Author Archives

• MacBook and Microsoft – Awesome together!

  By matthitchcock on February 21, 2021 • ( 0 )

  

  I’m very impressed with the Microsoft experience on my MacBook

• Sometimes, speaking doesn’t go so well, but its ok

  By matthitchcock on April 8, 2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Have you ever been in a situation, be it a presentation, an interview, a recording of some kind, where for whatever reason you just tanked? Me too, fairly often, and the last one was a mere 2 weeks ago. In… Read More ›

• Got Chromebook? Keep Calm and use Azure

  By matthitchcock on February 21, 2019 • ( 0 )

  

  I recently acquired a low end Chromebook (Acer Chromebook 14) as a bit of a side project. My nephew has one because they are super-cheap and he wants to be able to do homework and play Roblox (so by defacto… Read More ›

• I moved to Cyber Security “cos DevOps”

  By matthitchcock on February 3, 2019 • ( 0 )

  This post is a little late to write but finally I have some downtime and can get it done. In December, I moved into the Cyber Security team of Microsoft Enterprise Services. Most people who follow my blog or know… Read More ›

• 2 Year Hiatus from Blogging

  By matthitchcock on January 22, 2019 • ( 0 )

  Wow, after sharing the link to my blog today it turns out I have literally had a 2 year hiatus from blogging! Of course, that was very unintentional, explained away by many things. I won’t make any commitment to a… Read More ›

• PowerShell Conference Asia 2016 – it happened!

  By matthitchcock on October 23, 2016 • ( 1 )

  This is my first blog post in some time and will be by no means detailed, I just wanted to capture that we have just concluded PowerShell Conference Asia 2016 and I think all agreed it was a resounding success…. Read More ›

• Presenting my first SQL PASS Session

  By matthitchcock on March 22, 2016 • ( 0 )

  I’ve been doing a fair amount of work with SQL Server recently, not that I am claiming myself to be an expert by any means but I have certainly learned a lot more about it than I knew before. So,… Read More ›

• The Race to “Do” DevOps

  By matthitchcock on February 27, 2016 • ( 0 )

  The purpose of this post is to really share an observation and something that I’ve been thinking about as a consultant. I interact with a lot of customers, folks in the different communities and other consultants both internally at Microsoft… Read More ›

• Do I really need to pay for a design if I am using Azure?

  By matthitchcock on February 2, 2016 • ( 1 )

  I’ve been involved in many discussions about possible engagements to deploy infrastructure on Azure, they all inevitably lead to the same question; “Why should I spend weeks having a design documented for me when all I need is a credit… Read More ›

• Moving an Azure PaaS Cloud Service to a different VNET and Subnet

  By matthitchcock on January 28, 2016 • ( 0 )

  I ran into an issue today that I wanted to share as it caused me some real frustration for a while, so I am hoping it might help you. I have an Azure Cloud Service in the Classic portal running… Read More ›

• I’m Speaking at the PowerShell Conference Europe 2016

  By matthitchcock on January 17, 2016 • ( 2 )

  

  I’ll be speaking at the PowerShell Conference Europe 2016 in Hannover, Germany. My session will cover Just Enough Administration (JEA) for Domain Controllers.

• A Closing Summary of my 2015

  By matthitchcock on December 31, 2015 • ( 0 )

  As we get into the final hours of 2015 I wanted to write a short summary of 2015. I did intend to blog more in 2015 than the previous year, I did of course fall short of that and I… Read More ›

• Azure Active Directory Domain Services now in Preview

  By matthitchcock on October 17, 2015 • ( 0 )

  A day or so ago I was excited to see that Azure Active Directory Domain Services is now in Preview. http://blogs.technet.com/b/ad/archive/2015/10/14/azure-ad-domain-services-is-now-in-public-preview-use-azure-ad-as-a-cloud-based-domain-controller.aspx AADDS makes it possible to run your Active Directory entirely from Azure without Windows Server Domain Controllers. As someone… Read More ›

• Update Help on NetworkSwitch Module Failing

  By matthitchcock on October 16, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  Just a quick share, I was updating my help files the other day and was getting an error on the NetworkSwitch module, My machine is Windows 10 running the bundled version of WMF and PowerShell. As it turns out however,… Read More ›

• PowerShell Conference Asia – Is it for Beginners too?

  By matthitchcock on July 18, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  Through our Meetup group, someone asked recently “Is PowerShell Conference 2015 Asia suitable for beginners?” Looking through the agenda, I think there is a lot that a beginner would get out of it, so how might the conference experience look… Read More ›

• Changes to Singapore PowerShell User Group Events

  By matthitchcock on March 8, 2015 • ( 0 )

  Over the last few months we have been discussing the events that we will have this year and how we might change the format of what we are doing, in order to reach more people and help more people adopt… Read More ›

• Thank You for Speaking Slowly

  By matthitchcock on February 15, 2015 • ( 1 )

  This is my first blog post in a very long time, we have actually run a number of events at the PowerShell User Group in the last 6 months that I haven’t shared on this blog, this has basically been… Read More ›

• PowerBreakfast SG #004 Writeup

  By matthitchcock on September 7, 2014 • ( 0 )

