Scripting, Scheduling and IT Orchestration
The IT orchestration and workflow scripting topic center offers resources for SysOps and IT professionals to automate IT processes and create intelligent workflows for tasks in cloud or data center resources. It covers how to replace ad hoc tasks with standardized scripted steps and tools to facilitate the process.
Top Stories
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News
10 Feb 2022
As DevSecOps tools coalesce, IT pros ponder role overlaps
Dynatrace is among a slew of DevSecOps vendors touting a one-stop shop for observability and security automation, but IT pros say it's unlikely to displace existing tools for now. Continue Reading
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News
31 Jan 2022
Enterprise AIOps quietly gets real
Machine learning algorithms are being used to automate some aspects of enterprise IT operations, but the original goal of advanced self-healing systems is still a long way off. Continue Reading
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News
25 Feb 2020
Mirantis marshals reinforcements for Kubernetes management
Mirantis adds engineering staff and revives Docker Swarm as it plans to do battle in container orchestration against Red Hat, Pivotal and Docker itself. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Feb 2020
Put these Terraform best practices into action
Terraform enables IT teams to complete a range of tasks, from deployment to multi-cloud management. Apply this collection of best practices to get started with, or optimize your use of, the IaC tool. Continue Reading
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News
14 Feb 2020
Chef IT automation invigorates legacy apps amid cloud surge
Chef Software's Habitat tool carved out a niche as it matured, among enterprise IT pros tasked with modernizing legacy data center apps. Continue Reading
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News
13 Feb 2020
Ad firm gets Kubernetes management boost from Agile Stacks
With a small staff of engineers responsible for all of IT, a digital advertising firm needed help to smooth out the learning curve as it migrated from Mesosphere to Kubernetes. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
07 Feb 2020
Visual Studio Code vs. the native console for PowerShell debugging
Unsure whether to debug a PowerShell script in Visual Studio Code or the PowerShell console? Follow this tutorial to make the decision a little easier. Continue Reading
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News
06 Feb 2020
Enterprise service management blurs business, IT operations
IT-style automated workflows are expanding to non-IT departments, even as business initiatives fuse with software projects. IT ops will support both, often with the same toolset. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Feb 2020
What's new with PowerShell error handling?
PowerShell 7 introduces a new cmdlet to assist administrators who wanted a better way to find out what broke in the scripts they wrote to manage their systems. Continue Reading
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Tip
31 Jan 2020
Modernize ops practices to manage hybrid IT infrastructure
Hybrid IT management requires ops teams to rethink everything from networking to the way they oversee system configurations. Third-party tools, including those for IaC, can help. Continue Reading
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Quiz
22 Jan 2020
How well do you know PowerCLI cmdlets?
Take this eight-question quiz to determine how much you know about PowerCLI and its cmdlets -- the short scripts that enable you to automate nearly anything. Continue Reading
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News
17 Jan 2020
AIOps exec bets on incident response market shakeup
Resolve Systems, under a newly appointed CEO, will soon roll out a new product based on its FixStream acquisition that combines AIOps and IT automation. Continue Reading
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News
16 Jan 2020
SaltStack infrastructure-as-code tools seek cloud-native niche
SaltStack, like other infrastructure-as-code tools, must reinvent itself as cloud-native IT automation approaches such as containers, serverless and Kubernetes Operators grow. Continue Reading
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Tip
16 Jan 2020
PowerShell 7 features set to address some, not all, functionality gaps
While PowerShell 7 is set to unify the cross-platform and traditional Windows versions of the tool, it might not check all the boxes in terms of features IT admins want to see. Continue Reading
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News
07 Jan 2020
Alaska Airlines plans to switch IT onto autopilot with AIOps
Alaska Airlines' e-commerce division will chart a course for hands-off IT ops and a sharper focus on strategic SRE duties through AIOps tools. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Dec 2019
PowerShell tutorials capture attention of admins in 2019
Interest in automation continues to trend upward for administrators of Windows systems, particularly when it involves PowerShell. Continue Reading
