Automate Your PowerShell Scripts from a Pipeline - April Edwards - PSConfEU 2023

In this session, April Edwards, a former Microsoft employee now working at GitHub, discusses the importance of automation and the use of GitHub Actions in the DevOps lifecycle. April shares her personal experience with automation and the challenges she faced with manual processes. She emphasizes the need for automation to prevent catastrophic mistakes and human errors in the cloud.

April introduces GitHub Actions as a powerful tool for automating various tasks and explains how it can be used for continuous integration and delivery. She highlights the benefits of using GitHub for source control, such as version control and collaborative development. She also discusses the security features of GitHub, including code scanning for hidden passwords.

April demonstrates the functionality of GitHub Actions, despite experiencing technical difficulties with her laptop. She explains how Actions can be executed on any operating system in the cloud or on-premises. She addresses a question about the benefits of using GitHub for source control compared to SharePoint, emphasizing the advantages of version control and collaborative development offered by GitHub.

April discusses the importance of auditability in DevOps practices and the traceability of every step in the automation process. She explains how GitHub Actions can be used to automate scripts and documents in the cloud, with triggers and scheduled tasks.

April explores the GitHub Actions Marketplace, which offers pre-built actions that can be integrated into workflows. She discusses the importance of storing secrets securely and avoiding direct inclusion of passwords in code.

April showcases a comprehensive workflow designed in a CI/CD style for automating various tasks. She explains the process of running tests on PowerShell code using Pester and the controls implemented for code review.

April concludes the session by addressing questions from the audience, such as the integration between GitHub and Azure DevOps, the use of YAML syntax in GitHub Actions, the availability of Codespaces on GitLab, and the security of GitHub Actions. She encourages the audience to explore the GitHub documentation and reach out to her for any gaps or questions.

Overall, April provides valuable insights into the benefits and capabilities of GitHub Actions for automating tasks in the DevOps lifecycle. She emphasizes the importance of automation to prevent human errors and improve efficiency.

Chapters:
00:00:00 Automate Your PowerShell Scripts from a Pipeline - April Edwards - PSConfEU 2023
00:00:07 Introduction: From Microsoft to GitHub, embracing the cloud.
00:02:17 Acknowledging sponsors: Chocolaty and PatchMyPC.
00:04:52 Embracing the term "developer" and the tools that empower them.
00:08:48 Working in the cloud allows for remote demos.
00:09:40 Seeking Hold Music and Laptop Update
00:13:29 Introducing GitHub and its features
00:15:32 Cloning and editing code in Visual Studio Code
00:21:43 Working in Black for Better Visibility
00:22:49 Introducing Azure Tag Check: Simplifying VS Code Usage
00:31:45 Staging with Manual or Automated Approval Gates
00:33:21 Code Debugging: Red Squiggly Line Disappears
00:33:47 Introduction to Co-pilot and Test Workflow
00:35:18 Integration between GitHub and Azure DevOps
00:36:37 Introduction to Workflow Syntax for GitHub Actions
00:40:48 Link to GitHub Actions Gallery for various actions.
00:41:07 Running GitHub Action Workflow on-prem with GitHub Enterprise Server
00:42:48 Arc-enabled servers integration with Actions