Managing the Hyper-V Default Switch in Windows 10 version 1709 and higher with PowerShell

Windows 10 version 1709 introduced a default Hyper-V virtual switch which is installed when the Hyper-V role is added. As you can see in the following example, by default on Windows 10, the default virtual switch does not exist because the Hyper-V role hasn’t been added. Get-NetAdapter Now that the Hyper-V role has been added, you can see that a new network adapter named “vEthernet (Default Switch)” exists. Get-NetAdapter | Format-Table -AutoSize While you wouldn’t think this would be a problem, I’ve seen some latency problems on the host operating system once this default switch is added....

November 8, 2018 · 3 min · 495 words · Mike F. Robbins

Use PowerShell to Install the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) on Windows 10 version 1809

My computer recently updated to Windows 10 version 1809 and as with all previous major updates of Windows 10, this wipes out the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). However, unlike previous versions, Microsoft has now made RSAT available via Features on Demand and while you’re supposed to be able to install them from the GUI, they never showed up as being an option for me. That’s not really a problem though since they can now be installed via PowerShell....

October 3, 2018 · 3 min · 570 words · Mike F. Robbins

Solving DSC Problems on Windows 10 & Writing PowerShell Code that writes PowerShell Code for you

I recently ran into a problem with DSC on Windows 10 when trying to create MOF files with DSC configurations that work on other operating systems. An error is generated when the friendly name for a DSC resource contains a dash and that friendly name is specified as a dependency for another resource. I know that only certain characters are allowed in the name that’s specified for DependsOn and I’ve run into similar problems with things such as IP addresses due to the dot or period, but the dash works in other operating systems at least with the production preview of PowerShell version 5, but not with the version of PowerShell version 5 that ships with Windows 10:...

November 5, 2015 · 7 min · 1459 words · Mike F. Robbins

#PowerShell: DelayedAutoStart Property added to the Win32_Service WMI Class in Windows 10 RTM

I recently discovered that Windows 10 adds a DelayedAutoStart property to the Win32_Service WMI Class: Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Service -Filter "Name = 'MapsBroker'" | Format-List -Property * I’ve verified that this property does not exist on prior operating systems such as Windows 8.1 even when they’re updated to the production preview version of PowerShell version 5. I had written a Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog article on how to query the registry of remote machines to Exclude Delayed Start Services when Checking Status with PowerShell that shows how to retrieve the necessary information to accomplish this task on other OS’s, but it’s nice to see that Microsoft has finally made this information easier to retrieve....

September 4, 2015 · 1 min · 211 words · Mike F. Robbins

Using PowerShell for Remote Server Administration in Windows 10 RTM without the RSAT tools

You’ve updated to the RTM version of Windows 10 only to learn that the remote server administration tools aren’t available as of yet: Get-ADUser -Identity mikefrobbins Let’s say for example the Active Directory PowerShell module is something that you use on a daily basis and it’s necessary to perform your day to day responsibilities. Well, you’re out of luck because the RSAT tools aren’t available yet, but before you consider using RDP or the GUI to perform your duties, let’s take a look at a viable solution in PowerShell....

August 5, 2015 · 3 min · 441 words · Mike F. Robbins

Use caution when updating to Windows 10 RTM with data deduplication enabled volumes

I recently decided to reload my computer, moving from Windows 8.1 Enterprise Edition to Windows 10 Enterprise Edition. I had previously enabled the data deduplication feature on my Windows 8.1 installation with an unsupported hack by using the source files from Server 2012 R2. Deduplication was enabled on my SSD drive for the VHDX files that I use for my test and demonstration environment that runs via Hyper-V VM’s. In my opinion, Microsoft should support data deduplication on enterprise edition desktop operating systems since it can save an enormous amount of space....

July 30, 2015 · 3 min · 565 words · Mike F. Robbins