____________________________PLAY BLUBRRY PROMO____________________________

____________________________PLAY OPENING MUSIC____________________________

[Steve] Welcome to A Couple Of Admins Podcasting. I'm I'm Steve Murawski,

[Steve] This is Episode 34 recorded on January 20, 2008.

Chit-Chat - What's going on with you?

[Steve]

  • I'd love to restart this year.. It has been crazy. Older equipment failing, new equipment failing.. Thank God for service contracts and warranties.. But it is a hassle.
  • Rich and I tried recording on Tuesday, but due to some technical difficulties on my end, the audio quality was horrible. I did want to take some time though to address some listener feedback we received.

____________________________PLAY TPN PROMO____________________________

Listener Feedback

From listener....Andy Helsby

Not sure if this is relevant but I think the following question would be useful (to me at least) if answered and maybe some others.

What resources/scripts/books/websites would you recommend for admin scripting for Windows2003. Currently it takes me about 30 minutes to create or delete a user due to having to add them to AD, create a mailbox, set them up in Live Communication Server, Set terminal server home directories, add them to a sql database, create a postini account and then email their manager the new details. Removing a user is worse as we migrate the data to the manager. Using a combination of batch files and osql I have reduced the time to delete a user from 45 minutes down to about 5 (a big saving as they have a very high turnover rate) but I'd like some advice on how to do most of this from scripts - after all I'm pretty sure that TerminalServer,mailbox, LCS settings are all AD attributes and not a lot else needs doing?

Also recommendations on powershell for beginners would be handy - I spent about 2 hours trying to work out how to get powershell and the powershellgui(.org) installed and working - it was a frustrating experience and not a good encouragement to start learning Powershell.

Steve-Let's go point by point

-Adding/creating users in AD (Quest AD Cmdlets)
-http://www.quest.com/activeroles-server/arms.aspx
-Creating a mailbox
-http://www.codeguru.com/csharp/csharp/cs_misc/e-mail/article.php/c14009/
-Set them up in Live Communication Server
-I'm not familiar with the AD Attributes need for that, and I don't have a test system I can access yet, but I'll look into it.
-Create a SQL account (I'm assuming SQL Server)
-Modify the (Run)Invoke-SQLQuery function from http://acoupleofadmins.com/2007/10/19/powershell-scripts-and-functions/
-Depending on what is necessary to create the Postini account?
-Terminal Services directories should be able to be managed through the Quest AD Cmdlets. (as of their latest release)
-Sending an email from PowerShell couldn't be simpler (using the PS Community Extensions)
-http://www.codeplex.com/PowerShellCX
-Recommendations for beginners - PowerShellCommunity.org, the PowerShell Chat Room, #powershell on freenode.net, Windows PowerShell in Action (Manning Press), Windows PowerShell Cookbook (O'Reilly Press), and I should have another announcement on this front by next week..

____________________________PLAY SWEEPER____________________________

Last Call

Anyone....Anyone....Buehler.....Buehler....

Closing

All right, well that is it for the show. For listener feedback; you can email us at Feedback [at] acoupleofadmins.com or post a comment on the main site at ACoupleOfAdmins.com. If you use iTunes, you could write a review. If you just want to show us your listening, drop a pin on the Frappr map...there's a link on the show site.

Lastly, you can drop any show ideas or topic requests on the wiki. There is a link to the wiki on the main show site. If you would like to participate in the show; either through an interview, a segment contribution, or any other way, please let us know. We are also a member of the Techpodcast and the Blubrry networks. Check out some other great shows by going to Techpodcast.com and Blubrry.com....That's Blubrry without the E's

Thanks everyone.