will you can write to Excel straight 618 00:22:19,190 --> 00:22:21,589 away or read from Excel if needed. It's 619 00:22:21,589 --> 00:22:23,429 it's easier for Yes. Yeah. So is that 620 00:22:23,429 --> 00:22:24,869 what you do? Do you export to Excel? 621 00:22:24,869 --> 00:22:26,470 You might be more efficient than that. I 622 00:22:26,470 --> 00:22:28,285 always I like the import and export to 623 00:22:28,285 --> 00:22:30,045 CSV. Yep. So then I just do it 624 00:22:30,045 --> 00:22:31,244 to CSV, and then I open it up 625 00:22:31,244 --> 00:22:32,845 in Excel and save it as Excel for 626 00:22:32,845 --> 00:22:33,744 them. Yeah. 627 00:22:34,045 --> 00:22:36,305 And then you do the automation parts yourself 628 00:22:36,605 --> 00:22:38,225 being a click off. Yeah. 629 00:22:38,845 --> 00:22:40,750 Yeah. But you can export it straight away 630 00:22:40,750 --> 00:22:42,269 to Excel. It makes it a lot easier 631 00:22:42,269 --> 00:22:44,670 for the managers to receive their reports. Yeah. 632 00:22:44,670 --> 00:22:46,830 Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Do you ever build 633 00:22:46,830 --> 00:22:48,589 visuals for them too or do you just 634 00:22:48,670 --> 00:22:50,589 as a primarily, here's the data. Yeah. Here's 635 00:22:50,589 --> 00:22:52,509 the data. Yeah. What visuals do you want? 636 00:22:52,509 --> 00:22:54,289 No. I'm I'm I'm not the creative 637 00:22:54,654 --> 00:22:57,295 visualizer guy for the for the ultimate reports. 638 00:22:57,295 --> 00:22:58,115 No. No. 639 00:22:58,575 --> 00:23:00,755 It's it's part of the data. Got it. 640 00:23:00,815 --> 00:23:01,954 So what else is Intune? 641 00:23:02,494 --> 00:23:03,474 And I'm curious, 642 00:23:04,095 --> 00:23:06,974 like, you're a PowerShell MVP, but even talking 643 00:23:06,974 --> 00:23:08,640 to Scott when he met you, he's like, 644 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,240 hey Ben, you're gonna go talk to Harm. 645 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:12,880 He's PowerShell and Intune. And I'm like, PowerShell 646 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,539 and Intune. That's a that's a unique combination 647 00:23:16,079 --> 00:23:16,579 of 648 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,440 a little specialties. Like usually you're like PowerShell 649 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:21,440 and Windows. One or the other. Yeah. Right. 650 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,265 Or even like PowerShell and Microsoft three sixty 651 00:23:24,265 --> 00:23:26,285 five, but it's, like, PowerShell and Intune. 652 00:23:26,985 --> 00:23:28,424 So how did you kinda get into the 653 00:23:28,424 --> 00:23:29,945 Intune spot and stuff, and what do you 654 00:23:29,945 --> 00:23:32,664 do with Intune? For our customers, we do 655 00:23:32,664 --> 00:23:33,164 Intune 656 00:23:33,465 --> 00:23:36,125 things to for the Windows devices, obviously. 657 00:23:36,424 --> 00:23:37,404 Okay. And 658 00:23:37,990 --> 00:23:41,450 all the packaging detection script, platform scripts, 659 00:23:41,909 --> 00:23:44,309 remediation scripts, for example. Yeah. So have you 660 00:23:44,309 --> 00:23:46,309 written quite a few remediation scripts then too? 661 00:23:46,309 --> 00:23:48,150 Yep. Yep. Because we have to have, like, 662 00:23:48,150 --> 00:23:49,909 an e three license for it. So that's 663 00:23:49,909 --> 00:23:51,589 the downside of it. So it's not for 664 00:23:51,589 --> 00:23:54,545 every customer. Yeah. But remediation is so powerful. 665 00:23:54,684 --> 00:23:55,984 Yeah. Being able to 666 00:23:56,605 --> 00:23:59,105 hourly during the day or once a day 667 00:23:59,244 --> 00:24:01,404 check for it's like a desired state thing 668 00:24:01,404 --> 00:24:04,224 you can do if remediation's good. Yep. Yeah. 669 00:24:04,444 --> 00:24:06,065 What are definitely powerful 670 00:24:06,525 --> 00:24:08,099 do you ever get frustrated that they only 671 00:24:08,099 --> 00:24:09,080 run once a day? 672 00:24:09,460 --> 00:24:11,460 Yeah. But you you you can let them 673 00:24:11,460 --> 00:24:13,779 rerun for every hour Okay. Based on group. 