Brian Farnhill
PowerShell and Azure Premier Field Engineer
Moving my blog!
I've made the decision to move my blog to a personal website - don't worry though, I'll continue...
Date: 10/26/2017
Using the launch.json file in VS code for improved PowerShell debugging
Anyone that has talked to me recently about how I write PowerShell scripts will know that Visual...
Date: 09/27/2017
"The provided value for the template parameter is not valid" in ARM template deployments
I've come across this one before, but I hit it again today and I wanted to share the details of what...
Date: 09/14/2017
Adding additional intellisense to VS Code when editing PowerShell scripts
Most people that I talk to about my experiences writing PowerShell scripts these days will know that...
Date: 08/21/2017
Getting IDs to use with the Package DSC resource
One of the questions I get from customers who are looking at using the Package DSC resource to...
Date: 07/04/2017
Running Azure Automation runbooks from IFTTT tasks
I recently had an idea (ok lets call it 'collaboratively came up with while talking to one of the...
Date: 11/09/2016
xSharePoint is now SharePointDsc - what you need to know!
For just over 12 months now we have been working hard to grow the xSharePoint DSC module to let...
Date: 06/08/2016
Consuming preview builds of xSharePoint through PowerShellGet
PowerShellGet is a new module that is installed as part of PowerShell 5 (in Windows Management...
Date: 04/18/2016
Configuring SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups in Azure RM Virtual Machines
This week on a project I came up against the need to set up some AlwaysOn Availability Groups (AG's)...
Date: 03/03/2016
Retrieving the URL of an app catalog site in SharePoint 2013
In some of my recent work with the xSharePoint resources we came up with a need to retrieve the...
Date: 12/21/2015
Better approaches to unit testing PowerShell scripts that call SharePoint cmdlets
For those who have come across my blog before you would have seen my recent post on how to unit test...
Date: 09/27/2015
How to unit test PowerShell scripts that call cmdlets from the SharePoint snap-in
Update: If you're reading this then be sure to have a read of the comments too - some good insight...
Date: 09/09/2015
Cross server DSC dependency options with Azure Resource Manager templates
One of the topics I have been discussing a little lately around the use of the DSC extension for...
Date: 09/08/2015
Deploying the Azure DSC extension through ARM
One of the things I have been working on a lot lately is PowerShell DSC, and to give me an easily...
Date: 08/19/2015
Announcing the xSharePoint module for PowerShell DSC!
I am super excited to be able to get this one out there - PowerShell Desired State Configuration...
Date: 04/27/2015
Using DSC to download from Azure file storage to an Azure VM
I've been exploring a lot PowerShell Desired State Configuration lately, and one of the things I've...
Date: 03/15/2015
System.IO.FileLoadException for System.ServiceModel.dll in SharePoint 2013
I came across an interesting situation recently when doing a fresh installation of SharePoint 2013...
Date: 01/15/2015
Multiple zones for host named site collections in SP2013
For those who haven't heard of host named site collections, the short version of what they are is...
Date: 07/07/2014
Exception 'Microsoft.ApplicationServer.Caching.DataCacheException: ErrorCode:SubStatus
As the title suggests this post is going to be about a specific issue I came across at a customer...
Date: 06/24/2014
Using Windows Azure Automation Preview to manage Azure VMs
One of the great new features of Microsoft Azure that is currently in preview is the new Automation...
Date: 05/15/2014
Calculating RPS statistics from IIS logs
Performance management is a key factor in a lot of modern web applications, and SharePoint is no...
Date: 04/03/2014
Approaches to optimising SharePoint client side communication
The new SharePoint app model provides a great framework for creating rich SharePoint solutions that...
Date: 03/11/2014
Opening RDP session to an Azure VM with PowerShell
UPDATE (4 March 2015): The method described in this post is now obsolete as a new PowerShell cmdlet...
Date: 02/03/2014
Managing Windows Azure VMs through PowerShell
I make no secret of the fact that I love PowerShell - all the jokes about it being a mechanism to...
Date: 01/21/2014
Using the CycleTile in Windows Phone 8 with images from the internet
I'm not shy about telling people that I'm a massive fan of Windows Phone, and the number 1 reason I...
Date: 01/05/2014
Directly querying SharePoint databases
One of the first rules of SharePoint that you learn when you start diving in to the product is that...
Date: 12/04/2013