Pro Windows PowerShell (Pro)

Windows power users have always envied their friends running UNIX machines for the ease of automation that they enjoy. The traditional Windows command-line shell, cmd.exe, has never been up to par with shells like bash or tcsh, especially when it comes to text processing and process automation. Windows PowerShell changes all that. This next-generation shell is also a full-blown scripting environment with a real programming language that allows users to access every part of their operating system. Files, registry entries, and COM and .NET objects are all supported by PowerShell, which makes manipulating them a breeze.

Windows power users have always envied their friends running UNIX machines for the ease of automation that they enjoy. The traditional Windows command–line shell, cmd.exe, has never been up to par with shells like bash or tcsh, especially when it comes to text processing and process automation.

Windows PowerShell changes all that. This next–generation shell is also a full–blown scripting environment with a real programming language that allows users to access every part of their operating system. Files, registry entries, and COM and .NET objects are all supported by PowerShell, which makes manipulating them a breeze.

Pro Windows PowerShell will show you how to use all this power in your own work. You’ll discover the object–oriented features of the shell and how they help in extracting and manipulating data. You’ll then learn how to use those features to solve real–world problems: manipulating files, working with text, monitoring systems, and performing operations over the network. The book serves as not only a tutorial, but also a reference: the “Real World” part is structured so that it can be read nonlinearly and used as a reference or a cookbook. And you’ll find freely available tools and extensions that will help you do things even faster.

Pro Windows PowerShell is your best companion to the capabilities and power that PowerShell offers you.

What you’ll learn

• See how to solve real problems with Windows PowerShell using a repository of working code
• Get a sense of “the big picture,” with PowerShell integrating with the outside world
• Discover examples and techniques when dealing with other programs, the operating system, and the network
• Explore free and open–source tools and extensions that help you get results with Windows PowerShell fast (No other book has this feature!)

Who this book is for

Pro Windows PowerShell is targeted at professionals who handle a lot of repetitive tasks. The goal is to show how PowerShell can help script most of those tasks and reduce their burden. The book contains examples on automating typical system administration tasks: configuration, monitoring, network queries, text manipulation, and file operations. The ideas presented will be beneficial to power users needing a better shell and an automation environment, system and network administrators looking to streamline their daily activities, and software developers wishing to optimize their build and deploy process.

I remember the first time I got to play with Windows PowerShell--I had some spare time on my hands, and after reading a blog post, I quickly set off to download the unofficial pre-release bits that were available at the time. I originally had very low expectations about the tool--all I wanted was a shell that is up to par with its UNIX cousins. Boy, was I wrong! The moment I learned about object pipelines, I knew this tool was going to change the way I think about automating tasks on Windows. Fast forward a couple of months, and here I am, so much in love with Power- Shell that I even wrote a whopping 400-page book about it. Why Another Book on Windows PowerShell? As much as I like PowerShell, its plain-console looks make it very easy for people to dismiss it without really seeing what lies beneath the surface. I feel it is still largely undiscovered--I know many professionals who have yet to try it out. When administrators see PowerShell for the first time, many simply shrug, assuming it's just another version of the primitive command prompt we inherited from DOS. Here is your best companion to the capabilities and power that PowerShell offers. Inside this book, you’ll discover the object-oriented features of the shell and how they help in extracting and manipulating data. You’ll then learn how to use those features to solve real-world problems: manipulating files, working with text, monitoring systems, and performing operations over the network. In addition, you’ll find freely available tools and extensions that help you get results with Windows PowerShell fast. Résumé : A guide to using Windows PowerShell to script Windows administrative tasks and control Windows from the command line