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Monday, April 13
 

10:30am PDT

PsGadgets - Scripts to Circuits: PowerShell for Hardware Hackers
Monday April 13, 2026 10:30am - 11:15am PDT
What happens when you mix PowerShell with wires, motors, sensors, and microcontrollers — then add a spark of creativity? You get scripts that put the physical world at your fingertips; light up RGB LEDs, spin motors, rotate a servo, trigger a MOSFET switch, water your cactus, and whatever else you can imagine!In this session, we’ll take PowerShell beyond the terminal and into the hardware realm. You’ll discover the concepts, tools, and skills needed to bridge the gap from scripts to circuits, building your own PowerShell Gadgets with accessible yet powerful platforms:- FT232H-based boards — for direct I²C, SPI, UART, and GPIO control straight from your console. - Pico and ESP32 microcontrollers running Python — for flexible, wireless, and rich automation possibilities.We’ll cover the essential starter toolkit—what you'll need, how to wire stuff together, and how to speak its language from PowerShell — then jump into live, real-world demos that show scripts breaking free from software to control and interact with the physical world around you.
Speakers
avatar for Mark Go

Mark Go

System Administrator, Lab IT Specialist, System Administrator
Mark Go is a self-described “random nerdy IT guy” with a persistent nostalgia for media like The Goonies, Blankman, Short Circuit, MacGyver. He’s passionate about DIY electronics and finding creative, practical ways to bring PowerShell beyond the console and into the physical... Read More →
Monday April 13, 2026 10:30am - 11:15am PDT
Meydenbauer Center - Room 401 11100 NE 6th St, Bellevue, WA 98004, USA

1:00pm PDT

Introduction to AutomatedLab
Monday April 13, 2026 1:00pm - 1:45pm PDT
Tired of clicking through endless wizards just to spin up a lab? In this session, we'll show how AutomatedLab makes lab building fast, consistent, and code-driven—right from your PowerShell console.We'll start with the basics of AutomatedLab's cmdlets, then walk step-by-step through creating a full two-server Active Directory forest in minutes using its sample scripts. Along the way, you'll learn and see how AutomatedLab automates network setup, VM provisioning, domain configuration, and post-install testing—no manual intervention required.Next, we'll dive into a live walkthrough of a custom script that spins up a repeatable environment Domain Controller, Root CA, and Privileged Access Workstation for a complete lab with PKI. You'll learn how to parameterize lab builds, integrate external switches for internet access, and customize VM roles for your own scenarios.This is a practical, hands-on session designed for PowerShell admins and IaC beginners who want to see exactly how to rapidly build, tear down, and rebuild entire environments for testing or trainingCome for the live demos, stay for the reusable scripts, and walk away ready to replace manual lab builds with clean, repeatable code.
Speakers
avatar for Joe Houghes

Joe Houghes

Solutions Architect, Pure Storage
Joe Houghes is a leader of the Denver VMware, PowerShell, and Veeam User Groups. He is a Field Solutions Architect with Pure Storage and focuses on automating us out of typical IT operations while freeing us to perform higher-level tasks._x000D_
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Joe has been the #1 speaker... Read More →
Monday April 13, 2026 1:00pm - 1:45pm PDT
Meydenbauer Center - Room 405 11100 NE 6th St, Bellevue, WA 98004, USA

1:00pm PDT

Triple Choc Chip Automation: Managing Windows Software with Ansible
Monday April 13, 2026 1:00pm - 1:45pm PDT
Managing software on Windows at scale can often feel like herding cats; however, when you combine the declarative power of Ansible with the package management reliability of Chocolatey, it becomes a piece of cake.

In this session, we will unwrap the chocolatey.chocolatey collection, exploring how it provides a complete recipe for declaratively managing packages across your Windows fleet. We will look at how to mix the right ingredients (idempotency, configuration, and source management) to bake a reliable automation strategy that always rises to the occasion.

Whether you are strictly open-source or using Chocolatey for Business, you will leave this session ready to write playbooks that are undeniably sweet.
Speakers
avatar for Josh King

Josh King

Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer, Chocolatey Software
Geek, Father, Walking Helpdesk.

Josh King is a Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer at Chocolatey Software and former Microsoft MVP. He has a long history working within Windows and VMware environments and has a passion for all things PowerShell, Ansible, and general automati... Read More →
Monday April 13, 2026 1:00pm - 1:45pm PDT
Meydenbauer Center - Room 407 11100 Northeast 6th Street, Bellevue, WA, USA

2:00pm PDT

Stop Hand-Rolling Chocolate: Automating Chocolatey with psake
Monday April 13, 2026 2:00pm - 2:45pm PDT
Handmade chocolate is charming. Handmade Chocolatey builds? Not so much. When your packages rely on copy-paste scripts, tribal knowledge, and “run this step next,” things fall apart—especially at scale.

In this session, we’ll move from artisanal, hand-rolled Chocolatey builds to repeatable, factory-grade automation using psake. You’ll learn how psake can orchestrate building Chocolatey packages, extensions, and related tooling with clear structure, dependency management, and predictable outcomes. These patterns come from real-world use in large, fast-moving environments where Windows automation needs to be reliable, auditable, and boring in the best possible way.

Drawing on experience maintaining psake itself and applying it in organizations operating at massive scale, this talk focuses on practical techniques you can use immediately—whether you manage a handful of internal packages or thousands of endpoints.
Speakers
avatar for Gilbert Sanchez

Gilbert Sanchez

Staff Software Development Engineer, Tesla
Formerly known as "Señor Systems Engineer" at Meta. A loud advocate for: DEI, DevEx, DevOps, and TDD.
Monday April 13, 2026 2:00pm - 2:45pm PDT
Meydenbauer Center - Room 407 11100 Northeast 6th Street, Bellevue, WA, USA
 
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