Posted inConfiguration Manager PowerShell

Microsoft Configuration Manager 2012 R2 PowerShell Documentation Script Version 2.3

In June 2013, David O’Brien (Cloud and Datacenter Management MVP) released his Config Manager documentation script. A little while ago, several users emailed me asking for help as they were trying to run the script using Microsoft Word 2016. David had left my email address in the error message so I reached out to David for permission to update his script. David stated I could maintain it on my site. Along with the help of Michael B. Smith (Exchange MVP) and a hard-working, dedicated group of testers, the script will now be maintained and housed on my site.

David’s last script update was version 2.2. With all the changes made in this update, I decided to change the version number to 2.3.

Disclaimer: I know nothing about System Center or Configuration Manager and have access to neither. The only way this script was updated was with the help of a couple of very dedicated testers (David M. and MBS). The latest version of PowerShell V5 complained about a lot of issues with this script (and all the other documentation scripts) and I have fixed what the testers reported and were able to test. There are still a couple of things PowerShell V5 complains about but none of the testers used any of those Configuration Manager options. If you use the new -Dev and -ScriptInfo parameters when you run the script, I would appreciate you sending me those two files so I can fix anything else that PowerShell V5 complains about.

Posted inPowerShell

Microsoft PowerShell and Nested Try/Catch

On a recent project, I learned something new about PowerShell’s Try/Catch. You can nest another Try/Catch in the Catch of the first Try/Catch. When I showed this to my PowerShell mentor, he said he didn’t know that could be done. I figured I might as well make a quick post about it.

Posted inActive Directory PowerShell

Create or Update a Group Policy Using Settings From Another Group Policy Using Microsoft PowerShell

Over the course of the past several months, I have had several projects where I needed to create, edit, or fix group policies. A problem I ran into was I only needed a subset of the policy settings (Site to Zone Mappings, Microsoft Office settings). Another problem was corrupt group policies that would not backup. How can I get just the settings I needed into a test group policy? This article shows the script I created to handle those situations.

Citrix Director – How to Make Director the Default Page within IIS
Posted inCitrix Virtual Apps and Desktops XenApp 6.5 XenApp/XenDesktop 7.0 - 7.7

Citrix Director – How to Make Director the Default Page within IIS

On a recent project, I needed to create two Citrix Director servers. One for Citrix XenApp 6.5 and the other for XenApp 7.6. I looked for an article from Citrix on making the Director site the default page in IIS and did not find anything. So I have ripped off, I mean borrowed heavily from, the Citrix article How to Make StoreFront the Default Page within IIS to do what I needed done.

Removing the Network location from the Navigation Pane
Posted inCitrix Virtual Apps and Desktops XenApp/XenDesktop 7.0 - 7.7

Removing the Network location from the Navigation Pane

On a recent XenApp 7.6 project, the IT Manager was insistent that the Network location be removed from the Navigation pane. The manager wanted no one to see the Network location from Explorer, Save, or SaveAs dialogs from any of the published resources on any of the XenApp 7.6 servers. This is how I accomplished this for the manager.

Posted inCitrix Virtual Apps and Desktops XenApp/XenDesktop 7.0 - 7.7

Internet Explorer 10 and 11 Open to Blank White Screen or Become Unresponsive

Yet another plus for being a consultant is running into issues never seen before, searching for a solution, seeing tens of thousands of hits with no solution in sight, and coming up with a solution. I have done many XenApp 7.x and XenDesktop 7.x deployments where Internet Exploder, I mean Explorer, 10, and 11, were used, and I have never seen or heard of this issue. On a recent project, I was asked to finish a XenApp 7.6 deployment running Windows Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2. One of the issues I was tasked to resolve was that IE 10 and 11 had two weird issues for any user, regular or administrator. This is how we solved the issue.

Citrix XenApp 7.x on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 – Setting File Type or Application Associations
Posted inCitrix Virtual Apps and Desktops XenApp/XenDesktop 7.0 - 7.7

Citrix XenApp 7.x on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2 – Setting File Type or Application Associations

One of the nice things about being a consultant is that on every project, you run into something you had never seen before or asked to do something no one else has asked you to do before. As a consultant, I am always learning new things or a new way of doing something I have been doing for years. Recently I was asked to help finish up a XenApp 7.6 deployment running on Windows Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2. One of the problems I was tasked to resolve was that some application associations were not working. One specific example was that embedded links in emails, when Ctrl+Clicked, would not open in the default browser. Here is how I solved that issue.

Posted inActive Directory Blog PowerShell

Inside Webster’s Lab: Removing Domain Controller Using PowerShell

With all the writing I do for my website and customers, I recreate my Windows Server 2012 R2 Active Directory (AD) environment frequently.  Sometimes I just need a fresh start and I need to demote my domain controller, remove all the Active Directory related Roles and Features and just start over.  This article will show how I use PowerShell to accomplish these tasks.