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News
18 Dec 2019
Ex-PayPal pros shun AI with SecOps IT automation firm
Machine learning and AI are all the rage in IT automation tools -- except for the one produced by a new startup founded by two former PayPal cybersecurity engineers. Continue Reading
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News
18 Dec 2019
New Kubernetes security tools abound as container deployments grow
As Kubernetes use expands in production, enterprises have a number of IT security tools to choose from for centralized, policy-based control over container clusters. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Dec 2019
Ramp up carefully during AIOps implementation
Sound IT automation and data management practices -- along with a healthy dose of patience -- are prerequisites for a smooth AIOps implementation. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Dec 2019
Put infrastructure automation at the heart of modern IT ops
IT automation, DevOps at scale and hybrid infrastructure management are three critical -- and interconnected -- IT operations initiatives for 2020. Continue Reading
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News
12 Dec 2019
Dynatrace monitoring faces market ambivalence in NoOps push
Dynatrace is gung-ho about NoOps with training services and an open source tool for CI/CD automation, but may face skepticism from a wary enterprise IT audience. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Dec 2019
For VMware, DSC provides ESXi host and resource management
You can now use DSC to manage VMware vSphere and ESXi hosts. Install or upgrade the module with a cmdlet, and then manage resources such as High Availability clusters, DRS and vSS. Continue Reading
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News
06 Dec 2019
10 DevOps tools vendors to watch in 2020
A vast market for DevOps tools includes every major IT vendor and many up-and-comers. A panel of industry experts say these 10 are most likely to shift the market in 2020. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Dec 2019
How a rules engine can drive -- or derail -- an IT automation strategy
To benefit fully from a rules engine -- and minimize the risk of chaos -- IT organizations need to carefully define system metrics and be diligent about documentation. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Dec 2019
Top 4 open source automation tools for admins
Open source offerings are an easy way to bring automation into your organization. When selecting software, evaluate the user experience, main features offered and Linux support. Continue Reading
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News
15 Nov 2019
D2iQ latest to seek Kubernetes management niche
D2iQ's CTO says it will use its enterprise experience with Apache Mesos container orchestration and big data apps such as Kafka to compete in a crowded market for Kubernetes management. Continue Reading
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News
08 Nov 2019
Microservices security calls for zero-trust, data classification
Sanity in a zero-trust world for microservices security calls for IT teams to prioritize the assets they must protect, and that starts with data classification. Continue Reading
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News
04 Nov 2019
JASK buy may boost security analytics in Sumo Logic SIEM
Sumo Logic has acquired JASK, an automated SOC that will be most useful for security analytics and alert reduction features within Sumo Logic's SIEM. Continue Reading
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News
28 Oct 2019
DevOps security shifts left, but miles to go to pass hackers
DevSecOps has gone mainstream as companies bake security automation into app development, but experts say the toughest cybersecurity challenges remain unsolved. Continue Reading
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Tip
23 Oct 2019
Perform these steps to monitor Windows Server with Nagios Core
Nagios is no newbie to the server monitoring world, but setting it up for Windows takes a few extra steps. Learn how Nagios Core, originally meant for Linux, can monitor Windows servers. Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Oct 2019
Security automation charges IT ops to build the 'paved road'
As IT ops pros evolve into SREs, they play a key role in security automation and create secure paths to production deployment for application developers. Continue Reading
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News
18 Oct 2019
Red Hat OpenShift Tekton pipelines reflect strategic platform focus
OpenShift and its competitors now offer enterprises soup-to-nuts DevOps platforms, rather than simple Kubernetes management tools, that are based on different points of strategic lock-in. Continue Reading
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News
11 Oct 2019
Ticketmaster unifies DevOps monitoring with Confluent Kafka
Ticketmaster troubleshoots and secures distributed applications using Kafka stream processing as a central hub for data collection. Continue Reading
