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Windows PowerShell for .NET Developers - Second Edition
Windows PowerShell for .NET Developers - Second Edition

Windows PowerShell for .NET Developers - Second Edition: Efficiently administer and maintain your development environment with Windows PowerShell , Second Edition

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Profile Icon Chendrayan Venkatesan Profile Icon Talaat
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Paperback Oct 2015 330 pages 2nd Edition
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€8.99 €34.99
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Profile Icon Chendrayan Venkatesan Profile Icon Talaat
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Paperback Oct 2015 330 pages 2nd Edition
eBook
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Paperback
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Windows PowerShell for .NET Developers - Second Edition

Chapter 2. Unleashing Development Skills Using Windows PowerShell 5.0

Windows PowerShell 5.0 is a dynamic and object-oriented scripting language. Compared to any other scripting language, it provides more benefits, such as reliability, security, managed code environments, and so on. Windows PowerShell has a strong connection with Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), Common Information Model (CIM), Extensible Markup Language (XML), and so on. Using this, we can develop solutions to automate our tasks.

PowerShell has the ability to manage different technologies. Using the PowerShell API, we can manage custom-built applications as well.

In this section, we will cover the following topics:

  • Basics of WMI and CIM
  • Exploring the XML and COM automation
  • Exploring .NET objects for admins and development tasks
  • Building advanced scripts and modules
  • An insight into Windows PowerShell 5.0
  • Script debugging

Basics of WMI and CIM

WMI—Windows Management Instrumentation—is the Microsoft implementation of WBEM—Web Based Enterprise Management—which allows us to access management information from any environment. PowerShell makes access to WMI easy and consistently deliverable using an object-based technique.

Let's explore a few PowerShell cmdlets of WMI.

WMI is a part of the Microsoft.PowerShell.Management module. You can run the following command to explore the WMI cmdlets:

Get-Command -Module Microsoft.PowerShell.Management -Name '*WMI*'

The output is illustrated in the following image:

Basics of WMI and CIM

There are many tools available to explore all the WMI classes available in the WMI repository. You can use the following links to do so:

https://wmie.codeplex.com/

https://www.sapien.com/software/wmiexplorer

Using these tools, we can explore and view the classes, instances, properties, and qualifiers easily. It's a GUI tool, so it makes our job easy as well. As we...

Working with XML and COM

We explored the basics of WMI and CIM; and yes, that was just the basics. After completing the XML topic, we will discuss cmdlet definition XML (CDXML), which is used to map the PowerShell cmdlets, and the CIM class operations or methods.

I have seen most developers create XML files using Visual Studio and use some tools to compare XML. It's not a wrong method, but we have a much more convenient way to play with XML using PowerShell.

XML is the type accelerator for System.Xml.Document.

Note

To explore all the type accelerators in Windows PowerShell, use the following code:

[psobject].Assembly.GetType("System.Management.Automation.TypeAccelerators")::get

Let's take a look at the basic structure of an XML document:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Custom>
<Computers>
  <Manufacturers>Fujitsu</Manufacturers>
  <Model>Lifebook S 700 Series</Model>
</Computers>
<Computers&gt...

Exploring .NET objects

An object is nothing but a combination of methods and properties in PowerShell. Using Windows PowerShell, we can store a reference to an object to a variable and use it in the current shell as required.

We discussed in Chapter 1, Getting Started with Windows PowerShell that PowerShell takes advantage of the underlying .NET framework. So, the objects are a representation of the parts and actions to use it. An object is a combination of the properties and methods (Objects = Properties + Methods).

For example, a Windows service object has properties and methods. The properties are Get and Set, and the methods are invoked to perform a meaningful operation.

Consider the following image:

Exploring .NET objects

Creating .NET objects

We have discussed objects in a few of the preceding examples as well. In this section, we will explore the .NET objects in PowerShell. In order to create a .NET object, we will use the same New-Object cmdlet, but instead of the COM object, we will use different types of...

Exploring Windows PowerShell 5.0

In this section, we will cover the following topics:

  • Basics of Desired State Configuration
  • Parsing structured objects using PowerShell
  • Exploring Package Management
  • Exploring PowerShellGet
  • Exploring other enhanced features

Windows PowerShell 5.0 has many significant benefits; to know more about them, refer to the following link:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=512808

Here are a few highlights of Windows PowerShell 5.0:

  • Improved usability
  • Backward compatibility
  • Class and enum keywords are introduced
  • Parsing structured objects is easy using the ConvertFrom-String command
  • We have a few new modules introduced in Windows PowerShell 5.0, such as Archive, Package Management (formerly known as OneGet), and so on
  • ISE supports transcriptions
  • Using PowerShellGet, we can find, install, and publish modules
  • Debugging at runspace is possible using the Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility module

The basics of Desired State Configuration

Desired State Configuration, also known as DSC, is...

