Chris Blackden

Chris got his first job in IT at age thirteen in a local computer repair shop and has been working in different technical positions since, including Help Desk, System Administration, and Software Engineering. He is currently a DevOps engineer in the research department at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a Pluralsight course and lab author, and has done work for a number of other organizations such as TechSnips and Cloud Academy. Relevant Certifications: Google Cloud Professional Architect, MCSA: Windows 8.1, A+, Security+, ITIL v3 Foundations, Bitcoin Certified Professional

How to Use Python to Load Test Websites

Need a fail-safe to handle increased traffic load on your web application? Learn how to load test your web application with Python in this tutorial!
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Chris Blackden 11/08/2021 - 8 min. read

Trusting a Git pre-commit hook to Run Checks Automatically

If you're looking for a way to level up your automation skills, learn how Git pre-commit hooks automate Git actions in this step-by-step tutorial!
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Chris Blackden 07/29/2021 - 6 min. read

How to Speed Up Bash Scripts with Multithreading and GNU Parallel

Learn how to speed up those Bash command and scripts with GNU Parallel with some handy GNU Parallel examples in this tutorial!
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Chris Blackden 06/02/2021 - 8 min. read

How to Connect to Private EC2 Instances without an AWS Bastion Host

Learn how to do away with the AWS bastion host and leverage AWS Systems Manager's already-secure connection to SSH to EC2 instances!
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Chris Blackden 05/07/2021 - 7 min. read

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about ExifTool

Exiftool is a huge tool with tons of options. Learn, with examples, how to use exiftool from top to bottom in this ultimate guide.
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Chris Blackden 03/02/2021 - 23 min. read

The Ultimate Guide to Windows Subsystem for Linux (Windows WSL)

Learn how to natively work within Linux on Windows 10 with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL in Windows) in this HUGE guide!
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Chris Blackden 02/02/2021 - 14 min. read

Install Windows Terminal and Unleash the Console [Guide]

Get a hands-on demonstration on how to install Windows Terminal and a great overview of all of its features in this handy article.
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Chris Blackden 07/08/2020 - 15 min. read

How to Connect to Azure SQL Database

Learn to connect to Azure SQL Database and be comfortable using it either with or instead of a traditional SQL Server installation.
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Chris Blackden 09/03/2019 - 6 min. read

Getting Started with Terraform Windows and Terraform EC2

In the infrastructure as code (IaC) space, one of the most useful tools to come out in the last several years is HashiCorp's Terraform Windows. The ability to version infrastructure, automate the provisioning of resources, and execute across different cloud vendors is huge for any DevOps and automation workflows.

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Chris Blackden 08/14/2019 - 8 min. read