674 00:24:13,779 --> 00:24:15,619 So you assign a group and say every 675 00:24:15,619 --> 00:24:17,460 hour, every two hours, every three hours, once 676 00:24:17,460 --> 00:24:18,840 a day, once a week, once 677 00:24:19,220 --> 00:24:20,680 Once ever, run those remediation. 678 00:24:21,144 --> 00:24:22,664 What's a Is there a common one, like 679 00:24:22,664 --> 00:24:24,825 a certain remediation script that 680 00:24:25,304 --> 00:24:27,785 Maybe it's This is right independent. Like, there's 681 00:24:27,785 --> 00:24:29,625 a shortcoming in Intune, whether it's installing a 682 00:24:29,625 --> 00:24:32,105 certain software or a certain setting that isn't 683 00:24:32,105 --> 00:24:34,345 in Intune that you always wanna set. Is 684 00:24:34,345 --> 00:24:36,789 there a common remediation script that you've written 685 00:24:36,789 --> 00:24:38,390 for Intune that you use a lot that 686 00:24:38,950 --> 00:24:41,589 Time zone settings for international customers is one 687 00:24:41,589 --> 00:24:43,509 of those. If you have, like, a customer 688 00:24:43,509 --> 00:24:45,289 who's in different regions Mhmm. 689 00:24:46,230 --> 00:24:48,470 How would you determine what time zone they're 690 00:24:48,470 --> 00:24:50,125 in and what the best time zone would 691 00:24:50,125 --> 00:24:52,125 be for them. But I automated that in 692 00:24:52,125 --> 00:24:52,625 remediation 693 00:24:53,325 --> 00:24:55,805 script. So it detects what's my public IP 694 00:24:55,805 --> 00:24:57,805 address, what reason is it, what time zone 695 00:24:57,805 --> 00:24:59,565 should I have, and it just configures your 696 00:24:59,565 --> 00:25:01,644 time zone. And if you move from one 697 00:25:01,644 --> 00:25:03,269 time zone to another, it will do that 698 00:25:03,349 --> 00:25:06,390 too. Got it. Wow. That's pretty cool. Yep. 699 00:25:06,390 --> 00:25:08,390 Is that one available publicly? Yeah. It's on 700 00:25:08,390 --> 00:25:10,070 my blog. That one's on your blog? Yeah. 701 00:25:10,070 --> 00:25:12,470 Okay. So it will definitely include, like, I'll 702 00:25:12,470 --> 00:25:14,309 go get links to your blog too and 703 00:25:14,309 --> 00:25:15,910 include links to your blog. So if people 704 00:25:15,910 --> 00:25:18,605 wanna go see which scripts you've shared publicly, 705 00:25:19,065 --> 00:25:20,904 they can go see that. But also the 706 00:25:20,904 --> 00:25:21,724 Intune besides 707 00:25:22,345 --> 00:25:24,265 remediation scripts, so you just kind of fell 708 00:25:24,265 --> 00:25:25,945 in is that how you kinda get into 709 00:25:25,945 --> 00:25:28,505 Intune? Was you were writing scripts and Writing 710 00:25:28,505 --> 00:25:29,865 scripts for them. You needed to push them 711 00:25:29,865 --> 00:25:31,384 out somewhere? But also as a as a 712 00:25:31,384 --> 00:25:34,130 platform because I like controlling Windows devices and 713 00:25:34,130 --> 00:25:35,269 that well, it's the is 714 00:25:36,210 --> 00:25:39,009 the software for that, of course. And for 715 00:25:39,009 --> 00:25:40,789 the whole Intune packaging, 716 00:25:41,329 --> 00:25:44,450 deploying settings, it's more powerful using PowerShell scripts 717 00:25:44,450 --> 00:25:46,384 for it than the things that you sometimes 718 00:25:46,384 --> 00:25:49,765 see in the settings catalog. Yeah. Yep. So 719 00:25:50,065 --> 00:25:51,984 this is something I played with. I can't 720 00:25:51,984 --> 00:25:53,605 remember why I was doing this. 721 00:25:53,904 --> 00:25:55,585 One point in time, I'm curious if you 722 00:25:55,585 --> 00:25:58,384 ever tried this, I