Michael has been an 'IT Pro' since 1998. He has worked predominantly in the Windows world including client and server operating systems, on-prem systems engineering (AD, DNS, etc.), and over the last ten years or so has embraced and immersed himself in all things Microsoft 365 - including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Teams, OneDrive, and Azure Active Directory (AAD). He has written articles here on Petri based on these technologies and also published a larger series about 'Upgrading to Windows Server 2022' this past summer. Michael strives to help other IT Pros with getting more efficient (especially with PowerShell) in their day-to-day tasks and offering solid assistance on larger projects.
Last Update: Dec 05, 2023
Exchange Online PowerShell is a command-line tool that allows you to manage your Exchange Online mailboxes and users. It can be used to perform a variety of tasks, such as creating and managing mailboxes, configuring mail flow rules, and managing user permissions. In this guide, we’ll show you how to install and connect to Exchange…
Last Update: Nov 16, 2023
Active Directory is Microsoft’s on-premises identity and access management (IAM) service. In this article, learn how Active Directory (AD) makes it easier for IT to manage an organization’s IT resources. Active Directory is especially useful for companies that have to manage lots of endpoints and servers. What is Active Directory and why is it used?…
Last Update: Nov 15, 2023
PsExec is a command-line utility program for Windows written by none other than Mark Russinovich, the current CTO of Microsoft Azure. It’s still being updated as part of the SysInternals suite of utilities. PsExec allows you to run programs locally, and, more importantly, on remote computers. You can even kick off similar commands on multiple…
The Get-ADComputer PowerShell cmdlet is a powerful tool for managing AD computers. It can be used to retrieve information about computer objects, search for computer objects based on specific criteria, and perform various actions on computer objects. What is Get-ADComputer used for? Get-ADComputer is a PowerShell cmdlet that retrieves one or more computers from Active…
Last Update: Nov 07, 2023
Advanced password attacks, like brute force and those launched by malicious insiders, are devastating the security of today’s enterprises and cloud services. ADSelfService Plus from ManageEngine can protect web properties from such attacks with multi-factor authentication (MFA). Multi-factor authentication is the best way to protect Active Directory and cloud-based user accounts As the impacts of…
The inner workings of the Windows operating system are a labyrinth of files and folders, each with its own specific role and significance. Among these, the AppData folder is a critical yet often overlooked, or possibly misunderstood component. In this article, we will delve into the AppData folder in Windows, exploring its purpose, structure, and…
Last Update: Oct 24, 2023
Roaming profiles are a Windows feature that allows user profiles to be used across multiple workstations within a network. A user profile contains personalized application settings, desktop configurations, application preferences, and other user-specific data. In this article, I will show you how to deploy roaming user profiles in your Windows environment so that users have…
Last Update: Oct 24, 2023
If you’ve been an IT Pro for many years (OK, decades), you likely know what an Active Directory OU (Organizational Unit) is. But, what if you’re new to the IT field or new to Microsoft Active Directory? No need to fret or get flustered – read my post to find out about OUs, what they are, and…
Last Update: Oct 16, 2023
In this article, I’ll explain how to use the PowerShell Where-Object cmdlet to filter objects and data. I’ll provide a series of easy examples showing you how to filter files by name or date, how to filter processes by status or CPU usage, and more. When using PowerShell, you will often receive an extremely large…
The Get-ChildItem PowerShell cmdlet is a powerful tool for listing files and folders in a variety of ways. In this blog post, we will explore the different features of the Get-ChildItem cmdlet and show you how to use it to get the most out of your PowerShell experience. What is Get-ChildItem? At a high level,…