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”

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”

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”

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”
AzureRecoveryServicesVault

Quick Intro to Azure Backup Explorer

10th of February, 2020 / / No Comments
Here’s what you need to know about Azure Backup Explorer which has been released in public preview as of 5th Feb 2020.

What is Azure Backup Explorer?

  • It’s currently available for use with Azure Virtual Machines
  • A single pane of glass for monitoring backups of your Azure Virtual Machines
  • Removes complexity and manpower associated with monitoring backups using Azure Log Analytics Workspaces

How do I access it?

TLDR = Azure Portal > any RSV > Overview > Backup Explorer
  1. Login to https://portal.azure.com
… [Keep reading] “Quick Intro to Azure Backup Explorer”

Your 2020 Study Guide to Azure DevOps Solutions (AZ-400)

3rd of February, 2020 / / No Comments

With Microsoft announcing sweeping changes to a few Azure exams later in March 2020 the time is ripe to blog about an exam I’ve had my eye on for a while: Azure DevOps Solutions (AZ-400). This is an advanced exam that targets professionals familiar with Azure administration and Azure development. I can see this exam providing value to engineers, consultants, and architects who are driving for increased adoption of Agile practices and Infrastructure as Code.

After doing a few of these exams over the years you’ll find a rhythm that works for you.… [Keep reading] “Your 2020 Study Guide to Azure DevOps Solutions (AZ-400)”

0.09 ms latency using Azure Proximity Placement Groups

14th of January, 2020 / / 2 Comments

Reducing network latency for critical apps running on Azure IaaS has become easier since Microsoft’s announcement of General Availability for Proximity Placement Groups (PPG) on Dec 2019.

Today I’ll give you a quick intro to Proximity Placement Groups demonstrating how to deploy a test environment into your Azure Subscription using one of my favourite tools AzureCLI. I’ll also test network latency with a PPG and without to show you the difference.

If you’re undecided about using AzureCLI or ARM templates for your Azure deployments have a look @ Pascal Naber’s post https://pascalnaber.wordpress.com/2018/11/11/stop-using-arm-templates-use-the-azure-cli-instead/

… [Keep reading] “0.09 ms latency using Azure Proximity Placement Groups”

Zero-Touch BitLocker with PowerShell

7th of January, 2020 / / No Comments

The majority of IT engineers and architects traverse various forms of security on a daily basis ranging from our complex alphanumeric corporate logon passwords to the increasingly common MFA prompts on our mobiles. You could say that we have become experts in navigating modern security measures required to stay protected. But perhaps you’re not familiar in planning and rolling out that same security, at scale, to your organisation’s Windows laptops in the form of disk encryption.… [Keep reading] “Zero-Touch BitLocker with PowerShell”

AD FS 2016 and InvalidNameIDPolicy using SAML Authentication to SailPoint IdentityNow

4th of April, 2019 / / 2 Comments

I recently had a seemingly simple task for a customer to setup a AD FS 2016 relying party trust for their SailPoint IdentityNow deployment. Sounds easy right?

In this scenario AD FS 2016 was to be the Identity Provider (IdP) and IdentityNow the Service Provider (SP). Our end-goal of the solution was to allow the customer’s users to authenticate via SAML into IdentityNow using their corporate AD DS email address and password. Great outcome from a user experience perspective and for corporate governance too!… [Keep reading] “AD FS 2016 and InvalidNameIDPolicy using SAML Authentication to SailPoint IdentityNow”