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News
10 Oct 2019
Kubernetes on Windows nodes hits GA in Rancher, Amazon EKS
Windows host support in Kubernetes reached a milestone with general availability from container management vendors, which makes containers more accessible for legacy apps. Continue Reading
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News
08 Oct 2019
Google sparks open source unrest over Knative, Istio
Google is keeping its Knative and Istio projects close to the vest, which could limit their reach long term, early adopters say. Continue Reading
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News
07 Oct 2019
Docker Desktop asset, fiscal stress prompt acquisition buzz
Docker has tried to differentiate itself as a Kubernetes competitor, but amid reports of financial headwinds, it should return to its roots in the developer desktop, analysts say. Continue Reading
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Answer
30 Sep 2019
Perform a Windows event log search with PowerShell
Event log monitoring is vital to an IT environment's health and success, but finding a specific event in the flood is challenging. PowerShell enables admins to simplify this task. Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2019
Ansible Tower revamp adds analytics, security automation
Ansible Tower and Ansible Engine are now one product, Ansible Automation Platform, which also includes automation analytics, security automation integrations and certified content. Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2019
BizDevOps, DevOps feedback loops guide IT transformation
BizDevOps has been the priority for Dynatrace customer American Fidelity the last four years, guiding the company's IT priorities amid ever-increasing technical complexity. Continue Reading
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Answer
19 Sep 2019
How do I manage ACL folder permissions with a PowerShell script?
PowerShell scripts make short work of repetitive Windows tasks, saving admins time, effort and frustration. One simple area admins can manage with scripts is the access control list. Continue Reading
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News
19 Sep 2019
AIOps tools mature as cloud infrastructure grows
DevOps monitoring tools gain refined features as IT complexity soars, but their advanced AIOps automation hasn't yet gone mainstream. Continue Reading
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News
11 Sep 2019
HashiCorp Consul plays to multi-platform strength with Azure
HashiCorp's Consul service mesh will be offered as a hosted service on Microsoft Azure, where it can link container clusters along with VMs in multiple regions. Continue Reading
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News
09 Sep 2019
ServiceNow adds mobile app to 'New York' Now Platform
ServiceNow released the latest version of its Now Platform that features a mobile application giving remote users access to the core capabilities of the platform. Continue Reading
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News
06 Sep 2019
Feature flags emerge as enterprise DevOps must-have
CloudBees and Atlassian have feature flags on their near-term product roadmaps, as enterprise DevOps shops seek to lower the risk of continuous code deployment to production. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Sep 2019
How to plot out a test automation strategy
Test automation can deliver great value or immense frustration. Map out a winning approach that helps engineers learn test automation skills and doesn't leave them exasperated. Continue Reading
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News
28 Aug 2019
Knative serverless Kubernetes bypasses FaaS to revive PaaS
Knative's emerging claim to fame is that it can turn Kubernetes into a next-gen platform as a service with both a Heroku-like developer experience and deep infrastructure control. Continue Reading
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News
22 Aug 2019
Istio service mesh hits OpenShift GA, but upgrades are slow
Istio service mesh, Kiali and Jaeger are generally available for Red Hat OpenShift 4, but it will be some time before users are ready for the latest version of the platform. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
22 Aug 2019
Follow this Terraform and AWS tutorial to create a VPC
As an infrastructure-as-code tool, Terraform simplifies and streamlines resource deployments. Follow along with this example, which features Amazon VPCs, to get started. Continue Reading
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News
16 Aug 2019
IT pros contend with the future of continuous delivery
Continuous delivery tools are poised to add comprehensive breadth and analytical depth, but whether most enterprises can assimilate them is another matter. Continue Reading
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News
15 Aug 2019
Jenkins X gears up for SaaS version, GitOps standards
With key maturity milestones behind them, the maintainers of Jenkins X prepare a SaaS version, and plan to collaborate with Google's Tekton and Netflix's Spinnaker. Continue Reading
