A USB switch is a convenient piece of hardware to have in your homelab if you’d like to interact with multiple boxes from your same mouse and keyboard. I have one that from the factory, allowed one to cycle through a selection to choose a device, but you could not select and go directly to…
Author: paytonflint
PowerShell – CM Uninstall Collections + Deployments Tool
To maintain a healthy environment, providing capability for other supporting teams to remove applications using CM may be desirable. One way this might be arranged is to provide the ability to place devices in predetermined uninstall collections that already have required uninstall deployments for their corresponding application. In this scenario, it would be desirable for…
PowerShell – Save Updates And Import to WSUS
Since Internet Explorer has now been deprecated, there is a need to import updates to WSUS natively without the installation of additional browsers. I’ve found that some of the functionality can be accomplished with Microsoft MVP Chrissy Lemaire’s “KBUpdate” PowerShell module, but it merely facilitated the process by downloading the update, and thus, I did…
PowerShell – Add/Modify Registry Key
Creating or modifying registry keys in PowerShell is a task that comes up frequently when working with Windows. I’ve put together a function that will check for and create a registry key if it does not exist. Just specify the key path, name, and value. As you can see in the first execution, the script…
PowerShell – Report CM Application Information
A common problem with applications in Configuration Manager is that an uninstall command has not been specified for many applications. This tends to cause the accumulation of technical debt. As applications age, it will eventually become desirable to remove them from the environment en masse. The ideal time to specify an uninstall command is when…
PowerShell – Ultimate Oracle Client Deinstaller
I’ve put together a PowerShell deinstall script for Oracle clients that I’m dubbing the Ultimate Oracle Client Deinstaller. This deinstall script clears relevant environment variables and creates a .RSP file using Oracle’s deinstall.bat utility. It then deinstalls the Oracle client and cleans up the registry. But wait, there’s more! This script is compatible with Oracle…
PowerShell – Set AD Security Group Membership
Here’s a script that I wrote to allow you to provide a list of machine names and set the membership of an Active Directory security group. It outputs the initial membership count to the console, removes devices that are not present in the provided list, adds devices that are not already present, and then outputs…
Homelab – Virtual Network Configuration
In my home lab environment, I find it convenient (most of the time) for my devices to be able to communicate with one another unimpeded. Doing so allows for simple file transfer, to use RDP, or to ping virtual devices. Often these capabilities are not a necessity, but they do make things convenient. And, in…
PowerShell- Clearing Nullified Environment Variables
I have posted before on the nuances of handling environment variables with PowerShell. I recently encountered an issue where I found a shortcoming of some of my previous scripting work. I was unable to clear nullified environment variables in my current session. I can’t take credit for the script I pieced together to accomplish this,…
Homelab- Active Office Cooling
Earlier this year, I rewired my basement to create individual circuits for my garage and office. Before, the entire basement (including the garage) was all on one circuit. I decided I was tired of having my network go down every time I would trip a breaker in the garage – which, admittedly, happens all too…