  I feel like every time I start a blog post recently it begins with an apology about how long it has taken me to get to. This one is no different. After a month I am just getting around to… Read More ›

• PowerBreakfast SG #003 Writeup

  By matthitchcock on July 17, 2014 • ( 0 )

  Continuing the awesome momentum we have gathered with PowerBreakfast, Saturday 5th July graced us with the presence of PowerShell MVP Adam Driscoll. If you didn’t catch it, or if you want to see it again (and many of us do)… Read More ›

• PowerBreakfast SG #002 Writeup

  By matthitchcock on July 5, 2014 • ( 0 )

  It’s actually about a month after the event happening that I am finishing writing this, it’s been extremely busy on the work front as well as having to make some big life changing decisions and better late than never right?… Read More ›

• PowerShell Saturday #009 Write Up

  By matthitchcock on May 31, 2014 • ( 0 )

  I was listening to the PowerScripting Podcast episode last week (specifically the interview with Jim Christopher) and Jonathan Walz made an observation that around half of the PowerShell Saturdays have been run by the group in Singapore! Which is great for… Read More ›

• PowerBreakfast #001 Writeup

  By matthitchcock on May 13, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  It’s taken a week but finally I am able to write up on the PowerBreakfast event we held on 3rd May! This is a new event we are running at Singapore PowerShell User Group in addition to our regular PowerShell… Read More ›

• Finding Accounts with Service Principal Names in AD Using PowerShell

  By matthitchcock on May 8, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  A quick post while I am waiting for some replication to happen. I was continuing on through a paused installation of FIM from some time ago and had forgotten what Service Principal Names I’d set up in the lab. A… Read More ›

• My Perspective on the Windows Management Framework 5.0 Preview

  By matthitchcock on April 8, 2014 • ( 0 )

  The Windows Management Framework 5.0 preview was announced last week and there has been a lot of buzz around the OneGet functionality in PowerShell v5. The main features included in this release are OneGet and the ability to manage Network… Read More ›

• PowerShell ISESteroids

  By matthitchcock on March 30, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  Last week, PowerShell MVP Tobias Weltner released ISESteroids, an add-on in the form of a PowerShell Module that Supercharges your ISE. And this is a literal Supercharge! Tobias wrote an Article for PowerShell Magazine giving folks a walkthrough of the… Read More ›

• MVP Community Camp Session 2014

  By matthitchcock on March 22, 2014 • ( 0 )

  Today I presented a session at MVP Community Camp 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan. The Taiwan event details can be seen here. Here is the slide deck from that session, the example MOF file and all PowerShell code. The session was… Read More ›

• PowerShell Saturday #008 Writeup

  By matthitchcock on February 25, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  I’m writing this over a week after the fact as I am back home visiting the sunny UK at the moment. Sleep pattern hasn’t quite adjusted yet so I find myself up at 5am every morning and out searching for Breakfast… Read More ›

• First Look at Winter Scripting Games 2014 Practice Event

  By matthitchcock on January 2, 2014 • ( 0 )

  If you’re taking part in the Winter Scripting Games 2014 and you’ve visited the site (http://scriptinggames.org/events.php?game_id=4) you’ll see that the Practice Event is now open! While you might still be choosing teams and registering yourselves it is worth at least… Read More ›

• Selected as a coach for the Winter Scripting Games 2014

  By matthitchcock on December 26, 2013 • ( 0 )

  It’s an honor to be selected as a coach for the Winter Scripting Games 2014. The coaches have all now been announced here. You can find the full schedule here and I would really encourage you to take part. If… Read More ›

• Connecting your Home Lab to Windows Azure

  By matthitchcock on December 8, 2013 • ( 5 )

  

  I have been running different test VM’s in Azure for some time now. After running a Trial Account then switching that to Pay As You Go (word of warning, if you are running Pay As You Go too, don’t leave… Read More ›

• Issues Installing PowerShell 4.0 on Downlevel OS

  By matthitchcock on October 26, 2013 • ( 0 )

  PowerShell v4 is now released in the Windows Management Framework version 4.0 for downlevel OS’s, but a number of people have had issues with the install. The WMF package installs successfully with no errors, however, if you check the $PSVersionTable… Read More ›

• SWUG Death of XP Session: Resources to get you started

  By matthitchcock on October 26, 2013 • ( 0 )

  Unfortunately, due to illness I missed the Singapore Windows User Group meet on Thurs 24th Oct. We were going to have a Chalk & Talk on Migrating from XP before the end of support. To structure the discussion I put… Read More ›

• PowerShell Saturday #06 Post Event Writeup

  By matthitchcock on October 16, 2013 • ( 0 )

  PowerShell Saturday #06 started out as one of those days. The week had not gone that well anyway, I was as busy as I could possibly be so was unable to put the required time into resolving some VM issues… Read More ›

• Building a DSC Infrastructure by Steven Murawski on PowerShell.org

  By matthitchcock on October 5, 2013 • ( 0 )

  Steven Murawski is running a series on PowerShell.org for Building a DSC infrastructure. I am planning to run a similar presentation session at Singapore User Groups in November/December (more details when available) but this is a good series to follow…. Read More ›

