Using and Auditing PowerShell Scripts with Microsoft Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS)

October 16, 2019 by Fabian Niesen

This article was first published in German on June 04, 2019, on Infrastrukturhelden.de. The translation of this article was published on the 25th July 2019 at LinkedIn. Please read the article on LinkedIn.

Changes at Windows 10 as a Service

October 15, 2019 by Fabian Niesen

Microsoft is changing its upgrade strategy, this change affects the semi-annual feature upgrades. The first steps in this direction have already been a bit earlier, in 2018 Microsoft has announced the fall release to provide 30 months of support. This also makes sense under the new strategy.

Along with the further step, elimination of the “Semi-Annual Channel-Targeted (SAC-T)”. The “Semi-Annual Channel (SAC)” and the “Semi-Annual Channel-Targeted (SAC-T)” had inherited the two branches “Current Branch (CB)” and the “Current Branch for Business (CCB)” and were their replacements.

News about Infrastructureheros.org

October 10, 2019 by Fabian Niesen

I have been writing in German for a long time at Infrastrukturhelden.de. I was often asked for translations or an English version. After a small test on LinkedIn I decided to translate the page. Since this requires some time and I prefer not to use the Google Translator, please be patient. I will translate as much as possible over time and I will start with the newer articles.

News about Windows Analytics: Upgrade Readiness / Desktop Analytics

October 8, 2019 by Fabian Niesen

Microsoft goes new ways with Windows Analytics Upgrade Readiness, it is planned to discontinue the service by 31.01.2020. But there is a successor: “Desktop Analytics”. In July the preview for this service was announced, for Germany, this service is still only available in the preview. But there are some pitfalls and disadvantages for some customers, unfortunately.

At the moment these are all just public reflections and preview versions, as time will tell.

Package business applications with MSI-X

- Diesen Artikel auf Deutsch lesen. -

June 30, 2021July 30, 2019 by Fabian Niesen

In further articles I will explain what you can do with the packaged MSI-X applications

This article, however, is about creating MSIX packages. I will guide you step-by-step.

Here is a list of all the articles in the series and the more detailed articles on specific requirements:

Unattended installation of software

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September 27, 2021March 12, 2019 by Fabian Niesen

Unattended software installation, also called unattendent installation, is standard in many environments. But how does it work? It is easy with an MSI, but not everything is available as an MSI package. Many applications come with their own methods. Since I also need this from time to time, here is a small collection for the programmes that are more important to me.

Naming concepts for IT environments

- Diesen Artikel auf Deutsch lesen. -

July 1, 2021December 7, 2018 by Fabian Niesen

Namingconcept Naming concepts for IT environments 4

Why do I need a name concept?

Let’s start with the example server names. As long as the IT team is small, it doesn’t matter. When external employees join or the team grows, it can help. Here are a few examples of naming concepts that I have already encountered, which may not have been quite so understandable at first glance:

Clean up Windows Server Update Services

February 6, 2021March 8, 2018 by Fabian Niesen

There are many ways to achieve a well-functioning Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) system. Unfortunately, not all of them lead to the final destination, many are rather stages on the way. One of these stages I would like to introduce to you here, solved with some PowerShell.

Problems with the Windows Server Update Service – 0x8024400D

July 26, 2017 by Fabian Niesen

I recently had an interesting phenomenon in a rather extensive environment. With a newly installed WSUS Server based on Windows Server 2016, some clients encountered errors “0x8024400D”. The clients were previously connected to an old WSUS on Windows Server 2008R2. Strange, there everything worked…

The usual attempts to reset the WSUS client, for example, brought no improvement. So I asked Google.

Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS)

June 21, 2021April 19, 2017 by Fabian Niesen

In the past, a company-specific standard was usually always used for local administrator passwords. But what do you do if an employee who knows the default password leaves the company?

Right, it should be changed. In the past, Group Policies (GPO) were often used for this, even if the password was in clear text in SysVol. This was fortunately stopped by Microsoft. What other solutions are available? In practice I have seen VBS or PowerShell scripts, the good ones have random passwords, the bad ones only a standard.

But isn’t there a well designed solution from Microsoft? Yes, there is, Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS).