The AI tools for the Command Line Interface (CLI) we discussed on 4sysops connect the terminal to AI models. For example, the Warp terminal includes AI tools designed to help admins working on a CLI. The Windows CLI MCP Server does the opposite. If you missed it, the Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a new open standard for AI agent communication with software services created by Anthropic and backed by OpenAI, Amazon, and Microsoft. With MCP, your primary interface is the chatbot, and for the Windows CLI MCP Server, shell access is an additional tool the AI can utilize. The Windows CLI MCP Server supports PowerShell, CMD, Git Bash shells, and remote SSH.

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Have you ever received the notice stating, "Additional security updates can be applied with ESM Apps" after logging into an Ubuntu Linux machine? Despite working with Ubuntu for 15 years, this was the first time I encountered it. Since this was a relatively new installation of Ubuntu 24.04, I was perplexed as to why I couldn't install all security updates using apt upgrade. After some investigation, I discovered I was using Ubuntu Standard, while only Ubuntu Pro qualifies for all security updates. I felt annoyed and deceived because my system had no uncommon packages, and everything I installed came from the Ubuntu repository. This means that, in most cases, a fresh installation of the latest Ubuntu Linux LTS release does not receive all critical security updates.

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Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 is a standalone product that allows you to virtualize your environment at no cost. In this post, you will learn about the options available to upgrade to the paid Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V role.

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Zapier is a cloud-based automation platform that lets users connect and automate workflows between thousands of web services without coding. Recently, Zapier announced support for Anthropic's MCP standard. MCP is an open protocol that allows AI models to interact with external tools, data sources, and services, and it's now also supported by OpenAI, Microsoft, and Amazon. In this post, I share my experiences with Zapier's MCP server.

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Cyberattackers are evolving their tactics and developing more sophisticated ransomware. Advanced AI-driven security solutions are needed to provide the defense mechanisms to detect and remediate ransomware threats. Ransomware Protection Plus is a new solution from ManageEngine that provides a multi-layered defense against ransomware.

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With Microsoft’s decision to deprecate NTLM (NT LAN Manager), it’s time to disable NTLM authentication on Windows Server 2025 and move toward more secure alternatives. NTLMv1 has already been removed in Windows Server 2025 and Windows 11, version 24H2, signaling the beginning of NTLM’s end. Given the protocol’s vulnerabilities—like pass-the-hash attacks—organizations should begin transitioning to stronger authentication methods such as Kerberos, the preferred protocol in Active Directory environments.

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AI enables administrators to adapt complex open-source projects easily to their environment. If the project is not hosted on GitHub or other version control platforms, it becomes tedious to merge your changes into the open-source software whenever the maintainer updates their project. The Bash script I discuss in this post uses Git to automate merging your code changes into a new version provided by the maintainer of an open-source project lacking version control.

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Terminal Chat enables the integration of GitHub Copilot, Azure OpenAI, and OpenAI's AI services into Windows Terminal Canary. Through this experimental feature, you can request assistance from an AI for your PowerShell commands and directly execute the AI's recommendations in the terminal.

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In my previous post, I explained how to use the OpenAI library to augment your AI-powered terminal. Today, we will build on this enhancement and encourage two AIs to collaborate on IT tasks in the Warp terminal. Warp includes strong AI capabilities, though it currently only supports models lacking search features. As a result, you're using models with outdated IT knowledge. With a few tweaks, you can make Warp AI prompt GPT-4 Search to bypass the cutoff date of the Warp models.

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Domain controllers rely on DFS Replication (DFS-R) to synchronize the contents of SYSVOL and Netlogon across the network. This process ensures that group policy objects (GPOs) and logon scripts remain consistent across all DCs. While troubleshooting DFS-R issues can be complex, several built-in tools can help diagnose and resolve problems efficiently.

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The GPT-4o Search model offers search engine functionality similar to ChatGPT Search or Perplexity when accessed via the OpenAI API. With the free OpenAI Python Library, you can enhance your terminal AI by adding online search features, overcoming the limitations of LLM cutoff dates, and eliminating the frustration of outdated instructions. This post will guide you on installing the OpenAI Python library and using it conveniently in Windows PowerShell, Warp, or any other terminal.

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PHP is still available on Windows despite Microsoft no longer providing support for version 8.x. It can be integrated as a script engine into Internet Information Services (IIS), either through the graphical IIS Manager or via PowerShell, which is especially useful for Server Core installations.

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The Australian Treasury conducted an employee survey as part of a large-scale Microsoft 365 Copilot pilot program. The initially high expectations were significantly disappointed. Only a few users noticed AI providing any support in their daily work.

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In environments with multiple VMs running the same Windows version, powering down the Hyper-V VMs during a maintenance window is usually the most efficient way to update them offline. This involves mounting the virtual disk and installing updates through PowerShell. This approach also benefits VMs that have been powered off for an extended period. Instead of starting them in an outdated and potentially vulnerable state, you can apply critical security updates in advance.

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In this guide, I’ll walk through installing ShellGPT (shell_gpt) – a command-line AI assistant – on PowerShell using a local Ollama LLM. This approach lets you use AI in your terminal without relying on cloud APIs, which is great for privacy. This review highlights the use of ShellGPT on Windows through PowerShell. If you are using Mac or Linux, check out our earlier review of ShellGPT.

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Manus AI, a Chinese general AI agent, has created significant buzz in the AI community. Some perceive it as the next DeepSeek moment, while others minimize its significance, viewing it merely as a wrapper for Anthropic's Sonnet 3.5. Exploring the open-source tool WebUI helps understand one of the underlying technologies of Manus AI, the open-source framework Browser Use, which is key to Manus AI's web capabilities.

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On a Windows host, strictly isolated Docker containers can be operated thanks to Hyper-V, which is capable of running an operating system different from Windows Server. Microsoft offers Server Core and Nano Server as operating systems suitable for this purpose. Windows services inside the containers can be managed locally using the CLI or remotely using established GUI tools.

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Many laptops come with just one M.2 slot, making storage upgrades challenging. Rather than adding an SSD, you have to replace the current one. This operation involves connecting the new SSD externally and booting the system via USB to transfer data. The free open-source tool Clonezilla provides a dedicated feature to simplify this process.

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Lindy.ai is a no-code platform that enables users to build custom AI assistants to automate various business workflows without requiring coding skills. Users can create AI agents to handle tasks such as email management, meeting scheduling, customer support, or sales outreach. The platform integrates with various business tools, such as Google Workspace, HubSpot, Slack, and Zendesk.

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