Preparing virtual machines for demonstrations can be a tedious process, compounding this is when virtual machines need to be started or shut down in a specific order. For example, starting database servers prior to starting web servers, or starting the preferred active node before the passive node. Starting those machines; however, is only a portion of the process, in most cases you will want them to be “available” before starting a subsequent machine.

Preparing virtual machines for demonstrations can be a tedious process, compounding this is when virtual machines need to be started or shut down in a specific order. For example, starting database servers prior to starting web servers, or starting the preferred active node before the passive node. Starting those machines; however, is only a portion of the process, in most cases you will want them to be “available” before starting a subsequent machine.

SharePoint 2013 implements new System Status Notifications designed to provide site users information about lifecycle events to include availability of upgrade, maintenance, and read-only states. System Status Notifications present important information about a SharePoint deployment and its availability, whether during upgrades, routine maintenance, or conversion to read-only. Users are kept “in the know” as they receive a prominent banner on their sites that provides insight into the activity being performed—helping reduce calls to the help desk and subsequent burden on IT.

A new updated version of the Windows PowerShell Command Builder is now available. The Windows PowerShell Command Builder for Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Microsoft SharePoint 2013, SharePoint Online, and Microsoft Office 365 is an HTML 5 application that is designed to help IT professionals and power users learn how to use Windows PowerShell for administrative tasks. The Windows PowerShell Command Builder enables IT professionals and power users to visually assemble commands related to SharePoint 2010, SharePoint 2013, SharePoint Online, and Office 365 in the browser and take those commands to their respective products.

SharePoint 2013 includes Windows Management Framework 3.0 the as one of the new prerequisites to installation and configuration. Included in the Windows Management Framework 3.0 is Windows PowerShell 3.0. Windows PowerShell 3.0 extends upon the usability of Windows PowerShell 2.0 while maintaining backward compatibility with Windows PowerShell 2.0. Windows PowerShell 3.0 includes a number of new capabilities that can help administrators of a SharePoint farm including new session management, Web access, and scheduling capabilities.

We’ve recently released the first administration toolkit for SharePoint Foundation and SharePoint Server 2010. The toolkit includes a new User Profile Replication Engine, a new Security Configuration Manifest, a new Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) Connector, and the Load Testing Kit (LTK). User Profile Replication Engine The User Profile Replication Engine was first introduced as a standalone application in later adminisration toolkits for Office SharePoint Server 2007 to replicate profiles between Shared Services Providers (SSP).

About the Developer Dashboard The Developer Dashboard is an instrumentation framework new to Microsoft SharePoint Foundation and Server 2010 that can help diagnose particularly, classes of bugs that are easy to introduce through custom code, but often difficult to isolate by providing information about the request execution time, the number and callstack of each SPRequest allocation, the number, callstack, and query text of WCF calls and more. The Developer Dashboard appears in a frame on the bottom of each page and can exist in one of three (3) possible modes – On, Off, OnDemand.

Automating your Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies installations can provide both consistency and efficiency while reducing the potential for human error. This is the third post on the subject of leveraging PowerShell to provide configuration logic for your environment(s). In this example we cover the configuration of Diagnostic Logging through PowerShell and a source Xml manifest. For previous examples see http://blogs.technet.com/wbaer/archive/tags/Powershell/default.aspx. Instructions Copy the source below into somefile.ps1. Copy the Xml source in DiagnosticsLogging.

I had a request this week on how to leverage Windows Powershell to add Alternate Access Mappings to the collection for a specific Web application. Surprisingly after some searching I was unable to find anything existing on the topic, so for those curious see the attached script and corresponding source Xml. Instructions Copy the source below into somefile.ps1. Copy the Xml source in AAM.xml. In the Windows Powershell console call .

C# has long been the developers preference when working with Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies; however, since the release of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007/Windows SharePoint Server 3.0 Powershell has become more widely used to support the automation of common administrative tasks - though C# is and will long be integral in application development, Powershell provides both simplicity and flexibility for the automation of routine tasks. For example, let’s assume an administrator would like to programmatically provision a Web application outside of the SharePoint administration tool and/or the SharePoint 3.