PowerShell: How to require either one parameter or the other but not both Oct. 17, 2017, 7:38 p.m.

You can do this using parameter sets. By putting each parameter in one set and not the other, PowerShell will take care of the rest.

powershell

Understanding the GPO version number Oct. 17, 2017, 7:38 p.m.

If you've ever poked around to look at the raw GPO version number, you've probably wondered why is the number so huge and how does it get displayed as a much smaller value when you view the version number using GPMC.

active directory powershell group policy windows

What I Learned From Reading Every Amazon Shareholders Letter Oct. 17, 2017, 11:39 a.m.

A new mentor of mine suggested I read Jeff Bezos’ Letter to Shareholders to refine my thoughts around building a career and a business. So I read them all dating back to 1997 and here are my takeaways.

aws

[MS-GPAC]: Group Policy: Audit Configuration Extension Oct. 16, 2017, 1:56 p.m.

Documentation for Group Policy: Audit Configuration Extension, which provides a mechanism for an administrator to control audit policies on clients.

active directory documentation group policy windows

Elliptic Curve Cryptography for Beginners Oct. 16, 2017, 9:43 a.m.

A description of ECC without using advanced math

security read later

Django - Redirect to previous url after CreateView Oct. 5, 2017, 10:44 p.m.

Here's an example using the get_form_kwargs method to make sure your button parameter is pushed to the form's initial dict on GET. The form_valid method extension makes sure the success_url property is overloaded when available in POST data. This way you can still define a default using the success_url property in an ordinary fashion.

django

Group Policy: Inside ADM and ADMX Templates for Group Policy Sept. 27, 2017, 4:33 p.m.

The Administrative Templates node appears on both the User and Computer sides, but where do all these magical settings within Administrative Templates come from That's where ADM files come into play.

active directory windows group policy

How to Deploy Local Administrator Password Solution with AWS Microsoft AD Sept. 27, 2017, 2:39 p.m.

In an on-premises AD environment, you would update the schema by running the Update-AdmPwdADSchema Windows PowerShell cmdlet with schema administrator credentials. Because AWS Microsoft AD is a managed service, I do not have permissions to update the schema directly. Instead, I will update the AD schema from the Directory Service console by importing an LDIF file.

active directory microsoft security aws

From AdmPwd to LAPS and now LAPS.E Sept. 27, 2017, 2:30 p.m.

Overview of Local Administrator Password Solution (AdmPwd / LAPS / LAPS.E), and the differences between the various versions.

microsoft security active directory

Active Directory FSMO roles in Windows Sept. 26, 2017, 1:53 p.m.

Because Active Directory is a multi-master database, changes can be processed at any given domain controller (DC) in the enterprise regardless of whether the DC is connected or disconnected from the network.

For certain types of changes, Windows incorporates methods to prevent conflicting updates by extending the single-master model found in earlier versions of Windows to include multiple roles. Because an Active Directory role is not bound to a single DC, it is referred to as a Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) role. Currently in Windows there are five FSMO roles:

  • Schema master
  • Domain naming master
  • RID master
  • PDC emulator
  • Infrastructure master.
active directory windows

Get AD group membership recursively with PowerShell Sept. 26, 2017, 10:25 a.m.

The solution should retrieve not only direct group membership, but indirect (through group nesting) too. Although the question is plain and simple, the solution is very interesting from various perspectives.

active directory powershell programming

Handling Credentials with AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell Sept. 22, 2017, 9:40 a.m.

The cmdlets provided in the AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell provide three ways to express credential information. Some approaches are more secure than others.

security aws powershell

Advanced security auditing FAQ Sept. 19, 2017, 8:31 a.m.

If permissions are configured for an object, its security descriptor contains a DACL with security identifiers for the users and groups that are allowed or denied access. If auditing is configured for the object, its security descriptor also contains a SACL that controls how the security subsystem audits attempts to access the object. However, auditing is not completely configured unless a SACL has been configured for an object and a corresponding Object Access audit policy setting has been configured and applied.

windows group policy security

Using Environment Variables with the Serverless Framework Sept. 18, 2017, 3:53 p.m.

While you can set environment variables directly inside your serverless.yml this doesn’t solve the problem of allowing different values for each stage or keeping your secrets outside of version control. There are two approaches you can use to for this.

aws lambda

Uniregistry Sept. 12, 2017, 8:59 a.m.

Registry for unusual TLDs - .sucks, .pizza etc.

domain internet

Get Rid Of UAC Prompts With Microsoft's Application Compatibility Toolkit Sept. 5, 2017, 8:16 a.m.

There are quite a few ways to limit UAC prompts further in Windows. One of the easiest ways for instance is to change a program's properties to always run with administrative privileges. Another option, less commonly known, is to use the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit to whitelist applications so that they do not display an UAC prompt when they are run.

windows sysadmin

Intercepting iOS Network Traffic Aug. 25, 2017, 4:20 p.m.

To sniff an application’s network traffic, we’re going to use mitmproxy. It’s a powerful man-in-the-middle proxy that allows you to intercept, modify, replay, and save HTTP/S traffic.

proxy ios network

How to find a Group Policy Object Aug. 24, 2017, 4:07 p.m.

You can search for GPO’s that have been linked or not, that contain settings under User or Computer Configuration including Deployed Printer Connections, Group Policy Folder Options, Group Policy Network Shares, Registry, Internet Protocol Security Policies, Scripts, and a lot more.

windows gpo

Configure Automatic Updates in a Non–Active Directory Environment Aug. 21, 2017, 12:20 p.m.

In a non-Active Directory environment, you can configure Automatic Updates by using any of the following methods:

  • Using Group Policy Object Editor and editing the Local Group Policy object
  • Editing the registry directly by using the registry editor (Regedit.exe)
  • Centrally deploying these registry entries by using System Policy in Windows NT 4.0 style.
windows

Windows Server 2016 Update settings Aug. 21, 2017, 11:59 a.m.

In Windows Server 2016 there are no GUI options available to change the update behaviour. In this blog I was outline the different ways to change the Windows Server 2016 Update settings.

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