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News
14 Aug 2019
CloudBees CEO reveals plans for CI/CD tools, Google project
CloudBees CEO Sacha Labourey puts his roadmap cards on the table for the next generation of the company's CI/CD tools and an upcoming project to co-develop CI/CD for Anthos with Google. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
06 Aug 2019
Use this Mesos and Marathon tutorial to try resource abstraction
Marathon, the Mesos-based tool, eases large-scale container orchestration. Before you begin deployments, set up Zookeeper and Mesos with Marathon, and try a simple task. Continue Reading
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News
31 Jul 2019
AWS CloudFormation public roadmap released after user gripes
AWS CloudFormation users now have a public roadmap, which should help them plan use of the infrastructure-as-code tool. But AWS hasn't promised faster CloudFormation development. Continue Reading
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News
31 Jul 2019
SaaS management tool eases merger transition for IT
When European car-sharing startup Drivy becomes Getaround this fall, a SaaS management tool will integrate the two companies' IT systems, an increasingly common need for businesses. Continue Reading
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Tip
31 Jul 2019
Weigh infrastructure as code risks against the benefits
Infrastructure as code can transform the modern data center, but maintain a healthy dose of caution -- and thorough documentation and testing environments -- to prevent chaos. Continue Reading
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News
30 Jul 2019
GitOps path puts CI/CD ahead of infrastructure automation
Which comes first -- automated app deployment pipelines, or automated infrastructures on which to deploy? At GitOps shop Procore, the answer is emphatically the former. Continue Reading
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News
24 Jul 2019
Compliance-as-code tool hits DevSecOps sweet spot for MSP
There are almost as many tools to assist with DevSecOps as there are definitions for the term – how one managed service provider that serves federal agencies chose a compliance-as-code vendor. Continue Reading
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News
19 Jul 2019
Kubernetes policy project takes enterprise IT by storm
A Kubernetes-friendly compliance as code project hosted by the CNCF has caught on among large enterprises in the first half of 2019, largely through word of mouth. Continue Reading
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News
17 Jul 2019
Container security improves overall enterprise IT posture
Enterprise IT pros worried about security when containers were first introduced, but as containers are put into production, they can actually present ways to tighten security practices. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Jul 2019
How to use PowerCLI for alarm automation in vCenter
Alarms are central to good security. Bypass the unwieldy GUI and use PowerCLI instead to quickly and easily retrieve, monitor and modify alarms in your vCenter ecosystem. Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Jul 2019
An introduction to the 6 OpenStack orchestration components
Cloud orchestration is a critical part of workflow simplification and task automation. If you prefer open source options, see what OpenStack has to offer. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
27 Jun 2019
Perform this infrastructure as code tutorial with Pulumi and AWS
Learn the basics of an infrastructure as code deployment with this tutorial, which features the open source tool Pulumi, along with Python and AWS. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jun 2019
LogicMonitor wades into AIOps with anomaly detection
Another country heard from in AIOps: LogicMonitor rolls out anomaly detection and alert dependency correlation, but can it rise above the noise? Continue Reading
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News
20 Jun 2019
IT pros brace for wave of M&A in microservices security
Microservices and DevOps have made IT security a shared responsibility among enterprise stakeholders, and experts expect this shift to prompt mass consolidation among vendors. Continue Reading
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News
20 Jun 2019
Alaska Airlines charts course for DevOps security
As Alaska Airlines plots a flight path to a hybrid cloud infrastructure, it will navigate with an automated DevOps security tool that spans multiple IT environments. Continue Reading
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News
13 Jun 2019
AIOps tools beef up insights, but long-term scope unclear
AIOps tools present a way to cope with IT infrastructure sprawl and complexity, but how far they can go with hands-off automation features is still a topic for debate. Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2019
AIOps early adopters tackle data quality issues
AIOps is new in many ways, but early adopters must also heed a time-honored IT maxim: garbage in, garbage out. Continue Reading
