PowerShell: Setting Azure Active Directory Diagnostics Forwarding

Currently we a spending most of our time doing Azure Gonvernance projects for customers.This includes DevOpsPipelinesTemplatesand moreManagement/Resource Group StructurePoliciesMonitoringIf you need anything in aboveareas, don’t hesistate to contact us!We can help you get into azure from nothing to production, or help you get control of your azure spending and structure.One of the things we setup is Diagnostics logging in Azure Log Analytics from various resources.This is super easy to setup on all Azure Resources, but it is actually also possible to enable on Azure ADs.Azure AD forwards these logs:AuditLogsSignInLogsThe challenge is that Azure AD is Not  a normal Azure resource, [...]

By |2019-02-19T11:30:37+01:00februar 19th, 2019|Automation, Azure, Monitoring, Powershell|3 Comments

SCCM: Improved MDT – “Execute Runbook” Script

Hello EverybodyHere is a little xmas present from Team CTGlobalThis script is an improved version of the script used by MDT to for the “Execute Runbook” StepI has the following improvements:Success/Failed checkRetry if the webservice call failsRetrieval of the correct result, when a runbook has failed over to one or more servers.The currently included script in MDt, will accidently get the first result, which is the failed result, while the newst result is the succeded one.This improves stability of the step by far.This has been tested in a scenario that contains around 800 servers in each patch windows.Each server executes [...]

Set computer name with Autopilot in Windows 1809

A quick blog post to show you that it is now possible to set computer name of an device going through the Out-of-Box experience enabled with Autopilot in Intune! This is new capabilities in Intune which is only available with Windows 10 RS5 1809. This post assume that you have an autopilot profile and that it is already assigned and in use. If not I recommend looking at the links below to get you started with Autopilot. For more information visits these websites: Overview of Windows Autopilot: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/windows-autopilot/windows-10-autopilot Whats new in Autopilot as of 24/9-18: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-IT-Pro-Blog/New-Windows-Autopilot-capabilities-and-expanded-partner-support/ba-p/260430 Now over to the [...]

Create ConfigurationItems and Baselines without killing your mouse

This information applies to ConfigMgr version 1710 and later. One of the things I really love about working in IT is that you can learn new stuff all the time, and when new stuff turns into boring repetitive stuff you can apply automation and add yet another new piece of learning to your skillset. Over the last few releases of Configuration Manager, the product team has added some new cmdlets for managing Configuration Items and Baselines, and I started to look into these when I was given the task to create a lot of very similar CIs and Baselines for [...]

Intune: Use PowerShell management extension to enable BitLocker on a modern managed Win10 device

I wrote a blog post back in April on "how to manage BitLocker on a Azure AD Joined Windows 10 Device managed by Intune", where I also wrote a PowerShell script to automate the encryption process for the day that we would get PowerShell support in Intune. Well Microsoft announced in September the Management extension for Intune which basically lets you deploy PowerShell scripts via. Intune to Windows 10 devices. My co-worker Peter Daalmans wrote a great blog post about it right after, where he explained in more detail about the extension. I have a link for that post at [...]

PowerShell Script for updating Runbook Steps in a Task Sequence!

The MDT Toolkit is great! One very useful feature is the “Execute Runbook” Step, which can execute a runbook in Orchestrator. Unfortunately Orchestrator has a little quirk, when moving to new environment, such as moving from Test to Prod. All runbooks get a new GUID, and runbook parameters might get a new GUID.  Besides this, the Server names usually needs to be changed too! This can be a trivial task, which an automation guy like me hate to do! Everytime Server name is updated, all parameters has to be setup again. This also makes the task prone to errors! So [...]

