Dungeon Mastering in IT

I’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) since I was about 16 years old. It was also about that time (possibly coincidentally) that I also became engrossed with computing. Not just watching-my-fake-family-die-from-dysentery computing, but how computers worked and why the field of computing was important.

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Simulate User Message Sends leveraging EWS

If you’ve read any of my posts in the past, you know that I’ve got a lab at the office.  Part of this includes a handful of Exchange Servers.  To better simulate “real-world” (not stress-test) simulations, I want to send messages around the organization.  Thankfully, I’ve had some experience with Exchange Web Services (EWS) in the past.

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SAM & Multi-Statistic Component Scripts

In September I wrote a few things about how I use SAM Script Templates – specifically with PowerShell. One of the more powerful things in the SAM arsenal is the ability to return multiple components in a single script. I’ve used this in any number of ways, but the one that gives me the most satisfaction is a PowerShell script that I wrote for Linux.

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Scripting SQL Server Installation

This is where I show that I’m really not a DBA.  I’m an Accidental DBA at best, and a nuisance at worst.  SQL Server already has the capability to be installed via command line parameters or a configuration file.  If I setup the machine the same way every single time, this would be fine, but since I need to change the placement of certain file types, I need to have the ability to change on the fly.

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Simple Automation Example using Orion SDK

A few months ago, I really stated digging into the Orion SDK and I wanted to know more about ways to automate adding nodes to Orion.  Sure, I can wait for the Network Discovery to kick off, but I’m impatient.  I’ve gotten many of the parts together over time, but this is my first post where I put everything together.  For this version, I use the PowerShell Snap-In.  I will add an additional post later using the PowerOrion Module.

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SAM PowerShell Scripting Template

I write a lot of PowerShell scripts.  Like a lot, a lot.  I write them for any manner of things, but recently I’ve been tasked to help out with a few Server & Application Monitor templates.  These are some of the most interesting things that SAM has to offer.

Looking at each of the scripts, I decided it was worth revisiting based on some of my newly acquired PowerShell superpowers (cape not included).

SAM script templates (Windows Scripting, PowerShell, Perl, Python, whatever) require two things – a statistic and an exit code.

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Mass Export of NCM Device Templates

Do you run a bunch of Orion servers?  Do you hate exporting your custom NCM Device Templates one at a time?

No?  Only me?

Well, if you are ever like me, I’ve got something to help you out.

It basically checks for all the device templates in your database for those that aren’t out of the box and exports them in the proper format.

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