MCSE Studying - Week 6

Overview
I have completed week six of studying for my MCSE exams. I started and completed Chapter 2 in the 70-410 Training Guide, listened to two more PowerScripting Podcast episodes, and finished chapters 3 & 4 in the "Learn PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches" book. It was a very busy week, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time.

Cool Stuff
There has been many things that I learned this week that qualify as cool, but I think that the most practical and useful one is how to update PowerShell help files from a local source vs. the Microsoft site. In order to retrieve the files, you will need an Internet connection, then create a folder, in this example I used C:\PowerShellHelp

New-Item -Path C:\PowerShellHelp -Type Directory

and then run the following PowerShell command to save the help files:

Save-Help -DestinationPath C:\PowerShellHelp

In order to update PowerShell help from these files, use this command:

Update-Help -SourcePath C:\PowerShellHelp

There you have it! PowerShell help has been updated.

Also, I especially enjoyed spending time learning about converting Windows Server 2012 R2 with a GUI to a Server Core install that strips away all of the extras, and then being able to re-install the GUI if desired. I can certainly see where that is useful for reducing a server's vulnerability to exploits along with reducing the disk space requirements.

Stats
Total time studying: 11 hrs. 25 min.

• Exam 70-410: 7 hrs. 45 min.
• PowerShell: 3 hrs. 40 min.

Resources used:
Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2: Mitch Tulloch
Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches - 2nd Edition: Don Jones & Jeffery D. Hicks

PowerScripting Podcast - Episodes 263 & 264

In Closing
This past week was far more productive than some of the previous weeks. I cannot say for sure why I was able to get more time in, but I'm glad I did. As long as I can put in the same amount of effort in the coming weeks as I did this past week, I should be well on my way to earning my MCSE.

Have a great week everyone!