Author: Xajuan Smith

It may not be something we all wake up in the morning thinking about but to wake up and make your life just a bit easier is something we all think about. probably at more times through out the day.

The PowerShell profile that is going to be covered are both user based profiles.

One is the Shell Profile and the other is the ISE Profile.

both profiles are saved via the $profile defined path.

These are essentially scripts with your preferences, functions, load frequently used modules, favorite variables, and etc.

I have been in some interesting situations where I automated report building into functions. Load specific modules that I use daily and some routine $variables to load that are always the same.

imagine how much time saving it would be to have your cup of coffee sitting and waiting on you in the car already made? that is the advantage the PowerShell Profile provides. A series of tasks, preparations that come automatic every time you click the sweet PowerShell emblem.

if you have network mapped user home folder, your profile can follow you to any and every server/machine you work on.

experiment and have fun with making your life easier.

any questions or comments let me know how you use your $profile !

How do you Compare objects?

Most people throw things at a problem and see what sticks.

Is this a true “solution” or a makeshift glue that can come unraveled at any given moment.

I think that when we compare we should understand what is needed and not needed, and really understand our options.

Understand the basics

This is an example of a variable with text defined. we want to look for the word Fruit.

PS C:\> $Apple = "Red Fruit, Green Fruit, Yellow Fruit"

PS C:\> $Apple -match 'Fruit'
True

PS C:\> $Apple | where {$_ -match 'Fruit'}
Red Fruit, Green Fruit, Yellow Fruit

PS C:\> $Apple -like 'Fruit'
False

PS C:\> $Apple | where {$_ -like 'Fruit'}

So it looks like “Like” doesn’t like to be used in the way you cognitively expect.

PS C:\> $apple -like '*Fruit*'
True

PS C:\> $apple | where {$_ -like '*Fruit*'}
Red Fruit, Green Fruit, Yellow Fruit

Well there is a trick to it. The trick is it has rules that govern how it looks at the compared objects and if it care about what comes before or after the string you are looking for.

I like to use match. some instances like the Active Directory module that comes with RSAT doesn’t allow it with the -filter parameter. you can pipe and filter instead.

Take a look below:

PS C:\> get-aduser -filter {givenname -like *Xajuan*}

VS the pipeline equivalent below:

PS C:\> get-aduser -filter * | where {$_.givenname -match

Either way stay true to your comfort zone and be sure to explore outside it, because at the end of the day, you got to get the job done, and nothing compares like that is complete.