Tag Archives: PowerShell

Azure Reservations and the RBAC dilemma

Cloud computing underlies a constant change. Things you take today for granted are different tomorrow. Surprisingly, even designs and implementations on the same platform can be different. Welcome to today’s topic of Azure Reservations and the RBAC dilemma. As I have written in my brief introduction, designs and implementations can be different. Azure RBAC is one example here. Being the owner Read more [...]

Optimize your Azure Function PowerShell run duration in the consumption plan

Since PowerShell is available on Azure Functions this is the way to go for automating things in Azure. Especially running the function in the consumption plan and with a managed identity enabled. Per default an Azure Function in the consumption plan is restricted to a run duration of 5 minutes but can be extended to 10 minutes. That said I like to share some optimizations with you getting the Read more [...]

Adding value to your DevTest Labs users with additional Azure services

If you are working with Azure DevTest Labs you already know that all the nice things are built around to provide a test environment for Azure IaaS VMs. So far so good, but what can you do to provide your DevTest Labs users with access to PaaS services? Azure DevTest Labs got you covered with a feature called environments. -> https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-azure-devtest-labs-support-for-creating-environment-with-arm-templates/ Environments Read more [...]

Microsoft Ignite 2017 Day 2 and 3 recap – Azure announcements

During the last two days at Ignite in Orlando, Microsoft announced more new Azure capabilities. Have a look at the following selections of the official Azure blog announcements to get started with the new things in Azure. Payment Processing Blueprint for PCI DSS-compliant environments -> https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/payment-processing-blueprint-for-pci-dss-compliant-environments/ Azure Read more [...]

Microsoft Ignite 2017 Day 1 recap – Azure announcements

Today Microsoft Ignite 2017 in Orlando kicked off. Microsoft announced a ton of new Azure capabilities. Have a look at the following selections of the official Azure blog announcements to get started with the new things in Azure. I know the selection is big, but it is worth it to take a look at it. New Azure advancements remove cloud barriers for enterprises at Ignite 2017 -> https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/new-azure-advancements-remove-cloud-barriers-for-enterprises-at-ignite-2017/ Automation Read more [...]

Using Veeam FastSCP with Azure VMs and self-signed certificates

When working with Azure VMs you have several options to copy files into your VMs. One tool I really like is Veeam FastSCP, because my Azure VMs are just dev / test machines and are neither part of an Active Directory nor I have a VPN connection with the my Azure Virtual Network. -> https://www.veeam.com/fastscp-azure-vm.html So I want a secure way to get files into my Azure VMs and here comes Read more [...]

Start and stop Azure VMs without access to Microsoft Azure

Imagine you want to provide specific users with the ability to start and stop VMs, but you do not want to provide access for them to the Azure portal. Then you can use Azure Automation with webhooks. First create an Azure Automation account in the region of your choice. Make sure that the option “Create Azure Run As account” is enabled. After the successful creation of the Automation Read more [...]

Set up the Azure Usage and Billing Insights Portal for demo purposes

Last week Microsoft announced the availability of the Azure Usage and Billing Insights (AUBI) Portal. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-release-of-the-azure-usage-and-billing-portal/ A setup guide is provided on the GitHub repository. https://github.com/Microsoft/AzureUsageAndBillingPortal/blob/master/Documentation/HOWTO.md So what is the intention of this blog post? Read more [...]

Free tools for your daily work with Microsoft Azure / Azure Stack

When you are working with Azure or Azure Stack you have to use additional tools to keep your work easy. I would like to present some free tools, I am using at my daily work with Azure and Azure Stack Let us start with the area storage explorer, something you want to use instead of the portal itself. In the beginning we had the Azure Storage Explorer, a CodePlex project, that is not developed Read more [...]

SCVMM – Storage Overcommitment PowerShell Script – Version 4.0

Today I am releasing version 3.4 and 4.0 of my Storage Overcommitment PowerShell script and first of all I want to talk about the changes I have made. -> https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Discover-Cluster-Shared-859f133c Version 3.4 adds support for selecting multiple Hyper-V clusters and will be the GUI version from now on. That said you will use version 3.4 not on a regular basis compared Read more [...]