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Powershell Crescendo general availability release On March 10th Microsoft announced the General Availability (GA) release of PowerShell Crescendo , a platform-independent framework to rapidly develop PowerShell cmdlets for common command line tools. The release is available for download in PowerShell Gallery . PowerShell Crescendo overview The Crescendo framework allows developers to build PowerShell cmdlets which make use of existing command-line tools. Crescendo upgrades the overall functionality offered by the target command-line tool, by allowing the developer to include object output for the PowerShell pipeline, privilege elevation and integrated help information. A Crescendo module replaces cumbersome command-line tools with PowerShell cmdlets which are superior in terms of automation features and packaging. The Crescendo framework has two main components: - A JSON configuration file that describes the cmdlets you want - Output handler functions that parse the output from the com...

Powershell Crescendo general availability release On March 10th Microsoft announced the General Availability (GA) release of PowerShell Crescendo , a platform-independent framework to rapidly develop PowerShell cmdlets for common command line tools. The release is available for download in PowerShell Gallery . PowerShell Crescendo overview The Crescendo framework allows developers to build PowerShell cmdlets which make use of existing command-line tools. Crescendo upgrades the overall functionality offered by the target command-line tool, by allowing the developer to include object output for the PowerShell pipeline, privilege elevation and integrated help information. A Crescendo module replaces cumbersome command-line tools with PowerShell cmdlets which are superior in terms of automation features and packaging. The Crescendo framework has two main components: - A JSON configuration file that describes the cmdlets you want - Output handler functions that parse the output from the com...

Case The Citrix Storefront store URL is required when you need to access a Citrix Storefront store either directly via Citrix Receiver for Web, directly via the Citrix Workspace App client or via Citrix Gateway (Citrix ICA reverse proxy). In certain occasions you may need to change the URL of the Citrix Storefront URL. This article provides guidance on how to change the Citrix Storefront URL. Solution Step 1: Change the Storefront base URL from the primary Storefront server First you need to follow the procedure below to change the Storefront base URL in the Citrix Storefront MMC console. First launch the Citrix Studio console and on the left pane navigate to Citrix Storefront --> Server Group. If you have a Citrix Storefront server group, you need to perform this on the primary Storefront server. On the right pane of the Storefront MMC console, click "Change Base URL". In the pop-up form, provide the new Citrix Storefront store base URL and click on OK . Now review and ve...

Case You have a Web site on which you publish content, such as blog, podcast or other personal or business site. You find out that certain other sites are performing copyright infringement and plagiarism of your Web content by unlawfully copy pasting content to gain profit and to affect your searching engine SEO ranking. Solution The act of copy pasting content from another source verbatim without mentioning the content source is called plagiarism. There are strict terms and rules about plagiarism which covers the content operated by all Web hosting providers. First off, you should protect your content adequately to avoid having it stolen in the first place. In the case of Wordpress, this can occur either by adding custom PHP code to your blog for disabling text selection or by installing a copyright protection plugin, such as the following: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-content-copy-protector/ . You can also us the CopyScrape online tool to detect infringed copies of your original...

Case Each Acronis product has an established period for every stage of the Support Lifecycle: Mainstream, Extended and Self-Service support. The Extended support phase for Acronis Cyber Backup 12.5 ends on September 9, 2022. From this date, product hotfixes/patches for critical issues, security issues and OS support updates will no longer be available unless you upgrade to the latest version of Acronis Cyber Protect 15. You can read the Acronis Cyber Backup 12.5 end of support statement at https://kb.acronis.com/acb125 . Solution Acronis upgrade planning notes Here’s how to upgrade: If you have an active subscription license, you can download the latest build of Acronis Cyber Protect 15 and proceed with the upgrade .If you have a perpetual license: - with active maintenance, you can get a free upgrade to Acronis Cyber Protect 15 - without active maintenance, you can upgrade to an Acronis Cyber Protect subscription license for 60% off For more information regarding this end-of-support a...

Case You need to configure a Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server to provide Windows updates to all servers in your on-premises infrastructure. There are various WSUS architecture options for high availability, however this article will focus on the simple scenario of how to configure a WSUS standalone server, which can cover the requirements of many infrastructures. Solution Carry out the steps below to the configure a WSUS standalone server. - Setup the VM or physical machine where the WSUS server role will be installed and install all latest Windows updates. - Install the WSUS server role in the Windows Server Manager with Windows Internal Database (WID), setup the required UNC path for WSUS storage with proper SMB and NTFS permissions, as per https://stefanos.cloud/kb/windows-server-update-services-wsus-share-permissions/ . - After rebooting the server, run the WSUS post-installation process when you launch the WSUS MMC console. Click Run to continue. - Run the WSUS first t...

Original post URL : https://stefanos.cloud/blog/microsoft-certified-trainer-mct/ Introduction Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs) are the premier technical and instructional experts in Microsoft technologies. An overview of the MCT program is provided at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/mct-certification . Requirements for MCT initial registration and renewal The MCT program is for educators around the world who actively deliver training on Microsoft technologies. You need to possess a qualifying Microsoft certification and prove your training experience, either by a letter of recommendation or by passing a "train the trainer" exam, such as CompTIA Certified Trainer (CTT+) . MCT registration procedure Follow the steps below to register as a new Microsoft Certified Trainer. - First of all you need to possess a Microsoft Account (MSA) which should be linked to your Microsoft Certification ID (MCID). Ensure you are able to login to https://mcp.microsoft.com...

