Essential PowerShell - Softcover

Schwichtenberg, Holger

3.2

5 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0672329662 ISBN 13: 9780672329661

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional, 2008

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Use PowerShell to Streamline and Automate Your Most Time-Consuming Windows Administration Tasks

With Windows PowerShell, Microsoft brings innovative console-based system administration and scripting to Windows clients and servers. PowerShell combines the best features of traditional UNIX shells with the immense power of the .NET Framework, offering a consistent and easy-to-use replacement for both the Windows command line and the Windows Script Host. In Essential PowerShell, noted expert Holger Schwichtenberg gives Windows sysadmins all the knowledge and sample scripts they need to successfully administer production systems with PowerShell.

Schwichtenberg begins by introducing the innovative PowerShell architecture, along with crucial PowerShell concepts such as pipelining and navigation. Next, he introduces the PowerShell Script Language, shows the secure execution of command sequences as scripts, and demonstrates how to use PowerShell to access essential operating system interfaces such as COM, WMI, ADSI, and ADO.NET.

After you’ve mastered the fundamentals, Schwichtenberg presents an extensive collection of PowerShell solutions for virtually every area of day-to-day administration. For each topic, he presents dozens of self-contained examples, all downloadable from a companion Web site. He covers both Microsoft’s standard PowerShell commandlets and the free commandlets available as PowerShell Community Extensions. He also presents a full chapter of tips, tricks, and troubleshooting solutions. Coverage includes

Understanding PowerShell’s components and features
Setting up your PowerShell scripting environment
Creating and using commandlets
Using object-oriented pipelining for filtering, sorting, grouping, comparisons, calculations, and more
Mastering PowerShell’s uniform navigation model and using it with all types of data
Programming command sequences with the PowerShell Script Language
Making the most of the PowerShell console and third-party tools
Managing processes, event logs, and registry entries
Controlling networking, printing, and software installation
Manipulating Active Directory and other enterprise services with PowerShell
Using PowerShell to enforce stronger system and network security
Storing data in files, documents, and databases

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About the Author:

Dr. Holger Schwichtenberg holds a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in business informatics, both from the University Duisburg-Essen in Germany. He has had more than ten years experience as a lead developer and trainer. With his company IT-Visions.de, based in Germany, he works as a software architect, technology consultant, and trainer for leading companies throughout Europe. Holger is one of Europe’s well-known experts for .NET and Windows Scripting technologies, recognized by Microsoft as a Most Valuable Professional (MVP), a .NET Code Wise Member, a board member of codezone.de, an MSDN Online Expert, and a speaker for the International .NET Association (INETA). Based on his expertise in software development and the Windows operating system, Holger is one of the experts in the European Union versus Microsoft antitrust case. He has published more than 30 books for Addison-Wesley and Microsoft Press in Germany, in addition to more than 400 journal articles, notably for the IT journals iX, DOTNET Pro, and Windows IT Pro. His community websites www.dotnetframework.de and www.windows-scripting.com are members of the Codezone Premier Website program. Holger regularly speaks at professional conferences (for example, Microsoft TechEd, Microsoft IT Forum, Advanced Developers Conference, OOP, Net.Object Days, Online, BASTA, and DOTNET Conference). Holger can be reached at hs@windows-scripting.com.

Preface

Preface

Windows PowerShell is one of the most amazing products Microsoft has released in recent years, because it brings console-based system administration and scripting to the next level of abstraction. PowerShell is an excellent replacement for classic Windows shell commands and for Windows Script Host (WSH). PowerShell copies a lot of good features from UNIX shells and combines them with the power of the .NET Framework. In contrast to WSH, PowerShell enables consistent, straightforward, command-line system administration that does not require much software development knowledge.

Unfortunately, in the first version of PowerShell, the number of high-level commands is limited. For many tasks, lower-level concepts are required, especially the .NET Framework and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

What Does This Book Cover?

This book covers the standard PowerShell commandlets, additional free commandlets (e.g., PowerShell Community Extensions), and the direct use of classes from the .NET Framework, the Component Object Model (COM), WMI, and the Active Directory Service Interface (ADSI).

Because PowerShell is an extensive topic, this book cannot provide an exhaustive reference of all PowerShell commands and solutions for all possible administrative tasks. However, you will find a concise introduction to the most common command and scenarios. For more detailed information about PowerShell, refer to the Microsoft documentation for PowerShell, WMI, ADSI, and the .NET Framework (approximately 100.000 pages) as an additional source.

Who Should Read This Book?

The primary target audience comprises Windows administrators seeking a method of automated system administration that is more powerful than the classic Windows Shell but less complex than WSH and the associated COM components. After reading this book, administrators will be able to use PowerShell as their day-to-day command-line interface for all administrative tasks.

As a prerequisite, aside a good knowledge of the Windows operation system, you should have a basic understanding of object-oriented programming languages. Basic concepts of object orientation such as classes, objects, attributes, and methods are not explained in this book.

How This Book Is Structured

This book is organized into 24 chapters, some of which, based on your previous experience and knowledge of certain concepts, you might find easier to understand than others. The 24 chapters are split into 2 parts:

Part I: Getting Started with PowerShell. Part I introduces the PowerShell architecture, all basic concepts (such as pipelining and navigation), the PowerShell Script Language, and the tools you should know.
Part II: PowerShell in Action. Part II covers PowerShell script solutions for day-to-day administrative tasks related to Windows services and Windows application, such as file system, processes, event logs, registry, networking, printers, documents, databases, Active Directory, and software installation. Each chapter contains dozens of self-contained examples.

The appendixes contain a list of all commandlets from PowerShell 1.0, the PowerShell Community Extensions 1.1.1, and the http://www.IT-Visions.de PowerShell Extensions 2.0. You will also find a short preview of the next version of Windows PowerShell (Version 2.0).

This Book's Website

Many of the scripts are available for download from http://www.powershell24.com. This website also contains errata for this book and the option to offer feedback to the author.

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