How to determine if a SQL Server backup is compressed?
Compressed SQL Server backups can be verified in PowerShell using a handy PowerShell function. This comes in handy when you need to verify if existing SQL Server backups are compressed.
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Read MoreHow to determine if a SQL Server backup is compressed?
How to unzip a file in PowerShell
Unzip a file on your PowerShell command-prompt may come in handy sometimes, even on your Windows 11/10 workstation. Use Expand-Archive for this, and all that is required is PowerShell 5.0+, or the .NET 4.5+ Framework to use System.IO.Compression.ZipFile.
WsusPool keeps crashing: stops again and again
WSUSPool keeps stopping? Sometimes you find your WSUS server keeps crashing over and over again. The WSUS application pool periodically stops, WSUS is unavailable and/or the WSUS management console hangs.
How to disable SMBv1 in Windows 10 and Windows Server
It is urged you disable SMBv1 in your Windows variant (Windows 10, 8.1, Server 2016, 2012 R2), and here is how if you haven't done so yet.
Detect ethernet network speed in Windows
Being able to detect the ethernet network speed using PowerShell or WMI is perfect for Windows Server Core. If you ever need to lookup the speed of your ethernet network card in Windows, on the command-prompt, use one of the following PowerShell / WMIC commands.
Free up disk space in Windows Server – 5 extra methods
In this post I provide you with 5 ways to cleanup files and free up disk space in Windows Server 2016 (and older / newer Windows Server version), without using the Disk Cleanup Utility. Reclaim lots of lost gigabytes easy. Disk space usage is still an issue in Windows Server.
List all MAC addresses of all Hyper-V Virtual Machines
You sometimes need to list and get all MAC addresses of all Hyper-V virtual machines in your network. Either for your Hyper-V administration or provisioning if you don't set an unique MAC address automatically. Here is how to get all those MAC addresses easily with PowerShell.
How to install IIS URL Rewrite Module on Windows Server 2016 & IIS 10
When you start to play with Windows Server 2016 and IIS 10, you'll get an error when you try to install the IIS URL Rewrite Module in IIS. The error occurs because the URL Rewrite Module installer contains an invalid version check for the IIS being used. Here is how to install IIS URL Rewrite Module 2 in IIS 10...
PowerShell blacklist check script: find an IP address’ blacklist status & reputation
Blacklist check script written in PowerShell, to easily lookup an IP address status in various blacklists (DNSBLs, RBLs)
Get current number of FTP client connections (NonAnonymous) with PowerShell and Get-Counter
Get the current number of active FTP client connections on your Windows Server IIS FTP Service using the Get-Counter cmdlet and the Microsoft FTP Service Current NonAnonymous Users performance counter.
Simple PowerShell introduction for Windows Server administration, automation and scripting
Windows PowerShell is an important tool in Windows Server for administrators. You can use PowerShell for Windows Server administration, software installation, automation, and shell/command-prompt scripting.
Generate pseudorandom passwords with OpenSSL
OpenSSL comes in handy when you need to generate random passwords, for example for system accounts and services. In this short post I'll give you a quick example on how to generate random passwords with OpenSSL in Linux (Bash), Windows and PHP.
PowerShell return value, exit code, or ErrorLevel equivalent
Here is how you can verify whether an external command in PowerShell was executed successfully or not by checking its errorlevel. Simply by verifying the PowerShell exit code using the $? operator or $LASTEXITCODE.
Get Hyper-V guest serial number with PowerShell
Learn how to get the Hyper-V guest virtual machine serial number with PowerShell, this is ideal for automated deployments with WDS or docs
Tunnel RDP through SSH & PuTTY
Have you ever been in a situation where you needed to perform remote administration on a Windows Server, and the RDP port 3389 is blocked on a firewall? You can tunnel RDP over SSH with PuTTY
Monitor Windows services with PowerShell
Schedule a PowerShell script to monitor local services in your Windows Server environment
PowerShell Get-FsrmQuota and Set-FsrmQuota
To get and set File Server Resource Manager NTFS quota you now have to use PowerShell FileServerResourceManager cmdlets. It's pretty easy to get directory information with Get-FsrmQuota and change dirquota.exe using Set-FsrmQuota.
Set IIS Application Pool recycle defaults to Specific Times, not Regular Time Interval
By default, an IIS application pool (or "AppPool") recycles on a regular time interval of 1740 minutes, or 29 hours. One reason for this time interval is that application pools don't recycle at the same moment every day (every day at 07.00 for example).
Software deployment through WDS
Here is how to install software packages during a Windows Deployment Services (WDS) deployment, without Microsoft Deployment Workbench (available in the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, or MDT).
Disk Cleanup in Windows Server
Over time, as your Windows Server runs longer, more and more disk space is eaten. Simply gone! Investigating the disk usage leaves you clueless; there are no large log files, crash dumps, or there is no software to be removed. Where did that space go?