Manage your Windows 10 devices via PowerShell and Microsoft Intune

A big wish of the community and companies using Microsoft Intune was the ability to manage Windows 10 devices that are managed with Microsoft Intune via PowerShell. Since the MDM channel is not supporting deployment and the execution of PowerShell scripts, Microsoft announced today at Ignite the Microsoft Intune Management Extension. Meet the Microsoft Intune Management Extension The Microsoft Intune Management Extension is an addition to the current Windows 10 MDM capabilities and allows us now to deploy and execute PowerShell scripts. The Microsoft Intune Management Extension is automatically deployed and installed on Azure AD joined devices. The Microsoft Intune [...]

VIP Users Part 2 or how to synchronize group membership from AD to SCSM

Dealing with VIP users is a common practice within Service Management. This old blogpost explains a very good approach to mark VIP users in SCSM as VIP users. We simply extend the User class with an extra boolean property (true/false) and we then expose that property on the Incident right under the Affected User. That way Analysts can quickly see if the person is VIP and you can also make various workflows or notifications based on this property.   What is missing in the above post is how we figure out who is VIP or not. For many, this relationship [...]

By |2017-08-30T11:48:15+01:00november 15th, 2016|Automation, Powershell, Service Manager (SCSM)|2 Comments

December 1st: Azure Automation: Triggering a webhook from a SharePoint workflow using Out-of-the-box Activities

Welcome to this year Coretech December Calendar! Today is the 1st of december and we have a great little christmas treat for you! This is the first post in a series of posts, published every day in December. Today's subject is Triggering Webhooks from SharePoint! One of the great new features in Azure Automation is Webhooks! Webhooks is everywhere! More and more cloud services support them. Basically it is a simple HTTP Post sent to a web service that starts the runbooks. We can then send a bunch of data with the post and have the runbook receive these dato. [...]

By |2015-12-01T12:00:00+01:00december 1st, 2015|Automation, Azure|7 Comments

Azure automation: Start-AutomationRunbook – New simple way to start runbook jobs from within a runbook!

Microsoft has just released a new cmdlet in the realm of Azure automation. Start-AutomationRunbook The cmdlet is designed to start runbook jobs in the same account as the current running runbook, without having to define any endpoints/credentials/etc. Syntax is: Start-AutomationRunbook [-Name] <string> [-Parameters <IDictionary>] [-RunOn <string>] [<CommonParameters>] How to start a runbook: Start-AutomationRunbook – Name "Test-JSONOutput" Start a runbook on a hybrid worker Start-AutomationRunbook – Name "Test-JSONOutput" –RunOn "Denmark" NB! The cmdlet can only be used inside runbooks Great little addition to the built in cmdlets in Azure automation!

By |2015-11-20T15:33:22+01:00november 20th, 2015|Automation, Azure|6 Comments

Tech Days.se 2015 – SCO & SCSM–Lessons learned from the real world–Slides, Examples, Tools, Template / How to use runbook template

Thanks for being a great audience! and for so many showing up! As promised I have uploaded the runbooks and management packs I demonstrated in the session including my SCO Template for runbooks Content Examples Tools Runbook Template Slides Download here: [download id="263"] Links: Best practices book: https://t.co/pOHfdmSJra Coretech MP Transfer tool https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/jgs/scsm-sco-management-pack-transfer-tool-beta-3-freeware/ SCSM Extension Integraiton Pack https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/jgs/scoscsm-2012-create-objects-with-activities-with-coretech-integration-pack-for-scsm-2012-extension-beta-2 Parse Export https://scorch.codeplex.com/releases/view/104915 Sanitize Export + Custom Runbook Activity Type + Lots of other stuff https://scorch.codeplex.com/   How to use the runbook template: Import runbooks. this includes folders and shared runbooks. But, to be able to create another stage that points to [...]

By |2015-10-22T16:29:31+01:00oktober 22nd, 2015|Automation, Events|Kommentarer lukket til Tech Days.se 2015 – SCO & SCSM–Lessons learned from the real world–Slides, Examples, Tools, Template / How to use runbook template

Service Manager & Orchestrator – Management Pack Transfer Tool by Coretech Beta 4 is OUT!