• Geek Achievement Unlocked: TechNet Flash Guest Editorial

  By matthitchcock on October 3, 2013 • ( 0 )

  My first Guest Editorial (and hopefully not the last) for TechNet Flash newsletter in Singapore was sent out yesterday. Level Up! Find it here

• PowerShell Saturday #06 Full Schedule

  By matthitchcock on October 1, 2013 • ( 1 )

  After much work, we can now make the Full Schedule for PowerShell Saturday #06 (PowerShell Saturday Singapore #02) available. I think you’ll agree it’s very strong! We have Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson joining us via Lync, the winner of… Read More ›

• My Summary of TechEd Australia 2013

  By matthitchcock on September 10, 2013 • ( 1 )

  

  I’ve just returned from TechEd Australia 2013 and what a great event it was. Having never been to a TechEd before and having heard comments from other IT Pro’s and community leads in recent years that it was no longer… Read More ›

• Examining Legacy AD Replication Metadata with PowerShell 2.0

  By matthitchcock on August 12, 2013 • ( 0 )

  I had a scenario last week where I was troubleshooting a Domain Replication issue.  Basically, for one reason or another, a DC had only an inwards replication connection but no outward replication connection to another DC.  It was found that… Read More ›

• My Session from CTU: PowerShell Web Access

  By matthitchcock on August 7, 2013 • ( 0 )

  

  On July 27th 2013 I presented PowerShell Web Access at CTU (Community Technology Update), an event run by MVP’s in SIngapore for the IT Community.  I was really pleased with how the session went, had some great questions during and… Read More ›

• Singapore PowerShell Saturday 01 Summary

  By matthitchcock on August 3, 2013 • ( 0 )

  We had Singapore PowerShell Saturday 01 on 20th July, 2 weeks ago and I am only just getting to do the write up, it’s been a very busy few weeks. The day was made possible by Microsoft who provided the… Read More ›

• PowerShell Saturday: Prep Guide for PowerShell Beginners Crash Course

  By matthitchcock on July 13, 2013 • ( 1 )

  My sessions for PowerShell Saturday Singapore 01 will be a 2 part PowerShell Crash Course for complete beginners.  The way to get the most from this would be to follow along using Virtual Machines.  You can either create these in… Read More ›

• Why you should take part in the PowerShell Hackathon

  By matthitchcock on July 12, 2013 • ( 0 )

  On Saturday 20th July 2013 we have the first PowerShell Saturday happening in Singapore.  As part of the event we are having an all day Hackathon.  It’s a new idea we are trying out that we think will be very… Read More ›

• Full Schedule for PowerShell Saturday Singapore 01

  By matthitchcock on July 11, 2013 • ( 2 )

  We’ve finalized the full schedule for the first PowerShell Saturday!  The plan for the day is as follows.  If you haven’t yet registered, you can do so at http://powershellsatsg01.eventbrite.com.  We are really pleased with this schedule and think it will… Read More ›

• Debugging PowerShell Code Guidance

  By matthitchcock on July 9, 2013 • ( 0 )

  If you get stuck with debugging your PowerShell scripts, there is some excellent guidance available on TechNet here. The link to the 7 part series mentioned in the article no longer seems to work, but there is enough here to… Read More ›

• Call for Speakers – Singapore PowerShell Saturday 01

  By matthitchcock on June 26, 2013 • ( 0 )

  This weekend we will be announcing the first PowerShell Saturday in Singapore.  It will be taking place on Saturday July 20th.  Before we close the schedule, we do have a few speaker slots available for anyone who would like to… Read More ›

• Last Call on “Learn PowerShell before it’s too late”

  By matthitchcock on June 11, 2013 • ( 0 )

  “Learn PowerShell before it’s too late” is a phrase that’s been banded around for a good few years.  MVP’s have said it, Microsoft have been saying it, user groups and communities have been saying it, everyone has been saying it…. Read More ›

• Why People Avoid Learning PowerShell

  By matthitchcock on June 5, 2013 • ( 5 )

  I am currently writing some material for PowerShell beginners and it made me think about the reasons I have heard over the last few years why people don’t, can’t or won’t learn PowerShell.  It’s quite interesting and share-worthy, seeing as… Read More ›

• Learn Active Directory in a month of lunches

  By matthitchcock on June 3, 2013 • ( 0 )

  For IT Pro’s new to Active Directory, Manning have released another book in the Month of Lunches series thats worth a look. Get your copy here: Learn Active Directory in a month of lunches Having read the PowerShell 2, PowerShell… Read More ›

• Accessing Resources Across Trusts

  By matthitchcock on May 31, 2013 • ( 0 )

  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772808(v=ws.10).aspx If you need to get your head around how resource access works across AD Forests, it is clearly explained here.  Very, very useful if you’re working on large scale AD restructuring projects.

• VMWare make learning Hyper-V even easier

  By matthitchcock on March 30, 2013 • ( 0 )

  For a number of months I have been using multiple machines to get up to speed on the Hyper-V stuff in 2012.  Using a laptop and a Mac Mini, I had myself a nice little set up – Windows Server… Read More ›