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News
21 May 2019
Enterprises anticipate IT ops benefits from GitOps
Infrastructure as code, configuration as code, security as code -- enterprise SREs set their sights on everything as code in pursuit of GitOps efficiency. Continue Reading
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News
17 May 2019
Former Chef Software CTO talks IT automation, open source
Chef Software's founder, Adam Jacob, built widely used IT automation software for the enterprise. Now that he's no longer CTO, he's taking a break and pondering what comes next. Continue Reading
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News
17 May 2019
Mainframe DevOps gets fresh integration option in LzLabs
Most mainframe DevOps tools make open source app delivery pipelines speak mainframe's language, but LzLabs brings mainframe apps to a Linux-based platform without recompilation. Continue Reading
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News
10 May 2019
OpenShift shops chart a course for advanced IT automation
IT teams tackled containerization, developer self-service platforms and infrastructure provisioning automation in 2018. So, what's next? Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2019
Ansible roadmap offers open source automation with assurances
Ansible users can expect some key updates around the tool's certified content program, along with more options to assess the performance of their automated infrastructure. Continue Reading
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News
08 May 2019
OpenShift architecture bakes in CoreOS Operator automation
OpenShift 4.1 promises easier container management for IT ops pros, but getting there from OpenShift 3 could be tricky for enterprises with large deployments. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 May 2019
ICYMI: 6 tips to master Kubernetes performance and management
The more skilled the team, the better a Kubernetes implementation can be. Learn how to get the most out of service discovery, infrastructure management, CI and more. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Apr 2019
ICYMI: Advice for aspiring site reliability engineers
IT ops pros looking to land an SRE job can use these four articles to absorb the key responsibilities and challenges that site reliability engineering entails. Continue Reading
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News
25 Apr 2019
Experian credits incident management tool for IT efficiency
When Experian deployed xMatters, the IT landscape was very different. But the incident management tool's adaptability kept it useful through shifts in tech trends. Continue Reading
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News
23 Apr 2019
Rancher's Kubernetes updates boost security, UI performance
Enterprise IT pros expect changes to Rancher's Kubernetes management tools to bolster security configuration and UI performance. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Apr 2019
Potential PowerShell telemetry raises security concerns
When admins discovered the PowerShell team proposal for additional telemetry, some bristled; however, the data collection could mean a better management language for IT pros. Continue Reading
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News
18 Apr 2019
CloudBees' acquisition of Electric Cloud broadens focus
CloudBees folds in Electric Cloud and pledges to broaden its focus beyond Jenkins, while customers wait and see how that might impact long-term roadmap plans. Continue Reading
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News
12 Apr 2019
Opsgenie integrations expand under Atlassian
Opsgenie's induction into the Atlassian fold reflects a trend of incident management tools' absorption into broader DevOps platforms, but not every user prefers a one-stop shop. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
11 Apr 2019
Automate Windows configurations with Boxstarter and Chocolatey
Follow this Boxstarter tutorial to install the open source tool, and use it alongside PowerShell, Chocolatey and GitHub gists for streamlined and repeatable Windows configurations. Continue Reading
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News
10 Apr 2019
Cloud Foundry PaaS undergoes seismic shifts as IT evolves
Cloud Foundry undergoes drastic changes as infrastructure automation technology develops, to the point where some industry experts see more erosion than evolution. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Apr 2019
Build up a DevSecOps pipeline for fast and safe code delivery
It's all well and good to automate the software build process, but without proper security practices in place, the DevOps pipeline can lead developers to deploy compromised code. Continue Reading
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News
08 Apr 2019
Users forge ahead with Cloud Foundry-Kubernetes integration
Complementary roles for Cloud Foundry and Kubernetes are clear to IT pros, and the community plans to knit the two more closely together with the Eirini project. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Apr 2019