actually packaged up a 723 00:25:58,384 --> 00:26:00,644 PowerShell script Mhmm. As, 724 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,079 A Win 32 app? In in yeah. An 725 00:26:03,079 --> 00:26:04,759 Intune a Win 32, I was trying to 726 00:26:04,759 --> 00:26:06,200 think of. Yeah. I was like A Zoom 727 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,279 Win app. Essentially, it's an Intune Win app 728 00:26:08,279 --> 00:26:10,200 to push it out that way versus a 729 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,079 remediation script. Yeah. That's that's that's the four 730 00:26:13,079 --> 00:26:13,579 man's 731 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:15,884 remediation script, I guess. If you don't have 732 00:26:15,884 --> 00:26:17,965 a free license, like, this is premium, you 733 00:26:17,965 --> 00:26:19,965 can use that. Yeah. It it it also 734 00:26:19,965 --> 00:26:21,904 works. You can let let it redetect 735 00:26:22,365 --> 00:26:24,445 the whole time and just reinstall the software 736 00:26:24,445 --> 00:26:26,684 or the script. Right. Yep. It does work. 737 00:26:26,684 --> 00:26:29,369 Yep. It's it was an interesting workaround for 738 00:26:29,369 --> 00:26:30,809 something I was trying, and I can't remember 739 00:26:30,809 --> 00:26:32,329 if it was a licensing thing or what. 740 00:26:32,329 --> 00:26:34,250 But that's one thing, like, those Win 32 741 00:26:34,250 --> 00:26:37,049 apps, it's they're not just go install an 742 00:26:37,049 --> 00:26:39,130 executable or an MSI, but, really, you can 743 00:26:39,130 --> 00:26:41,369 go in and put whatever files you want 744 00:26:41,369 --> 00:26:43,434 to in there Yeah. And say, to run 745 00:26:43,434 --> 00:26:44,015 the install 746 00:26:44,474 --> 00:26:47,115 for this particular Win 32 app, it's a 747 00:26:47,115 --> 00:26:49,434 dot p s one file or a dot 748 00:26:49,515 --> 00:26:51,434 or a batch file or all kinds of 749 00:26:51,434 --> 00:26:53,755 different things. If your detection is good, and 750 00:26:53,755 --> 00:26:55,775 it can be the same, like a remediation 751 00:26:55,835 --> 00:26:58,634 script, you can even use applicability scripts on 752 00:26:58,634 --> 00:27:00,869 it. Okay. Additional requirement scripts 753 00:27:01,250 --> 00:27:03,170 so that it will only fire to certain 754 00:27:03,170 --> 00:27:04,950 device in a certain state, etcetera. 755 00:27:06,049 --> 00:27:09,109 Yeah. There's a lot of powerful stuff that 756 00:27:09,650 --> 00:27:11,089 you can do again that I don't think 757 00:27:11,089 --> 00:27:13,170 is always readily available. But if you get 758 00:27:13,170 --> 00:27:14,144 in and try to 759 00:27:14,464 --> 00:27:16,305 hack around with some of the stuff, there's 760 00:27:16,305 --> 00:27:18,945 also encounter the situation that you actually need 761 00:27:18,945 --> 00:27:20,785 it for. But yeah. Yeah. So what else 762 00:27:20,785 --> 00:27:22,224 with Intune? Do you have any other favorite 763 00:27:22,224 --> 00:27:24,384 Intune features, things you like to do with 764 00:27:24,384 --> 00:27:24,884 Intune? 765 00:27:25,345 --> 00:27:26,940 Well, the things from Intune Suite, 766 00:27:27,659 --> 00:27:29,740 and I know that IntuneSuite is an additional 767 00:27:29,740 --> 00:27:30,879 license yet again, 768 00:27:31,339 --> 00:27:33,899 $10.12 dollars, I don't know, per user per 769 00:27:33,899 --> 00:27:34,879 month, I guess. 