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Windows Gets Package Manager with winget CLI Utility
Microsoft released the new Windows Package Manager (winget) as an open source, community driven package manager for installing, updating, configuring, and removing software application packages on any Windows 10 machine. There are other package managers used in the...
Azure Announcements from Microsoft Build 2020
Microsoft made a lot of announcements with their Microsoft Build 2020 event that kicked off today. The event included TONS of updates and announcements across the entire stack of Microsoft products with a centered focus towards a Developer audience; since #MSBuild is...
Top 15 Security Certifications for your Job Role in 2021
Are you looking at security certifications? Certification in the areas of Cybersecurity, IT Security, and Computer Security do not have as many straight forward options in comparison to Windows or Linux certifications, or even cloud certifications with Microsoft...
Should Microsoft acquire Canonical / Ubuntu?
Microsoft's adoption of Linux today is something that appeared to never be possible only a few years ago. It was not even twenty years ago when Steve Ballmer (CEO of Microsoft at the time) stated that "Linux is a cancer." Now, fast forward to today and Linux is the #1...
Docker development VM in Azure
Ever wish you had a Docker dev workstation in Azure? About two months ago, we introduced the Azure Kung Fu VM, and judging by the views of that article many of you gave it a try. Today, I wanted to share a different version of that VM running Docker Desktop. You can...
Getting Started with Visual Studio Codespaces – Cloud IDE
The Visual Studio Codespaces (formerly Visual Studio Online / VSO) web-based IDE is now available to be used. Based on the popular Visual Studio Code editor, it offers a familiar feel and workspace for writing and working with source code.. This also offers the...
Saving Money with Azure Dev/Test Subscriptions
Did you know that you can have significant savings on Dev/Test environments in Azure? I'm working with the Azure Dev/Test team on a project right now, and I didn't realize exactly how much you can save. They have an offer for Dev/Test where you only pay for the price...
Linux is Most Used OS in Microsoft Azure – over 50 percent of VM cores
For the last few years, Microsoft has stated during event keynotes and in other places that Linux is a rapidly growing operating system (OS) being used within Microsoft Azure. They had proudly stated that 50% of new VMs running in Azure were running Linux. (This is...
Microsoft Azure Sphere’s $100K IoT Hacker Bounty Challenge
Microsoft has begun a 3-month long Azure Sphere Security Research Challenge to find security vulnerabilities in its Azure Sphere OS for building Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. This challenge is adding to the Azure Security Lab announcement from Black Hat back in...
Book: The Ultimate Guide to Microsoft Certification
Advance your career through Microsoft certification!
Written by Chris Pietschmann, Microsoft MVP, MCT, and Founder, Build5Nines.com
Top 15 Security Certifications for your Job Role in 2021
Are you looking at security certifications? Certification in the areas of Cybersecurity, IT Security, and Computer Security do not have as many straight forward options in comparison to Windows or Linux certifications, or even cloud certifications with Microsoft...
CompTIA Linux+ XK0-004 Certification Exam
In the modern world of IT, Linux has been growing in popularity and use. This is especially something we are seeing in the cloud, where even Microsoft has admitted that there are more Linux server running in Microsoft Azure than Window servers. You could even...
Microsoft Azure IoT Developer (AZ-220) Certification is now LIVE
The Microsoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification (and exam AZ-220) is now LIVE and out of Beta. This is the first cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) certification from the major cloud providers and a great addition to the Microsoft Azure...
AZ-900 Exam: Azure IoT Product Overview from Tim Warner
For some time now, Tim Warner, a fellow Microsoft MVP, has been posting short videos that methodically go over all the AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals certification exam objectives and skill areas. This is a pretty great free series of training/study content geared towards...
Microsoft MCSA / MCSE Certifications Get Extended
In a response to the quarantine and lockdown restrictions due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Microsoft has announced they are delaying retiring the MCSA, MCSE, and MCSD certifications and exams. These certifications are now going to be retired January 31,...
Docker development VM in Azure
Ever wish you had a Docker dev workstation in Azure? About two months ago, we introduced the Azure Kung Fu VM, and judging by the views of that article many of you gave it a try. Today, I wanted to share a different version of that VM running Docker Desktop. You can...
Jumpstart: Open the Network Connections Tab in Windows
TLDR: Start-->Run-->ncpa.cpl Have you ever lost 6 minutes of your life trying to find a network adapter in Windows? Yeah, me too. Windows really started to mess with everyone's mind back in Windows 8 when they moved stuff around with that horrible metro UI. ...
