Sysadmins of the North is just a technical blog, like so many others out there. Here I write about IT stuff that I find interesting, problems I encountered and solved. Topics include computers, servers, web, sysadmin, database, virtualization, optimization and security.
For the most part, I write as it comes; posts may seem incoherently written sometimes (my apologies). Drop me a comment somewhere to say hi, or discuss about any of the topics. I always love the interaction!
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Latest posts on Sysadmins of the North
- Use PowerShell with SSL client certificates for HTTPS GET requestsHow to use a specific TLS/SSL certificate or thumbprint for your outgoing HTTPS requests using PowerShell.
- Test if a port is open with PowerShellUse PowerShell Test-NetConnection to test if a TCP port is opened. Along with ping to verify a host is online makes it ideal for scripting and automation.
- Calculate SHA-256 checksums in PowerShellIf you need to verify files are untampered with, you have to create a file checksum -or file hash- that you can use to verify. PowerShell offers this functionality with Get-FileHash cmdlet. Or use certutil.exe.
- IPv6 support for WSL2! 🥳
Windows Subsystem for Linux gets new ‘mirrored’ network mode, providing IPv6 support. This is huge! Update WSL2 in Windows Insider Program to have experimental IPv6 support. - Windows SID to username and vice versa
Sometimes you need to convert a Windows SID (security identifier) to an username, or vice versa (an username to an SID). In this post I show you a couple of methods to translate the one into the other. One is using VBScript and one is using PowerShell. - Get SQL database backup details with PowerShell
Quickly get SQL Server backup .bak file header information using PowerShell and SQL Server Management Objects (SMO). Determine the name of the SQL server that wrote the backup set. - Get IIS Current Connections using PowerShellUse PowerShell, Performance Counters and WMI to get the current number of active connections to IIS websites. Perfect for monitoring IIS webservers in Zabbix.
- Install SSL/TLS certificates in Windows Server using PowerShell
Use PowerShell to install SSL certificate in Windows Server and change its FriendlyName property. As a bonus, I show you how to verify a certificate’s Common Name (Subject) and Subject Alternative Name (SAN) using certutil.exe and PowerShell Get-PfxCertificate. - Tune Windows Server TCP/IP and IISLearn how to reconfigure Windows Server’s TCP/IP stack and IIS for high performing websites. Prevent running out of available ports/sockets (port exhaustion).
- Install Windows Updates using PowerShell
In this post I show you how you can use PowerShell to install Windows Updates. Quickly and silently. This makes the use of PSWindowsUpdate module perfect for your day to day automation. The module even supports scheduling (on remote computers too!), it has the ability to search WSUS and Windows Update for updates, scheduling and performing the download and installation of updates. - Send email with PowerShellIn this post I provide you with a small PowerShell function you can use to send email over a TLS secured SMTP connection with SMTP authentication. As a framework you can use in your own scripting and extend it. You can even create a PowerShell module of it.
- Are you in my blocklist?
Is your IP address in my WordPress .htaccess block list? Here are IP addresses I block manually because of comment spamming. - Create an additional SQL Server LoginHere is a small T-SQL snippet that creates an additional (extra) SQL Server Login (User) for contained databases in SQL Server. It sets memberships too.
- Monitor SQL Server and databases in depth using ZabbixMonitor Microsoft SQL Server, databases and performance with Zabbix, PowerShell, Performance Counters and WMI. Keep SQL Server and databases in top shape and performance up! In this post I show you how you can use Zabbix to monitor those important aspects for database administrators (DBA).
- Query all WordPress posts in MySQL not having a Yoast SEO meta description
Here is a query you can use to query all posts in WordPress not having a Yoast SEO meta description yet. You can run this on your MySQL prompt or in phpMyAdmin.
Available categories
Are you looking for a specific category of posts? Here are the categories I have on Sysadmins of the North.
- Code base (46)
- PowerShell (24)
- GNU Linux (20)
- MySQL (10)
- Web applications (72)
- Umbraco (5)
- Web application security (22)
- WordPress (39)
- Windows Server (122)
About Jan Reilink – the author
Currently I work as an application manager / administrator at Embrace – The Human Cloud in Groningen (the Netherlands). At Embrace we develop and manage software to automate processes and unlock knowledge, social intranets, and so forth. Smart technology helps your organization move forward.
The human cloud connects automated services with human knowledge exchange. With our solutions for self-service portals, customer tracking systems and digital workplaces, we are creating space for human work.
Before Embrace, I was over 20 years at Vevida.com as a systems- and applications manager/administrator.
My experience and specialties include Windows Server, IIS, WSL & Linux (CentOS, Debian), PHP, WordPress, websites, MySQL, optimization and security. Vevida is now part of TWS, Total Webhosting Solutions, and incorporated into Yourhosting.nl. My SysOps department went to the company cldin.eu, Cldin.eu’s mission is to build the best-in-class digital infrastructures that scale.