770 00:27:35,659 --> 00:27:37,980 It yeah. If I had one okay. If 771 00:27:37,980 --> 00:27:39,659 I had not one piece of complaint. But, 772 00:27:39,659 --> 00:27:41,355 yeah, all the stuff, it just keeps adding 773 00:27:41,355 --> 00:27:43,515 up. But in two suite yes. In engine 774 00:27:43,515 --> 00:27:46,654 suite, using the cloud PKI for for example, 775 00:27:47,914 --> 00:27:49,855 it's so much easier for kinda 776 00:27:50,154 --> 00:27:53,434 radius like Wi Fi authentication, for example. You 777 00:27:53,434 --> 00:27:55,134 can use it for that as well. Yep. 778 00:27:55,549 --> 00:27:57,390 Yeah. That is These nice add ons. Yep. 779 00:27:57,390 --> 00:27:59,169 I haven't started playing with that yet. 780 00:27:59,549 --> 00:28:00,929 Another thing from my list. 781 00:28:01,390 --> 00:28:03,150 Oh, Harmar, give me more stuff for my 782 00:28:03,150 --> 00:28:05,069 list. No. I actually have one of the 783 00:28:05,069 --> 00:28:06,829 contractors that does some work for me, he's 784 00:28:06,829 --> 00:28:08,589 started playing with that a little bit. Yeah. 785 00:28:08,589 --> 00:28:10,664 But it's like, why does Again, I feel 786 00:28:10,664 --> 00:28:12,924 like that's a fairly common function. The PKI 787 00:28:13,065 --> 00:28:14,585 being able to use that for Or the 788 00:28:14,585 --> 00:28:16,505 remote health. Like why do we have to 789 00:28:16,505 --> 00:28:17,005 pay 790 00:28:17,305 --> 00:28:19,545 an extra $10 a month for that one? 791 00:28:19,545 --> 00:28:21,535 Maybe remote health I can see because Yeah. 792 00:28:21,785 --> 00:28:23,859 That's if you're not doing that, you're going 793 00:28:23,859 --> 00:28:25,700 and paying another third party for some of 794 00:28:25,700 --> 00:28:28,740 the remote. Well, important. Privilege management, the kind 795 00:28:28,740 --> 00:28:32,200 of privilege identity management for starting certain executables. 796 00:28:32,740 --> 00:28:34,579 Yep. I can see a lot of value 797 00:28:34,579 --> 00:28:36,339 in that, but it's worth the top I 798 00:28:36,339 --> 00:28:38,225 don't know. Yeah. Or either. But there is 799 00:28:38,305 --> 00:28:40,164 have you played with the global secure access 800 00:28:40,384 --> 00:28:42,644 in Yeah. The Yep. The Yep. Well, technically, 801 00:28:42,865 --> 00:28:44,945 that's not even an Intune suite, is it? 802 00:28:44,945 --> 00:28:47,265 That's another add on. Yeah. That's that's an 803 00:28:47,265 --> 00:28:49,025 intro add on, I guess. Yes. That one 804 00:28:49,025 --> 00:28:50,545 is. That's right. That one's an intro add 805 00:28:50,545 --> 00:28:52,465 on, not Intune suite. Bundles and add ons 806 00:28:52,465 --> 00:28:54,970 and licenses. Every way. It's time for that 807 00:28:54,970 --> 00:28:56,730 p what do we or an e, what 808 00:28:56,730 --> 00:28:58,250 do we need next? An e seven An 809 00:28:58,250 --> 00:28:59,789 e seven or an e three 810 00:29:00,329 --> 00:29:02,190 Yeah. Entra license. Yes. 811 00:29:02,890 --> 00:29:05,690 Oh, very cool. Anything else? Let me talk 812 00:29:05,690 --> 00:29:06,190 PowerShell, 813 00:29:07,369 --> 00:29:07,869 MVP, 814 00:29:08,170 --> 00:29:08,670 Intune, 815 00:29:09,265 --> 00:29:11,585 anything you're anything that you're allowed to talk 816 00:29:11,585 --> 00:29:14,224 about that you're excited to To see this 817 00:29:14,224 --> 00:29:14,724 week 818 00:29:15,025 --> 00:29:17,184 or Not to see this week. We're not 819 00:29:17,184 --> 00:29:19,184 gonna talk about anything this week. I'm trying 820 00:29:19,184 --> 00:29:21,025 to think because it all jumbles up in 821 00:29:21,025 --> 00:29:23,044 our heads, right, of what's been announced. But 822 00:29:23,184 --> 00:29:26,609 anything this year that's public knowledge that you're 823 00:29:26,849 --> 00:29:29,190 Really looking forward to. Looking forward to, 824 00:29:29,569 --> 00:29:31,009 if it's not all jumbled up in your 825 00:29:31,009 --> 00:29:33,089 head. Yeah. I'm I'm I'm not sure if 826 00:29:33,089 --> 00:29:35,730 there's something that I'm really, really looking forward 827 00:29:35,730 --> 00:29:37,970 to because I'm already using most of the 828 00:29:37,970 --> 00:29:40,215 stuff that's being there. Got it. Anything with 829 00:29:40,215 --> 00:29:42,934 Copilot? Okay. Anything with AI or anything with 830 00:29:42,934 --> 00:29:45,035 