Beta 4 has been uploaded.  a bug was fixed: In some cases not all runbooks in the MP was found. Fixed the issue. Unfortunately there was a problem with the source code, which meant having to re-do the fixes from beta 2 and 3. Please report back if there is any problems! thanks! see changelog in the gallery.   Get the new version here: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Service-Manager-Orchestrato-3d9b3960

By |2015-08-10T13:35:34+01:00august 10th, 2015|Automation, Service Manager (SCSM)|Kommentarer lukket til Service Manager & Orchestrator – Management Pack Transfer Tool by Coretech Beta 4 is OUT!

Windows Azure Pack / SMA: How to fix when some VM Clouds Automation Triggers does not work

In WAP VM Clouds provider, we are able to set trigger on different actions.   Yesterday, in a new test environment, I had a problem that some of them would not trigger. When I tested Subscription trigger, it worked fine, but none of the others worked.   Luckily I asked my MVP network for help, and fellow CDM MVP Stan showed me the path to the fix! (Check his blog here: http://www.systemcentercentral.com/author/slavizh/) He said some actions are handled directly by WAP, and some are handled by SPF.   The SMA Web service has to use a valid certificate that is [...]

Azure Automation: Using Azure Scheduler to trigger a runbook via Runbook Webhooks

One of the great new features of Azure Automation is the Web hooks, which can be added to runbooks. A web hook is a way for an external system to trigger the runbook with specific input values. You can read more about how to trigger web hooks here: http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/automation-webhooks/   This article describes how easy it is to use the Azure Scheduler to actually trigger the runbook. There is already a scheduler built in, but there can be reasons that one would use Azure Scheduler instead   Azure Automation scheduler is not very advanced so far, it can only trigger [...]

By |2015-05-20T14:52:52+01:00maj 20th, 2015|Automation, Azure|Kommentarer lukket til Azure Automation: Using Azure Scheduler to trigger a runbook via Runbook Webhooks

Azure Automation: New features including graphical designer and Hybrid Workers goes live!

Today at Ignite, Microsoft announced the next version of the portal for Azure Automation. This portal is part of the new Azure Portal, and you can try it out right away!! It has some great features in the interface and It enables proper Hybrid Cloud Automation! Execute Azure Automation runbook on-premise and trigger them from on-prem solutions!   Can I get a Woohoo!?   In this article, I will explain each feature in details New Graphical Runbook Designer interface (similar to the classic Orchestrator runbook designer) Hybrid Worker Role!! Web Hooks New portal design with better overview over runbooks, Assets etc. [...]

By |2015-05-04T17:30:01+01:00maj 4th, 2015|Automation, Azure|Kommentarer lukket til Azure Automation: New features including graphical designer and Hybrid Workers goes live!

Help shape the future of Microsoft Automation/Orchestrator!

The Microsoft engineering team that creates Azure Automation, Service Management Automation, and System Center Orchestrator is asking for us customers to help them shape the future of Automation. Today we run most automation on premise, but in the future this might be a cloud service like Office 365. It all depends on the inputs from us! You can give your input by filling this survey with questions about moving to a cloud service: https://microsoft.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_b3pBfQD39MLGiHP

By |2017-08-22T09:25:50+01:00marts 24th, 2015|Automation|Kommentarer lukket til Help shape the future of Microsoft Automation/Orchestrator!

NIC 2015 Recording Online: Service Management Automation – Introduction

The recordings from NIC 2015 is online on youtube!. Thanks NIC!   System Center - Service Management Automation - Introduction There is a new form of Automation in the Microsoft world! Service Management Automation is part of System Center Orchestrator 2012 R2 and is built on PowerShell! Get introduced, get an overview and learn how to develop and test your first Runbook Url: http://www.nicconf.com/system-center---service-management-automation---introduction Youtube url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQLaF_k-hg0 Video:   Get the slides and runbooks here: https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/jgs/nic-2015-slides-and-runbooks-from-my-sessions/

