Learning PowerShell

__Learning PowerShell__ is a custom-built, handcrafted, painstakingly curated book designed to get you from total PowerShell newbie to confident PowerShell user in as little as four weeks. This book assumes no prior knowledge, perfect for non-developers and GUI addicts who recognize that PowerShell is the future but need a good bit of handholding to achieve mastery. It is also a simple guide for the hundreds of thousands of PowerShell users who have not attained the level of PowerShell knowledge that they really need. With __Learning PowerShell__ at your side, you will see that you don't have to be a developer to use PowerShell and you don't need to be a scripting wizard to derive value from integrating PowerShell into your daily administrative activities. The book is a learning resource that covers every topic worth discussing for a PowerShell beginner, with a depth of explanation unparalleled by any book currently on the market. With this book, you don't have to have a lot of time to learn the language and you can begin applying what you master almost immediately. Even skeptics of PowerShell, and command lines in general, will come away with a renewed sense of respect for the language and ideas on how to put it to use. * Will make even the skeptics of PowerShell love the language and gain powerful new skills * The author learned PowerShell the hard way, buying every resource possible and wasting hours on the web--he understands the needs of the user. Contents Chapter 1: Getting Started and Setting Up Valid Platforms and Versions Two Important PowerShell Tools The PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) The Windows PowerShell Console The Last Word Chapter 2: The Basics of PowerShell Some Terminology and Definitions A Little about Aliases PowerShell Command Components Knowing Which Commands to Use and How to Use Them: Getting Help Looking for Help With an Idea or Concept Full, Unrestrained, Painstakingly Detailed Help A Little Interactive Handholding: Show-Command Understanding Error Messages Always Use Protection: Stopping You from Hurting Yourself The Last Word Chapter 3: The PowerShell Pipeline Introducing the Pipeline Piping to the Screen and to Files To the Screen: Out-Host To Files: Out-File To Printers: Out-Printer Importing and Exporting Data for PowerShell to Work With Importing from Comma-Separated Values (CSV) Files Exporting to Comma-Separated Values (CSV) Files Converting Content The Last Word Chapter 4: PowerShell Providers, Modules, and Snap-ins Introducing Providers How Providers Work Provider Capabilities and Drives Items Differences in Providers Matter A Provider Example: The Registry Introducing Modules and Snap-ins Modules Snap-ins About Management Shells Your Profile: Your Favorite Snap-Ins and Modules, Automatically Loaded The Last Word Chapter 5: The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Objects What Is an Object? Properties and Methods Objects and the Pipeline Inspecting an Object’s Properties and Methods Manipulating Objects Limiting or Selecting Sorting Remembering What Kinds of Objects are in the Pipeline The Last Word Chapter 6: Filtering and Limiting Introducing Where-Object The Syntax for Where-Object Using the Where-Object Goods Getting Lists and Filtering on Them Filtering, in a Pragmatic Sense Another Example of Objects and Filtering Further Exploration The Last Word Chapter 7: Creating Simple Scripts Introducing Scripts in PowerShell Making Scripts Useful, Phase 1: Variables Making Scripts Useful, Phase 2: If/Then, Do While, and ForEach The If/Then Construct Do While Constructs The ForEach Construct Putting It All Together: Scripts to Accomplish Something Useful Method 1 Method 2 A Simple Backup Strategy for Smaller Exchange Environments Clearing the Requests The Last Word Chapter 8: More Work with Objects Comparing Two Objects Looking at Compare-Object Another Example Selecting Objects Selecting a Certain Number of Objects Selecting Certain Properties Grouping Objects with Common Characteristics Hash Tables PowerShell in the Real World: Grouping and Comparing Objects The Last Word Chapter 9: To the Many, To the Few - PowerShell Remoting Introducing Remoting How Remoting Works Enabling PowerShell Remoting Remoting to One Computer at a Time Remoting to Many Computers at a Time Specifying a Script File Instead of a Command Specifying a Separate List of Computers The Caveats When Using Remote Commands The Last Word Chapter 10: Useful PowerShell Tools Dell PowerGUI SAPIEN Technologies PowerShell Studio 2015 Amazon AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell Microsoft Script Browser for Windows PowerShell ISE Adam Driscoll’s PowerShell Tools for Visual Studio Microsoft Windows PowerShell Web Access, via Control Panel PowerShell Training via the Microsoft Virtual Academy Master-PowerShell, an eBook from Dr. Tobias Weltner VMware vSphere PowerCLI The Last Word Chapter 11: Using PowerShell to Manage Office 365 Create a Script to Open a PowerShell Session to Office 365 Assign Rights to Mailboxes Converting Regular Mailboxes to Shared Mailboxes Obtaining Last Logon Times for Office 365 Accounts Onboarding a List of New Users to Your Office 365 Tenant Lock Down and Configure Sharing on a SharePoint Online Tenant Examining Who Has External Access to a SharePoint Online Site Add and Remove People from Mailing Lists (Distribution Groups) Performing a Mass Password Change Place All Mailboxes on Litigation Hold The Last Word Chapter 12: Desired State Configuration Understanding Desired State Configuration The Push and Pull Architectures Understanding Idempotence Desired State Configuration Resources The Desired State Configuration Syntax The Last Word Chapter 13: Common Administrative Tasks with PowerShell Adding Users Deleting Dangerous Content from Exchange Mailboxes Elegantly Handling Departed Employees and Memberships Create a New CSV File and Populate It with Data Easily Connect to Office 365 from Your Hybrid Deployment Appendix X: Quick Cheat Sheet of PowerShell Verbs Index This text teaches PowerShell--readers won't just look up commands one at a time. Readers will learn to add Exchange mailboxes; and to run the same command on ten domain controllers. Without any prior knowledge, this book covers every topic worth covering with a depth of explanation unparalleled by any book on the market.