How to automate with PowerShell in Windows Server 2019
Microsoft developed many tools to simplify tasks in Windows Server 2019, but PowerShell skills still remain a staple of an administrator's tool set. Continue Reading
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News
02 Apr 2019
Chef licensing changes prompt debate among IT pros
IT pros who use Chef automation software have mixed reactions to the company's plan to revamp its software licensing strategy. Continue Reading
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News
01 Apr 2019
Google SREs test the limits of infrastructure automation
Google SRE veterans spoke publicly about infrastructure automation work, its future and its limitations. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Mar 2019
Prepare for Industry 4.0 challenges on storage, networks
With Industry 4.0 poised to grow across industries, enterprise IT organizations must ask what it will take to support this revolution. Learn how to manage the data-led transformation. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Mar 2019
Got infrastructure needs? These PowerShell tutorials can help
From streamlining remote sessions to setting up an SSL certificate, these PowerShell tutorials show IT admins how to get more done with the management tool. Continue Reading
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News
26 Mar 2019
Site reliability engineer shift creates IT ops dilemma
Aspiring SREs find it hard to move away from tactical tasks to focus on strategic projects. Veteran SREs say the path to less toil begins with prioritization and automation. Continue Reading
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News
25 Mar 2019
Kubernetes for Windows hits GA, with limitations
Kubernetes support for Windows nodes was declared stable in Kubernetes 1.14, but extensive fine print remains. Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2019
Kubernetes management for 'Minecraft' has enterprise IT traits
What do 'Minecraft' servers and enterprise databases have in common? In the realm of Kubernetes management, more than you might think. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Mar 2019
Understanding the three main goals of PowerShell Core 6
The book 'Learn PowerShell Core 6.0' offers a closer look into the history of PowerShell and its evolution into the PowerShell Core open source project. Continue Reading
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News
08 Mar 2019
Release automation tools link legacy, modern app management
Release automation tools will evolve in 2019 to embrace advanced application development and infrastructure automation techniques. Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Mar 2019
Forward Networks' software enables intent-based networking
TechTarget has named Forward Networks a winner of its Network Innovation Award. Learn how the company's visibility and verification software supports intent-based networking. Continue Reading
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News
28 Feb 2019
Sensu architecture smoothes monitoring data workflow for NCR
Sensu Go's architecture and monitoring as code prompted NCR to switch away from Zabbix and pass on SolarWinds, as it sought to collect data from 80,000 restaurant customers. Continue Reading
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News
26 Feb 2019
VMware PKS adds Heptio IP, boosts container street cred
VMware adds bare-metal Kubernetes and an elite support squad from Heptio, but it's unlikely to get widespread interest with bespoke container orchestration on premises. Continue Reading
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News
13 Feb 2019
SnapRoute cloud NOS leans on Kubernetes for orchestration
SnapRoute has introduced a network operating system for cloud environments. The cloud NOS, called Cloud Native Network OS, uses Kubernetes for network orchestration. Continue Reading
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Tip
04 Feb 2019
Automate the IT service desk workflow for maximum success
The automated help desk using ITSM software does for IT operations and support what the CI/CD toolchain has done for developers and DevOps engineers. Continue Reading
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Quiz
25 Jan 2019
How well do you know open source PowerShell Core?
Do you know how PowerShell Core differs from Windows PowerShell? Find out with this quiz on the open source PowerShell management utility. Continue Reading
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News
23 Jan 2019
AppDynamics AIOps injection sets the stage for IT automation
AIOps IP from Perspica broadens AppDynamics' automated root cause analysis features, but enterprises must evaluate IT and business analytics options carefully before they commit. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
22 Jan 2019
Create Vagrant boxes with Packer for rapid IT environment builds
Vagrant boxes enable IT admins to test infrastructure updates in production-identical QA environments. Follow this Vagrant tutorial to build a machine and export it to a Vagrant box. Continue Reading