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Generating secure signed licenses using C# and Standard.Licensing

When it comes to licensing software that is installed on an end user’s device, one of the most secure approaches that we can take as software developers, is to generate and subsequently validate a digitally signed license. With this approach, a cryptographically secure public/private key pair is created that is specific to the software being…

Base64 URL encoding using C#

InProgramming Web

Base64 is an encoding scheme that allows binary data to be converted to text and back again. It is useful in a wide variety of scenarios and makes it easier to transfer and store data in many cases. This is especially true in a web context where everything tends to be based on text content…

Using NCache as your distributed ASP.NET Core caching store

InProgramming

NCache is an open-source, in-memory, distributed cache written in .NET and usable by several different languages and frameworks. A distributed cache pools together memory from one or more servers into a single data store that can be accessed from a consuming application that is typically hosted on another server. The cache can be used to…

.NET Error – The request was aborted: Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel.

InSecurity

When using a .NET application that communicates with a web server, you may encounter the following error. The request was aborted: Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel. This exception message typically indicates that a secure channel could not be created due to the client application failing to specify a cryptographic protocol that is supported by…

Send a Mailgun email via PowerShell

InScripting

Mailgun is a popular email delivery service that is built for developers and combines high reliability with scalability. PowerShell is a cross-platform scripting language that allows tasks to be automated on Windows, Linux, and macOS using the power of .NET. When developing PowerShell scripts that are running automatically on a schedule, it’s often useful to…

File backup to network drive using PowerShell

InScripting

When it comes to backing up files, sometimes the simplest option is best. If you’re looking for a quick, straightforward, yet flexible solution for backing up files and folders, a PowerShell script can be a great choice. By creating your own backup script, you can stop relying on third-party programs to do the job for…

How to rename a SQL Server machine

InSQL

Have you ever installed an instance of SQL Server onto a new workstation or server and subsequently realised that you forgot to rename the machine first? In these cases, you’ll likely have installed both SQL Server and SSMS (SQL Server Management Studio). After launching SSMS you happen to notice that the ‘Server name’ field is…

Back for seconds: Practical Cake build automation tasks

InScripting

Cake (C# Make) provides a wonderfully straightforward and extensible means of automating your software builds. In my previous article, I provided some background on what Cake is and how to get started with it. I walked through how to set up Cake on your system and how to create and run your first build script….

Software build automation sweetness: Getting started with Cake

InScripting

Fancy some Cake? While cakes in all their forms are usually a delicious treat, the Cake I’m referring to is a build automation system written in C#. Nonetheless, if you haven’t used Cake before I’m sure you’ll find it just as sweet an experience! Let’s dive right in with a definition of Cake, taken from…

How to generate a cryptographically secure random string in .NET with C#

InProgramming Security

Security is an implicit requirement in practically every software application. As a software developer, it is very important to be aware of the security implications of any code that you write, ensuring that you are protecting users and their data. Many applications need to make use of secure random strings for various purposes. One of…

Generating secure signed licenses using C# and Standard.Licensing

Base64 URL encoding using C#

Using NCache as your distributed ASP.NET Core caching store

.NET Error – The request was aborted: Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel.

Send a Mailgun email via PowerShell

File backup to network drive using PowerShell

How to rename a SQL Server machine

Back for seconds: Practical Cake build automation tasks

Software build automation sweetness: Getting started with Cake

How to generate a cryptographically secure random string in .NET with C#

How to publish a .NET application as a standalone executable file

Encrypt directories and file names within a zip archive using 7-Zip

Speaking IT: Bridging the Language Gap for Tech Pros and Non-Tech Folks