SQLNorthEast (NEWCASTLE) SQL SERVER USER GROUP

Network, learn, ask a question, meet other folk, get fed - these are all things that happen at user group events. These events are a really great opportunity to socialise in an informal learning experience - if you want your own exposure then come and do a 1 - 5 minute nugget in front of your peers or use it as an opportunity to ask for help with any issues that may arise at work.

Remember to tell your friends and colleagues; make sure you register as soon as you can.

5.45pm – 6:15pm Registration and networking
6:20pm - 7:20pm – Green is good, Red is bad – Turning your Checklists into Pester Tests - Rob Sewell
7:20 - 7:40pm - Break
7:40pm – 8:20pm - PowerShell dbatools / SQL Server module - Rob Sewell
8:20pm - Feedback and Close

Finally: Drinks on the Quayside :)

Featured Presentations:

Green is good, Red is bad – Turning your Checklists into Pester Tests

Rob Sewell

I was required to prove that I had successfully installed and configured a backup solution across a large estate. I had a number of success criteria that had to be met. Checking all of these by hand (eye) would have been error prone, so I wrote a test to do this for me and an easy for management to read HTML report using PowerShell and Pester.

The session has come from that situation and is about enabling you to provide an easy to read output to quickly and repeatedly show that infrastructure is as expected for a set of checks, also known as Operational Validation using Pester. There are many use cases for this type of solution; DR testing, installation, first line checks, presentation setups

What is Pester?

Pester is a Unit Testing framework for PowerShell which can be used for testing your code but also as shown in this session for validating your infrastructure. This is an excellent post by Adam Bertram to introduce Pester It is included with PowerShell on modern Operating Systems and free to download from the PowerShell Gallery or GitHub if not included

After this session you will have a basic understanding of how Pester works and the capability to examine your checklists and create your own validation tests and provide some reporting for management.

PowerShell dbatools / SQL Server module

Rob Sewell

SQLServer and PowerShell an exploration.

About Rob:

Rob is a SQL Server DBA with a passion for Powershell, Azure, Automation, and SQL (PaaS geddit?). He is an officer for the PASS PowerShell Virtual Chapter and has spoken at and volunteered at many events. He is a member of the committee that organises SQL Saturday Exeter and also European PowerShell Conference. He is a proud supporter of the SQL and Powershell communities. He relishes sharing and learning and can be found doing both via Twitter, Slack and his blog. He spends most of his time looking at a screen and loves to solve problems. He knows that looking at a screen so much is bad for him because his wife tells him so. Thus, you can find him on the cricket field in the summer and flying a drone in the winter. He has a fabulous beard.