Azure CLI: Create and Manage Service Principals
When an application needs to authenticate with Azure AD you can't really just give it a username and password. To authenticate and authorize an application or service with the ability to connect to Azure services and other resources you need to create a Service...
Azure Kung Fu Toolkit
Welcome to Az Kung Fu, grasshopper! Scripting is the only way to ensure that your environments are the same every time and remove the risk of human error. We write scripts all the time using the Azure CLI, but it feels like we always having to figure out the same...
Azure Announcements from Microsoft Build 2020
Microsoft made a lot of announcements with their Microsoft Build 2020 event that kicked off today. The event included TONS of updates and announcements across the entire stack of Microsoft products with a centered focus towards a Developer audience; since #MSBuild is...
Microsoft Azure Sphere’s $100K IoT Hacker Bounty Challenge
Microsoft has begun a 3-month long Azure Sphere Security Research Challenge to find security vulnerabilities in its Azure Sphere OS for building Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. This challenge is adding to the Azure Security Lab announcement from Black Hat back in...
Microsoft Azure IoT Developer (AZ-220) Certification is now LIVE
The Microsoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification (and exam AZ-220) is now LIVE and out of Beta. This is the first cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) certification from the major cloud providers and a great addition to the Microsoft Azure...
Administrator’s Introduction to Azure IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) industry has continued to grow and become more pervasive in people's everyday lives these last few years. There are MANY useful applications for IoT devices and solutions in both the consumer and industrial space. Some of the solutions...
Windows Gets Package Manager with winget CLI Utility
Microsoft released the new Windows Package Manager (winget) as an open source, community driven package manager for installing, updating, configuring, and removing software application packages on any Windows 10 machine. There are other package managers used in the...
Azure Announcements from Microsoft Build 2020
Microsoft made a lot of announcements with their Microsoft Build 2020 event that kicked off today. The event included TONS of updates and announcements across the entire stack of Microsoft products with a centered focus towards a Developer audience; since #MSBuild is...
GitHub Satellite ’20 Announcements: Discussions, CodeSpaces, securing code, and more!
Earlier this week, GitHub hosted their annual GitHub Satellite event. The GitHub Satellite 2020 event this year was completely virtual, and free for all to attend. At this years event, GitHub has made a number of announcements including many new features being added...
Bulk add work items into Azure DevOps
Enjoy, @deltadan
Policy-Based Routing on Unifi USG PRO 4
As an Azure MVP, I spent a lot of time teaching and giving webinars on the topic of moving to the cloud. A few months ago, I started to experience issues with my internet service provider (ISP), where I would lose connection, and this was very painful during large...
Azure Cosmos DB Free Tier Now Available
Microsoft has announced that a FREE pricing tier of Azure Cosmos DB (NoSQL, cloud-scale database engine) is now available. This new free tier is offering the ability to create a new Azure Cosmos DB Account with 400 RU/s and 5 GB storage for free for the lifetime of...
Microsoft for Startups: Free Azure and Other Benefits
Awhile back Microsoft had the BizSpark program that offered free Microsoft software for startups. A couple of my own startups were able to get free licenses for Microsoft software and Azure services credits to help get bootstrapped. While BizSpark is no longer around,...
Microsoft Ignite 2019 Book of News
Microsoft has tons of news and updates they've announced at Microsoft Ignite 2019 in Orlando, Florida this week. Ignite is Microsoft's biggest tech event of the year with over 26,000 professionals in attendance. With the huge amount of news being released at and...
Host Static Web Apps in Azure App Service
Modern web applications are shifting more towards a static html/css architecture that leverages RESTful APIs as the backend data services. Previously, in order to host a static web app like this, you would need to use an Azure App Service Web App or even an Azure...
Azure Announcements from Microsoft Build 2020
Microsoft made a lot of announcements with their Microsoft Build 2020 event that kicked off today. The event included TONS of updates and announcements across the entire stack of Microsoft products with a centered focus towards a Developer audience; since #MSBuild is...
Docker development VM in Azure
Ever wish you had a Docker dev workstation in Azure? About two months ago, we introduced the Azure Kung Fu VM, and judging by the views of that article many of you gave it a try. Today, I wanted to share a different version of that VM running Docker Desktop. You can...
Getting Started with Visual Studio Codespaces – Cloud IDE
The Visual Studio Codespaces (formerly Visual Studio Online / VSO) web-based IDE is now available to be used. Based on the popular Visual Studio Code editor, it offers a familiar feel and workspace for writing and working with source code.. This also offers the...
