I am a great fan of Octopus Deploy. In the interest of improving it in any way I can I released a beta version of OctoPygmy, a Chrome extension for Octopus Deploy.
The case for abstract IoC
I really value the IoC libraries out there and the features each one provides. I use one in nearly all the applications I write. Along with IoC libraries there has been the occasional discussion on abstracting it away from the application. I’m not a fan of this idea.
Show & Tell: Powerargs
About a month ago I finished a contribution to the PowerArgs project and wrote about it. A week or two later I thought it would be a great idea to make my first screen cast about it.
Fixing my own blunder with powershell
I installed a service a while back that uses Java. When I installed it I followed with a flow of installing Java to a different path from the default (oh no). There are different reasons for that which have now been totally debunked. The service that uses java (Subversion Edge in this case) has a windows service with a path to Java at the time (the non default path).
Then a patch got applied.
It uninstalled the original one and installed the updated one in the default location. So now the windows service is trying to run Java from a location that no longer exists. So how does one fix such a problem given that you can’t change the path the windows service is using from the user interface?
Powershell
Thanks to Jeffery Hicks and his posts on Managing Services the Powershell way I was able to very easily correct the executable path of that service.
1 | $theService = Get-WmiObject win32_service -Filter "name='CSVNConsole'" |
When using the Invoke-WmiMethod
it’s important to know what the order of parameters is. What’s documented may not be correct. so use $theService.GetMethodParameters("Change")
to determine the proper order. Ignore those that start with an underscore.
All of this is in very good detail at Jeffery Hicks’ blog about this.
On a side note be sure to use Start-Transcript
when working on stuff like this. It’s wonderful to be able to go back and read everything that you did and what the outcome of it was.
Vagrant for development environments
I have been using Vagrant for my development environments for about six months now. It’s a wonderful setup that eases the ability to keep different configurations separate as well as to keep my host machine clean from inadvertent changes.
Strong Naming .NET and Key Containers
There’s a lot of documentation about strong naming .NET assemblies. Most talk about using an open strong name file (snk). Some talk about the password protected file (pfx). Even fewer mention the key container.
Automated Install of Octopus Deploy Server
I have been using Octopus Deploy for a while at work and now upgrading to their 2.0 line. It’s a wonderful product and you should check it out if you haven’t yet. One of the things I always want to do is automate the install of application infrastructure items (such as this) so that I can burn and build the servers. This allows me to be better prepared for server outages.
NancyFX Testing with an authenticated user
I’ve been trying NancyFx lately and ran across a bit of a misunderstanding on my part and a minor missing point in the Nancy documentation. I’m testing my modules and some require authentication.