I recently moved into a new role and needed to to be added to a number of AD groups. An often-used method for this is to model a new employee's permissions after someone already in the same role. For one or two groups it is relatively simple to just do this manually, but as you... Continue Reading →
SQL Server “Failed to open loopback connection”
TLDR: If you have the SQL Browser Service disabled then you must also have Shared Memory enabled, otherwise SQL Server can't communicate with itself. While setting up a sandbox Always On Availability Group cluster recently I ran into some unexpected behavior. The first sign of problems was that SQL Agent would not start. The service... Continue Reading →
God Wants Only Your Good, Even When It Doesn’t Feel That Way
One thing that has surprised me as a parent is how often interactions between my kids and myself mirror my relationship with God. Parenthood really gives you a unique opportunity to be on the flip side of the interaction, where you're now the one trying to work for the good of someone who you love... Continue Reading →
Kindle Fire HD8 Review
Background: I recently found myself wanting to replace my iPad Mini 2. It's around four years old and starting to become sluggish enough to be frustrating. Given the incredibly low price of Amazon tablets on Prime Day, I decided to take a risk and try out the Kindle Fire HD 8. Below are my impressions... Continue Reading →
List the Manager Emails for AD Group Members with PowerShell
Below is a quick script I've been working on for a colleague. Its simple purpose is to query an AD group then display each member's username and the email address of their manager. Hopefully this will help others accomplish this common task with ease. (Update 04/11/2018) I modified the script to include the employee's full... Continue Reading →
Getting Started with PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC)
As I've mentioned in other posts, Desired State Configuration (DSC) is a powerful technology with a lot of potential. However, due to how new it is and how rapidly it's evolving, it can be difficult to get started and figure out how to accomplish your specific goals. My intention here is not to give an... Continue Reading →
Installing SQL Server Using Desired State Configuration
(Update: I've since discovered that SqlServerDsc has replaced xSQLServer.) One of my growing passions is using PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) to automate all the things. I started out with simple configurations for testing but wanted to dive into more complex\useful situations for my day-to-day DBA life. To be honest, I was intimidated by the... Continue Reading →
My First PowerShell Module – PSOraenv
Update (04/01/2019): We've hit over 100 downloads for PSOraenv! A big thanks to the PowerShell community. Please keep using it and let me know how I can make it better. ******* Most of my experience with Oracle has been on Linux, but recently I began working with it on Windows as well. It came to... Continue Reading →
Windows Server Core Jumpstart
Recently I've been looking into the potential that Windows Server Core holds for our environment. Like most eager new Core users, I imagine, I jumped in with grand visions of spinning up a VM quickly and being off to the races administering it from my desktop. The reality wasn't quite the same, as I ran... Continue Reading →
The Final Push – CRM 2016 is Live
After months of ups and downs, plans built and destroyed, and countless hours invested, CRM 2016 is live. (Actually, it's been live since Easter weekend. But keeping a blog up to date is obviously not one of my talents.) For the last installment in this series I'd like to go over how we went about... Continue Reading →