AI that you'd like to see in this 831 00:29:45,255 --> 00:29:47,255 year as it relates to Intel? I'm actually 832 00:29:47,255 --> 00:29:49,974 one of the IT admins who doesn't use 833 00:29:49,974 --> 00:29:52,055 AI at all Okay. I guess. And that's 834 00:29:52,055 --> 00:29:54,269 becoming, like, rare, I guess. I can see 835 00:29:54,269 --> 00:29:56,750 it using being used for my documents, for 836 00:29:56,750 --> 00:29:58,509 the reporting stuff that I have to do, 837 00:29:58,509 --> 00:30:00,990 like, rewrite this whole chapter for me. Yeah. 838 00:30:00,990 --> 00:30:03,710 Yes. But using AI for a PowerShell script, 839 00:30:03,710 --> 00:30:05,630 for example, no. But that's not something that 840 00:30:05,630 --> 00:30:07,230 I use it for. So you don't do 841 00:30:07,309 --> 00:30:08,670 you don't even use any of the, like, 842 00:30:08,670 --> 00:30:09,914 the GitHub Copilot 843 00:30:10,375 --> 00:30:12,375 stuff yet or anything like that? For it. 844 00:30:12,375 --> 00:30:14,375 No. But I'm impressed. I will say I 845 00:30:14,375 --> 00:30:15,755 am impressed. I've 846 00:30:16,055 --> 00:30:18,535 I've started using it. It It's it's a 847 00:30:18,535 --> 00:30:20,775 good starter kit. Yeah. But I like to 848 00:30:20,775 --> 00:30:22,855 write my write and learn at the same 849 00:30:22,855 --> 00:30:26,039 time. Yep. Yeah. Awesome. Very cool. Well, anything 850 00:30:26,039 --> 00:30:28,039 else if people wanna get a hold of 851 00:30:28,039 --> 00:30:30,119 you, obviously, we'll put a link to your 852 00:30:30,119 --> 00:30:32,779 blog in the show notes. Yep. Social media 853 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:35,960 On every platform, I think. Every platform? Yeah. 854 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:37,640 Alright. Well, I'll get all the links from 855 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:39,585 you for that. We'll put them all in 856 00:30:39,585 --> 00:30:41,105 the show notes so people wanna connect with 857 00:30:41,105 --> 00:30:43,664 you and reach out. Anything else you wanna 858 00:30:43,664 --> 00:30:44,404 tell everybody? 859 00:30:45,025 --> 00:30:47,744 Last wise words that I wise words you 860 00:30:47,744 --> 00:30:49,605 got, your your words of wisdom. 861 00:30:50,144 --> 00:30:52,964 Start scripting, not not yesterday, but just today. 862 00:30:53,025 --> 00:30:55,080 Yeah. Just Just start writing. Alright. Well, thanks, 863 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,000 Arman. Appreciate you sitting there. Thanks for having 864 00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:58,380 me. Chad, not a problem. 865 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:00,759 Again, it's fun just sitting here meeting people, 866 00:31:00,759 --> 00:31:03,039 being able to do podcast interviews. So Yep. 867 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,480 Enjoy the rest of the MVP summit. I'm 868 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:07,640 sure we'll see you around, and thanks again. 869 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,019 Appreciate the chat. Thanks. 870 00:31:11,194 --> 00:31:13,434 If you enjoyed the podcast, go leave us 871 00:31:13,434 --> 00:31:15,674 a five star rating in iTunes. It helps 872 00:31:15,674 --> 00:31:17,355 to get the word out so more IT 873 00:31:17,355 --> 00:31:19,514 pros can learn about Office three sixty five 874 00:31:19,514 --> 00:31:20,174 and Azure. 875 00:31:20,714 --> 00:31:22,394 If you have any questions you want us 876 00:31:22,394 --> 00:31:24,554 to address on the show or feedback about 877 00:31:24,554 --> 00:31:26,930 the show, feel free to reach out via 878 00:31:26,930 --> 00:31:29,109 our website, Twitter, or Facebook. 879 00:31:29,410 --> 00:31:31,250 Thanks again for listening, and have a great 880 00:31:31,250 --> 00:31:31,750 day.