Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, Third Edition is an innovative tutorial designed for …
Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, Third Edition is an innovative tutorial designed for busy IT professionals. This updated edition covers PowerShell features that run on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and later, PowerShell v3 and later, and includes v5 features like PowerShellGet.
PowerShell is both a scripting language and an administrative shell that lets you control and automate nearly every aspect of Windows. It accepts and executes commands interactively and you can write scripts to manage most Windows servers like Exchange, IIS, and SharePoint, as well as online services like Azure and Office 365.
Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, Third Edition is an innovative tutorial designed for busy IT professionals. Just set aside one hour a day - lunchtime would be perfect - for a month, and you'll be automating Windows tasks faster than you ever thought possible. This updated edition covers PowerShell features that run on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and later, PowerShell v3 and later, and includes v5 features like PowerShellGet.
Inside:Ch 1. Before you begin
Why you can’t afford to ignore PowerShell
How to use this book
Installing Windows PowerShell
Ch 2. Meet PowerShell
Choose your weapon
It’s typing class all over again
Ch 3. Using the help system
The help system: how you discover commands
Asking for help
Interpreting the help
Parameter values
Accessing “about” topics
Ch 4. Running commands
Not scripting, but running commands
The cmdlet naming convention
Taking shortcuts
Support for external commands
Dealing with errors
Ch 5. Working with providers
What are providers?
Understanding how the filesystem is like other data stores
Ch 6. The pipeline: connecting commands
Connecting one command to another: less work for you
Comparing files
Piping to a file or a printer
Using cmdlets that modify the system: killing processes and stopping services
Ch 7. Adding commands
How one shell can do everything
Extensions: finding and adding snap-ins
Command conflicts and removing extensions
Getting modules from the internet
Ch 8. Objects: data by another name
What are objects?
Discovering objects: Get-Member
Sorting objects
Objects until the end
Ch 9. The pipeline, deeper
The pipeline: enabling power with less typing
Plan B: pipeline input ByPropertyName
Parenthetical commands
Lab
Ch 10. Formatting—and why it’s done on the right
Formatting: making what you see prettier
Formatting tables
Going out: to a file, a printer, or the host
Ch 11. Filtering and comparisons
Making the shell give you just what you need
Filtering objects out of the pipeline
Common points of confusion
Ch 12. A practical interlude
Defining the task
Ch 13. Remote control: one-to-one, and one-to-many
The idea behind remote PowerShell
WinRM overview
Using Enter-PSSession and Exit-PSSession for one-to-one remoting
Using Invoke-Command for one-to-many remoting
Differences between remote and local commands
But wait, there’s more
Ch 14. Using Windows Management Instrumentation and CIM
WMI essentials
The bad news about WMI
Using Get-WmiObject
Using Get-CimInstance
Ch 15. Multitasking with background jobs
Making PowerShell do multiple things at the same time
WMI, as a job
Working with child jobs
Ch 16. Working with many objects, one at a time
Automation for mass management
The CIM/WMI way: invoking methods
The backup plan: enumerating objects
Common points of confusion
Ch 17. Security alert!
Keeping the shell secure
Execution policy and code signing
Other security measures
Ch 18. Variables: a place to store your stuff
Introduction to variables
Using variables: fun tricks with quotes
Storing many objects in a variable
More tricks with double quotes
Commands for working with variables
Ch 19. Input and output
Prompting for, and displaying, information
Write-Host
Ch 20. Sessions: remote control with less work
Making PowerShell remoting a bit easier
Using sessions with Enter-PSSession
Using disconnected sessions
Ch 21. You call this scripting?
Not programming, more like batch files
Creating a parameterized script
A quick look at scope
Ch 22. Improving your parameterized script
Starting point
Validating parameter input
Ch 23. Advanced remoting configuration
Using other endpoints
Enabling multihop remoting
Ch 24. Using regular expressions to parse text files
The purpose of regular expressions
Using regex with -Match
Ch 25. Additional random tips, tricks, and
Profiles, prompts, and colors: customizing the shell
Operators: -as, -is, -replace, -join, -split, -in, -contains
Date manipulation
Ch 26. Using someone else’s script
The script
It’s a line-by-line examination
Ch 27. Never the end
Ideas for further exploration
Ch 28. PowerShell cheat sheet
Punctuation
Help file
Pipeline parameter input