PowerShell - ConvertFrom-String and the TemplateFile parameter

I'm continuing to play with the new ConvertFrom-String cmdlet (available in the last WMF 5.0 September preview released yesterday) which make the parsing job really easy for simple or complex output.

This cmdlets supports two types of modes: Basic Delimited Parsing (See yesterday's post) and the Auto-Generated Example-Driven Parsing which I will cover in this post.

This Auto-Generated Example-Driven Parsing mode is based on the FlashExtract research work in Microsoft Research...

Important: This post is based on the September 2014 preview release of WMF 5.0. This is pre-release software, so this information may change.

PowerShell - Playing with the new ConvertFrom-String cmdlet

In a previous post I talked about parsing NetStat.exe using PowerShell and some regex, It is a fun exercice but require some knowledge to figure out how the parsing should happen.

Today, It got way easier !! The PowerShell Team just released a new version of the WMF : v5 September preview ! And One of the coolest feature is the new ConvertFrom-String cmdlet.

EDIT (2014/10/02): See also my post about using ConvertFrom-String and the param -TemplateFile against Netstat.exe

Using the same example from my previous post, I will perform a simple parsing of netstat.exe -n and send the output to ConvertFrom-String.

Important: This post is based on the September 2014 preview release of WMF 5.0. This is pre-release software, so this information may change.

PowerShell - WMF 5.0 July preview uninstallation fails

Today the PowerShell Team released a new version of the WMF : v5 September preview, I really like the faster beta cycle !

Having the beta preview already installed (July version), I first open Add/Remove Programs (appwiz.cpl) and start to uninstall this version (KB2969050).

Once the uninstallation is completed, Windows ask to reboot. However at the next boot I get a message saying the Update did not work and Windows is Undoing the change, reverting to the previous state...then reboot again.

PowerShell - Sum similar entries from multiple CSV files

One of my script is scheduled to download everyday the proxy logs files from multiple proxies (Approx 1>2GB per file) of the previous day. The second step is to parse each of them and get the top 200 domain names within a specific environment. Finally at the end of the month another script create a report on the monthly internet usage.

I thought this was an interesting exercise even if some tools would probably do a better job ($$$). Also we shouldn't take those results too seriously since some protocols like Ajax or HTML5 talk a lot to the servers, keep refreshing pages even if you are not actively working on them.

In this post, I will talk about the last part of this process and how I combine all those files to get a real monthly top domains.

PowerShell/SCSM - Retrieving Active Directory Object Classes

Following my previous post, today I continue my SCSM journey. I had to create a new automation workflow using SCSM and SCORCH to give the ability to a portal user to add an Active Directory Account to one or more group(s).

Once you get the input of the user, the selected user account and groups impacted by the request are added to the Service Request Related Item, in the Configuration Item field.

Finding this information with PowerShell was not easy. Also Users and Groups are tagged as "User Class" and we want to avoid querying the Active Directory to verify is a user is really a user and a group... really a group object.

PowerShell/SCSM - My first steps

I recently started to work with System Center Service Manager 2012 R2 (also known as SCSM) which provides provides an integrated platform for automating and adapting an organization's IT service management best practices, such as those found in Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). It provides built-in processes for incident and problem resolution, change control, and asset lifecycle management.

PowerShell - Parse this: NetStat.exe

In the last couple of months I had to parse different types of output using PowerShell and I thought it would be a cool idea to explain how this can be done. Command line tool: Netstat.exe

This small tool allows you to display active TCP connections, ports on which the computer is listening, Ethernet statistics, the IP routing table, IPv4 and IPv6 statistics.

In this example I will use the parameter '-n' which displays active TCP connections (without name resolution).

PowerShell Summit 2014 Europe (English)

French version

The European PowerShell Summit, organised by PowerShell.org guys, will be in Amsterdam from the September 29th to the October 1st 2014 at the Park Hotel. Details at http://powershell.org/wp/community-events/summit/

The Summit will feature 3 days of PowerShell sessions from PowerShell team members, PowerShell MVPs and other PowerShell experts. It’s the in-person gathering place for PowerShell enthusiasts and PowerShell users. It’s a place to make new connections, learn new techniques, and offer something to your peers and colleagues.  If you can't get your PowerShell questions answered at the PowerShell Summit you'll never get an answer.