Export VM to a Local Folder
Export VM KB ID 0001912 Problem We had a situation recently where a client who was leaving us needed to take their data, the VM in question was very large (12.5Tb in size) Exporting to an OVA file was problematical, (due to the size of the file). So Getting the flat files for the VM seemed like the best option. Solution : Export VM Firstly when using PowerShell there’s a tendency for it to use the %TEMP% and %TMP% directories to store...
VMware: Export a VM to OVA With PowerCLI
OVA KB ID 0001507 Problem : Creating OVA files It’s pretty easy to create an OVA/OVF from the vCenter Web console, but what about from Powershell / PowerCLI? Below I run though converting a Windows server to OVA. Note: Update 25/03/25 – Had a friend try and do this today, the VM was very large (over 12Tb) it proceeded to create the conversion in the servers c:\windows\temp directory. Obviously, this is not good! If you encounter...
Install Windows Terminal on Windows Server 2022
Windows Terminal KB ID 0001827 Problem Note: Terminal is already built into Windows 11. I’ve been aware of Windows Terminal for a while, I’ve just never felt the need to set it up. Most of my work for the website involves me taking screenshots on Windows Server OS. So, when I decided to take a look at it I had to jump through a few hoops to get it to work, in the words of Juan Sánchez Villalobos Ramírez, Chief metallurgist to King...
PowerShell DNS Records (Creating)
PowerShell DNS KB ID 0001906 Problem You can use PowerShell to create DNS records in a Windows environment, this is typically on a Windows Server OS, that is running DNS services. Below are some methods (depending on whether you’re managing an Active Directory-integrated DNS zone or a standalone DNS server) to do this. Solution PowerShell DNS: Creating an A Record (Host Record) To add an A record (IPv4 address) to a DNS zone,...
Logging Powershell Execution
Logging PowerShell KB ID 0001903 Problem Monitoring PowerShell execution, (especially on critical servers like domain controllers), is essential for detecting potential malicious activity. PowerShell activities generate specific Event IDs in the Windows Event Log. Solution : Logging Powershell The following Event IDs are logged connected to PowerShell execution. Command Line Auditing: Event ID 800 (Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational...
Take Ownership and Grant ‘Full Control’ Recursively
Take Ownership KB ID 0001200 Problem I had a bunch of old user profile folders I needed to delete today, When setup properly even the domain administrator can’t get in there and delete them; You need permission to perform this action. You don’t currently have persmission to access this folder If it’s just one folder then simply take ownership, grant yourself rights and delete it! But I had a lot of folders so I...
Rename a Domain Controller
Rename a Domain Controller KB ID 0001886 Problem I’ve done a few migrating to {version} domain controller articles, and today I got asked, How can you rename the “Server Name” back to the old one after migration ?e.g. from “Lan-2025” to “Lan-2019” So, as the VMs from the last article were still running on the test bench, I ran though it to demonstrate. Solution: Rename a Domain Controller If you would like to add a new Windows...
PowerCLI: Get Snapshot Information
Get Snapshot Information KB ID 0001829 Problem The question was asked on Experts Exchange today. Are there any scripts or reports that would give me information on VMware VM’s with snapshots? was pretty sure this was a straight forward one, so I jumped on the test network. Solution: Get Snapshot Information Connect to your vCenter and use the following commands. Connect-viserver vCenter-Name THEN AUTHENTICATE Get-VM |...
Windows Create NFS Share
Windows Create NFS Share KB ID 0001869 Problem It has been a while since I mentioned this, but if you have a Windows server, and you would like to present an NFS Share, the process is pretty straight forward. The following procedure was carried out on Windows Server 2022, but the process is pretty much the same going all the way back to Server 2012. Solution : Windows Create NFS Share Install Server for NFS (GUI) You need to add the...
PowerShell Inventory Operating Systems in Active Directory
PowerShell Inventory KB ID 0001838 Problem I needed to get a list of operating systems ‘in-use’ in my active directory this week. bear in mind this will pull information from all enables computer accounts in AD, so if you are ‘not good’ at tidying out old machines and servers you might get a lot of garbage in your output! Solution: PowerShell Inventory Use the following PowerShell. Get-ADComputer -Filter...