Add New Root User to Ubuntu Linux Server using Bash
When installing Ubuntu, or any Linux distro, a root user will be created. However, there are many times when you need to create additional users with root or sudo privileges. Thankfully, Linux makes this fairly simple to do using the adduser and usermod commands for...
Windows Gets Package Manager with winget CLI Utility
Microsoft released the new Windows Package Manager (winget) as an open source, community driven package manager for installing, updating, configuring, and removing software application packages on any Windows 10 machine. There are other package managers used in the...
Azure Announcements from Microsoft Build 2020
Microsoft made a lot of announcements with their Microsoft Build 2020 event that kicked off today. The event included TONS of updates and announcements across the entire stack of Microsoft products with a centered focus towards a Developer audience; since #MSBuild is...
Should Microsoft acquire Canonical / Ubuntu?
Microsoft's adoption of Linux today is something that appeared to never be possible only a few years ago. It was not even twenty years ago when Steve Ballmer (CEO of Microsoft at the time) stated that "Linux is a cancer." Now, fast forward to today and Linux is the #1...
Saving Money with Azure Dev/Test Subscriptions
Did you know that you can have significant savings on Dev/Test environments in Azure? I'm working with the Azure Dev/Test team on a project right now, and I didn't realize exactly how much you can save. They have an offer for Dev/Test where you only pay for the price...
Check Hyper-V (Intel VT-x) Virtualization Support on macOS Computer
Many Developers and other IT Professionals use macOS (via a Macbook Pro or other Apple computer) and do need to run Windows on their machine under virtualization using Parallels or VMWare. Doing this allows you to run both macOS and Windows, or even Linux, operating...
Block Ads, Trackers, and NSFW Sites on Your Network using Pi-hole and Raspberry Pi
Pi-hole is free and open source software for setting up a DNS (Domain Name Service) and DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server with built-in functionality to be able to block ads, trackers, and other websites. As a DNS server, it is setup to block unwanted...
Microsoft HoloLens 2 Hardware Specs vs HoloLens 1
A while back I wrote up a summary of the hardware specifications for the first generation HoloLens. Here's a short write up of the hardware specifications for the HoloLens 2 (the second generation HoloLens hardware). The biggest difference in the new device is a...
Microsoft xCloud: Azure Powered Game Streaming
Microsoft is building a game streaming network to unlock console quality gaming on any device. Microsoft has realized that not all gamers are going to buy an Xbox. Instead of focusing on building games that can only be played on the Xbox game console, Microsoft is...
Azure IoT Developer Kit (AZ3166) Manufacturing Delayed, Shipping pushed to Sept 21
The new Azure IoT Developer Kit is a pretty nice IoT prototyping board with tons of sensors and things built-in. On Aug 11, 2017, Microsoft, MXChip and a few distributors opened up pre-orders for the Azure IoT Developer Kit board. The pre-orders were taken and the...
Get Certified!
The Ultimate Guide to Microsoft Certification
Advance your career through cloud certification
This book will guide you through choosing which certification path(s) to follow you’re your unique career goals and technical background. It’ll also explore all the different certifications Microsoft offers, as well as many of your questions, like:
- Which certification is right for me?
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- How do I study?
Microsoft and cloud certification helps you keep up-to-date on the latest technologies in a structured, easy to follow path, that is also verifiable by your peers and future career opportunities.
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Latest Cloud News: Build 2020, WSL2, winget, and more! (May 25, 2020 – Build5Nines Weekly)
Build5Nines Weekly provides your go-to source to keep up-to-date on all the latest Microsoft Azure...
Subscribe to Build5Nines on YouTube!
We've started publishing videos over on the Build5Nines YouTube channel! You can subscribe to...
Latest Cloud News: Linux used more than Windows, Cybersecurity Certifications, and more! (May 18, 2020 – Build5Nines Weekly)
Build5Nines Weekly provides your go-to source to keep up-to-date on all the latest Microsoft Azure...
Latest Cloud News: GitHub Satellite, Hacker Bounty, New Azure Datacenters, and more! (May 11, 2020 – Build5Nines Weekly)
Build5Nines Weekly provides your go-to source to keep up-to-date on all the latest Microsoft Azure...
Build5Nines Weekly: May 4, 2020
Build5Nines Weekly provides your go-to source to keep up-to-date on all the latest Microsoft Azure...
Build5Nines Weekly: April 27, 2020
Build5Nines Weekly provides your go-to source to keep up-to-date on all the latest Microsoft Azure...