Month: September 2024

September PowerShell Updates

Azure PowerShell 12.3.0

September saw the release of Azure PowerShell 12.3.0, packed with updates that made managing Azure resources feel like a breeze:

  • Az.Accounts 3.0.4: Introduced a customized UserAgent for ARM telemetry and fixed some documentation snafus where secrets were unintentionally exposed.
  • Az.Resources 7.5.0: Added ‘ResourceSelector’ and ‘Override’ parameters to ‘New/Update-AzPolicyAssignment’, giving you more control over policy assignments. Because who doesn’t like more knobs to turn?
  • Az.Storage 7.4.0: Issued a heads-up about an upcoming breaking change involving the removal of references to ‘Microsoft.Azure.Storage.File’ in ‘Start-AzStorageFileCopy’.

PowerShell Universal 5.0.7

Added an index to the database. If your service took its sweet time starting during the install, a manual schema update might have been in order.

PnP.PowerShell 2.12.0

SharePoint enthusiasts, rejoice! September 2024 brought us PnP.PowerShell 2.12.0, featuring:

  • WAM Login Support: For Windows users, this means support for Windows Hello, FIDO keys, and Conditional Access policies.
  • -SkipCertCreation Parameter: Added to ‘Register-PnPAzureADApp’, allowing you to prevent the creation and uploading of certificates in the Entra ID app.

Azure Monitor Baseline Alerts

Monitoring without a solid strategy is like driving without a dashboard—sooner or later, something’s going to break, and you won’t see it coming. That’s where Azure Monitor Baseline Alerts (AMBA) steps in, acting as your pre-configured, expert-driven monitoring blueprint for Azure resources.

Instead of spending hours manually configuring alerts, AMBA provides ready-to-deploy alert recommendations, automation templates, and best practices to ensure your environment stays resilient and well-monitored from day one.

Expert Recommendations: AMBA offers a curated list of alert recommendations and expert guidance tailored for various Azure resources, ensuring you’re always ahead of potential issues.

Proactive Notifications: With near real-time alerts, AMBA ensures you can swiftly identify and address problems, minimizing downtime and maintaining optimal performance.

Seamless Automation: Deploying alert policies has never been easier. AMBA’s Azure Policy templates allow for consistent and efficient implementation across your environment.

There are three main sections in AMBA – Resources, Patterns/Scenarios, and Visualizations. AMBA will deploy the necessary alerts based on resource level guidance with patterns (for Azure Landing Zones), along with various workbooks, dashboards – Azure or Grafana. And to top it all off – there is an accelerator now available for it! (see the image below)