Case When you try to launch a Remote Desktop Services (RDS) remote app or desktop, you receive the following error: "The digital signature of this RDP file cannot be verified. The remote connection cannot be started". This may be combined by various TLS certificate-related errors or warnings in your RDS servers, for example the Connection Broker server. Solution This indicates that some or all of the TLS certificates used in your Remote Desktop Services (RDS) infrastructure have expired or are not valid. You must first check the certificate store of all RDS servers, i.e. RDS Connection Broker, RDS Gateway and RDS Web Access. If you have expired certificates, you must either renew the existing certificates or issue new certificates. For renewing existing certificates, either automatically via Group Policy or manually, refer to the following article: For issuing new certificates for your RDS roles, you can use the Windows Server IIS Manager console (inetmgr command in Start Men...

Case You need to burn a bootable iso image to USB disk. This how-to article provides options for burning a bootable iso image to USB disk in both Windows and Linux operating systems. Solution Windows Use Rufus Use Rufus to burn any iso in the Windows operating system. Rufus is availble for download from https://rufus.ie/en/ . Linux Use Balena Etcher https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/blob/master/docs/USER-DOCUMENTATION.md#why-is-my-drive-not-bootable . Electron GUI is built by using the Electron JS framework ( https://www.electronjs.org/ ). To install Etcher in Ubuntu Linux run the following commands: curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/balena/etcher/setup.deb.sh' | sudo -E bash sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install balena-etcher-electron # How to uninstall sudo apt-get remove balena-etcher-electron rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/balena-etcher.list apt-get clean rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* apt-get update Balena Etcher is also available as a Linux AppImage at https...

Case Microsoft's root CA "Baltimore CyberTrust Root" available at https://cacerts.digicert.com/BaltimoreCyberTrustRoot.crt as well as intermediate CAs Microsoft RSA TLS CA 01 and Microsoft RSA TLS CA 02 will be retired by October 2022. The above root CA and intermediate CAs will be replaced by new root CA and intermediate CA authorities. For example, one new major root CA will be DigiCert Global Root G2 . The following endpoints are covered by the retired root CA and are expected to be impacted by this change: - *.teams.microsoft.com - *.skype.com - *.skypeforbusiness.com - *.groupme.com - *.communication.azure.com - *.operatorconnect.microsoft.com This change will not affect certificates, domains, or services used in the China or Germany national cloud instances of Microsoft 365. You need to determine if you will be impacted by this change and if so, to mitigate the Microsoft 365 Certificate Authority CA changes. Solution You must carry out the following steps to mit...

Case You are an IT administrator of a Microsoft Cloud Service Provider (CSP) and you need to be able to manage all CSP tenants' Microsoft 365 subscriptions, either from a single pane of glass or individually. This article will provide high-level guidance about how to manage a Microsoft 365 tenant as CSP. Solution - Ask your M365 customer to create a new admin user for you with all the required Azure AD and Microsoft 365 security roles required. In this case there is not any other trust relationship between the CSP and the end-customer. This is a quick solution but not the best practice in terms of security and governance. See below options for more details. - Establish a CSP Reseller with the end customer. This is accomplished by generating and sharing a a trust relationship activation link (URL) which is shared with the customer for them to approve. This allows you to access your customer's M365 tenant as a global admin user from a single management console which aggregates al...

Case You need to run the Ookla Speed Test ( https://speedtest.net ) inside your software applications via command line interface. Solution You can download and install the CLI version of Ookla speedtest at https://www.speedtest .net/apps/cli . With Speedtest CLI, you can easily: - Measure internet connection performance metrics like download, upload, latency and packet loss natively without relying on a web browser - Test the internet connection of your Linux desktop, a remote server or even lower-powered devices such as the Raspberry Pi® with the Speedtest Server Network™ - Set up automated scripts to collect connection performance data, including trends over time - Use Speedtest in your programs by wrapping it in the programming language of your choice - View test results via CSV, JSONL or JSON Follow the commands below to install on an Ubuntu Linux machine. ## If migrating from prior bintray install instructions please first... # sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/speedtest.list # sudo...

I am happy to have recently been awarded the CompTIA Certified Trainer (CTT+) certification. The CTT+ badge is being made available by Credly: https://www.credly.com/users/stefanosevangelou/badges . The CTT+ certification exam tests in and out of class teaching expertise, including preparation, facilitation and physical or virtual classroom evaluation. To earn the certification, two exams must be passed. In addition to TK0-201, you’ll have to pass either TK0-202, or TK0-203. More details about the CTT+ certification can be found at: https://stefanos.cloud/blog/comptia-ctt-certification-overview/ . This post provides some hands-on tips for passing the CompTIA Certified Trainer CTT+ exams. Step 1: Pass the TK0-201 exam The TK0-201 exam is the Computer Based Training (CBT) exam which covers all the theoretical aspects of technical training as per the CTT+ curriculum. There are a handful of resources on the Internet which should prepare you for the TK0-201 exam. In my case I bought and st...