By |2017-08-22T09:25:50+01:00februar 24th, 2015|Automation, Events|Kommentarer lukket til NIC 2015 Recording Online: Service Management Automation – Introduction

NIC 2015 Recording Online: Service Management Automation – Automating System Center 2012 R2

The recordings from NIC 2015 is online on youtube!. Thanks NIC!   System Center - Service Management Automation – Automating System Center 2012 R2 Already PowerShell Scripter? Already worked with SMA? Or are you just interested in some more advanced examples of runbooks? These examples include monitors, connectors and more in demos focused on System Center. Join me for a deep dive into the world of Service Management Automation runbooks, packed with best practices, demos and notes from the real-world.   Url: http://www.nicconf.com/system-center---service-management-automation--automating-system-center-2012-r2 Youtube url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDFejEe8ruI Video:   Get the slides and runbooks here: https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/jgs/nic-2015-slides-and-runbooks-from-my-sessions/

By |2017-08-22T09:25:51+01:00februar 24th, 2015|Automation, Events|Kommentarer lukket til NIC 2015 Recording Online: Service Management Automation – Automating System Center 2012 R2

NIC 2015: Slides and runbooks from my sessions

thank you all for a great NIC 2015 ! It was great to be back for the 4th time, and had some really nice conversations with a lot of people. I have uploaded my slides and runbooks for my sessions: System Center - Service Management Automation - Introduction There is a new form of Automation in the Microsoft world! Service Management Automation is part of System Center Orchestrator 2012 R2 and is built on PowerShell! Get introduced, get an overview and learn how to develop and test your first Runbook Get the slides here: [download id="233"] Video: https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/jgs/nic-2015-recording-online-service-management-automation-automating-system-center-2012-r2/ System Center [...]

By |2017-08-22T09:25:51+01:00februar 13th, 2015|Automation, Events|Kommentarer lukket til NIC 2015: Slides and runbooks from my sessions

I am speaking at System Center Universe Europe 2015!

I am proud to present that I will be speaking at System Center Universe Europe 2015! There is already a great list of speakers! http://www.systemcenteruniverse.ch/speakers.html   When August 24-26 2015 Where Congress Center Basel Messeplatz 21 4058 Basel Switzerland   Expect automation at it’s best! Looking forward!

By |2015-02-03T12:09:46+01:00februar 3rd, 2015|Automation, Events|Kommentarer lukket til I am speaking at System Center Universe Europe 2015!

Automation / SCO / SCSM Tip: Always retry when trying to update an items or any other action in external systems (how to use looping)!

In my work on automating system center service manager, I have learned my lessons! On my blog i want to share bits of my experiences so that hopefully you do not hit the same issues in your automation.   TIP! Always retry your actions when trying to update an item in service manager and it is always a good idea to think about retried when connecting to any system! cloud or on-prem!   Why? you might ask In this case it is about the  dreadful service manager error message for “The item has been changed by another user or process. [...]

By |2017-08-22T09:25:51+01:00januar 15th, 2015|Automation, Service Manager (SCSM)|Kommentarer lukket til Automation / SCO / SCSM Tip: Always retry when trying to update an items or any other action in external systems (how to use looping)!

Service Management Automation: Runbook/Workflow for completing a SCSM SMA Runbook Activity

Almost christmas!   Today brings another example for handling Service Manager in in Service Management Automation (SMA), a part for Windows Azure Pack. More info: http://aka.ms/introToSMA SMA is based on PowerShell workflow, so this could be used in other scenarios than within SMA. This example is a runbook I use to complete an activity in service manager, in the end of most of my Service Manager runbooks. I do this cause I want to speed up the processing and not wait for the “Check SMA Runbook Activity Complete” workflow that runs every 5 minutes but completing the Runbook activity manually [...]

By |2017-08-22T09:25:51+01:00december 19th, 2014|Automation|Kommentarer lukket til Service Management Automation: Runbook/Workflow for completing a SCSM SMA Runbook Activity