octojekyll

OpenSource Blogging with Jekyll GitHub VSCode Part2

9th of March, 2020 / / No Comments

During Part 1 of this series I introduced you to open source blogging using some awesome tools and platforms available today. I also shared my own setup so you can see what’s involved end-to-end.

Shortly I’ll provide a detailed walkthrough of everything you need to get started with your own blog site.

Local Blog Development

First we need to setup our local development environment for the blog site by installing a few dependencies.… [Keep reading] “OpenSource Blogging with Jekyll GitHub VSCode Part2”

Hub and Spoke network topology in Azure

6th of March, 2020 / / No Comments

Originally posted on Lucian.Blog. Follow Lucian on Twitter: @LucianFrango.

Back in late 2016 I was lucky enough to go Microsoft Ignite in Atlanta (USA), which was a bit of a big deal as it was my first major conference. One of the take aways from the various technical sessions on Azure networking I attended was that Microsoft wanted to put a great deal of emphasis on the usage of a Hub and Spoke network topology. … [Keep reading] “Hub and Spoke network topology in Azure”

N2WS Backup & Recovery v3.0 – A big step forward

6th of March, 2020 / / No Comments

N2WS Backup & Recovery v3.0 has now gone live. Below is my review of a late beta version.

For those that have been following, you’ll know that Telstra Purple use N2WS Backup & Recovery (I’ll call it BaR from now, not as good as CPM, but I’m not going to type the whole thing). I was lucky to get a beta preview of N2WS BaR v3.0 and have been very impressed. The new UI is a massive improvement, but there are also a number of small things that have been fixed too.… [Keep reading] “N2WS Backup & Recovery v3.0 – A big step forward”

azbb-overview

Azure Building Blocks – The Forgotten IaC Tool

4th of March, 2020 / / No Comments

Whilst researching Infrastructure as Code alternatives to Azure Resource Manager templates I stumbled across the Azure Building Blocks (AZBB) tool. It’s not widely adopted and you’ll see why later on this in blog.

Because I’m not keen on authoring large JSON files (aka ARM templates) for IaC I’m going to put Azure Building Blocks to the test with a simple Hub & Spoke VNET deployment. Later on I’ll also demonstrate the same deployment using an AzureCLI script – my current preferred alternative to ARM Templates – so you’ll see the differences.… [Keep reading] “Azure Building Blocks – The Forgotten IaC Tool”

Building the AWS Client VPN

3rd of March, 2020 / / No Comments

With the release of the Desktop Clients for AWS Client VPN earlier this month, there has been renewed interest in the managed VPN service. Given that AWS has released the Desktop VPN client, this means that any support you require is now under the AWS support banner giving customers an end to end solution. Before this announcement, AWS customers would have 3rd party clients to connect. So given this renewed interest in the service, I have decided to document a simple setup scenario.… [Keep reading] “Building the AWS Client VPN”

openhackcontainers

My experience at Microsoft Containers OpenHack featuring Kubernetes challenges

29th of February, 2020 / / No Comments

Azure consultants are constantly looking to expand our scope of expertise and aligning to this I’ve recently attended a Microsoft Containers OpenHack in Sydney. This event was a huge success for me and a rapid introduction to Kubernetes (K8s) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) through a series of challenges over 3 days.

OpenHack Logo

Microsoft OpenHack is a developer-focused engagement where a wide variety of participants (Open) learn through hands-on experimentation (Hack) using challenges based on real-world customer scenarios designed to mimic the developer journey – Source: Microsoft

My experience at OpenHack

About 80 attendees were split up between the 20 tables in the room.… [Keep reading] “My experience at Microsoft Containers OpenHack featuring Kubernetes challenges”

How-To deploy Docker images to Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS)

28th of February, 2020 / / No Comments

In this blog, I will guide you through the process of building and deploying Docker images to the Kubernetes platform hosted on Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS). In addition, I will also show you how to work with service scale-out and high-availability.

Docker defines a container as “A standard unit of software that packages up code and all its dependencies, so the application runs quickly and reliably from one computing environment to another”

A Docker container image is a lightweight, standalone, executable package of software that includes everything needed to run an application: code, runtime, system tools, system libraries and settings.”… [Keep reading] “How-To deploy Docker images to Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS)”

Come Together: The BA and UX Unicorns

24th of February, 2020 / / No Comments

Welcome to 2020. Yes indeed, we’re at the very top of the new year, where going back to work as a consultant, with bright ideas and an invigorated sense of purpose, may seem challenging when we’re met with the ongoing challenges from pre-existing engagements prior to the holiday break. How can we negate these habitual thoughts of ‘business-as-usual’ and look upon our work moving forward with fresh eyes and perspective? Arguably there is no better time to do this than at the top of the year.… [Keep reading] “Come Together: The BA and UX Unicorns”

Auditing Azure AD Registered Applications

19th of February, 2020 / / No Comments

Azure AD Registered Applications are the Azure AD version of Active Directory Service Accounts. Over time, the number of them grow and grow, each having permissions to consume information from Azure AD and or Microsoft Graph. As an Administrator of Azure AD there is maintenance associated with these Registered Applications, namely credential validity and more important application validity.

Credential expiration associated with Azure AD Registered Applications is quickly visible via the Azure Portal. We can quickly see Current, Expired and Expiring Soon credentials as shown in the screenshot below.… [Keep reading] “Auditing Azure AD Registered Applications”

octojekyll

OpenSource Blogging with Jekyll GitHub VSCode Part1

17th of February, 2020 / / No Comments

Kicking off the new year brought forward a renewed motivation to join the community of tech bloggers.

In this blog series I’ll share everything you need to know to get you setup with your own blog site, for free, using open source tooling such as Jekyll, GitHub, and Visual Studio Code.

To start off here’s an overview of my blogging toolkit:

A collection of helpful links can be found here.

… [Keep reading] “OpenSource Blogging with Jekyll GitHub VSCode Part1”