Understanding PowerShell modules

Windows PowerShell modules present a simple way to organize and package our script so as to make it distributable and reusable.

In this section, we will cover the following topics:

  • What is a module?
  • Script modules
  • Binary modules
  • Manifest modules
  • Dynamic modules

Introduction to modules

Windows PowerShell can be created dynamically or persisted to our disk. While discussing PowerShell modules, for a moment I thought about the old-style snap-ins in PowerShell version 1.0, which still exist. Yeah! SharePoint still has snap-ins and not modules.

Snap-ins only contain cmdlets and providers, whereas in modules, we can have functions, variables, aliases, and PowerShell drives.

Before we create a module, we need to know what a module should deliver and where it should be placed. Use this code to find the module path:

$env:PSModulePath -split ';'

You will see two different paths, where one is the system location and the other is the user profile location, as follows...

Basics of WMI and CIM


WMI—Windows Management Instrumentation—is the Microsoft implementation of WBEM—Web Based Enterprise Management—which allows us to access management information from any environment. PowerShell makes access to WMI easy and consistently deliverable using an object-based technique.

Let's explore a few PowerShell cmdlets of WMI.

WMI is a part of the Microsoft.PowerShell.Management module. You can run the following command to explore the WMI cmdlets:

Get-Command -Module Microsoft.PowerShell.Management -Name '*WMI*'

The output is illustrated in the following image:

There are many tools available to explore all the WMI classes available in the WMI repository. You can use the following links to do so:

https://wmie.codeplex.com/

https://www.sapien.com/software/wmiexplorer

Using these tools, we can explore and view the classes, instances, properties, and qualifiers easily. It's a GUI tool, so it makes our job easy as well. As we are focusing more on PowerShell, let's do it the...

Working with XML and COM


We explored the basics of WMI and CIM; and yes, that was just the basics. After completing the XML topic, we will discuss cmdlet definition XML (CDXML), which is used to map the PowerShell cmdlets, and the CIM class operations or methods.

I have seen most developers create XML files using Visual Studio and use some tools to compare XML. It's not a wrong method, but we have a much more convenient way to play with XML using PowerShell.

XML is the type accelerator for System.Xml.Document.

Note

To explore all the type accelerators in Windows PowerShell, use the following code:

[psobject].Assembly.GetType("System.Management.Automation.TypeAccelerators")::get

Let's take a look at the basic structure of an XML document:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Custom>
<Computers>
  <Manufacturers>Fujitsu</Manufacturers>
  <Model>Lifebook S 700 Series</Model>
</Computers>
<Computers>
  <Manufacturers>Fujitsu</Manufacturers...
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Key benefits

  • Explore scripting and automation techniques with Windows PowerShell
  • Gain concrete knowledge of Windows PowerShell scripting to perform professional level scripting
  • Discover the benefits of the Configuration Management Platform with this step-by-step guide that includes real-world scripting examples

Description

Windows PowerShell 5.0 for .NET Developers is your self-start guide to performing automation using Windows PowerShell. This book will help you to understand the PowerShell syntax and grammar and will also teach you techniques to remove the rough edges of manual deployments. Packed with PowerShell scripts and sample C# codes to automate tasks, it also includes real-world scenarios such as administrating office servers to help you save time and perform deployments swiftly and efficiently. The book begins with the Windows PowerShell basics, explores the significant features of Windows Management Framework 5.0, covers the basic concepts of Desired State Configuration and the importance of idempotent deployments. By the end of the book, you will have a good understanding of Windows PowerShell’s features and will be able to automate your tasks and manage configuration effectively.

Who is this book for?

If you are an IT professional or developer who has worked on the .Net platform and you want to learn automation using Windows PowerShell, then this book is for you. This self-start guide takes you from the basics and gradually moves to an intermediate level to show you how to perform professional scripting.

What you will learn

  • Understand the concepts of building PowerShell scripts and the basics of programming
  • Manage the LYNC, Exchange, and SharePoint platforms
  • Create a Pull server using a SMB file share and HTTP and HTTPS
  • Use .NET classes in Windows PowerShell and C# to manage Exchange Online
  • Use PowerShell in C# to manage Exchange Online and work with .NET classes in PowerShell
  • Automate LYNC clients, consuming Client Server Object Models to administrate SharePoint Online

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Oct 27, 2015
Length: 330 pages
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785287435
Vendor :
Microsoft
Tools :

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Product Details

Publication date : Oct 27, 2015
Length: 330 pages
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785287435
Vendor :
Microsoft
Tools :

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Table of Contents

6 Chapters
1. Getting Started with Windows PowerShell Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Unleashing Development Skills Using Windows PowerShell 5.0 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Exploring Desired State Configuration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. PowerShell and Web Technologies Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Exploring Application Programming Interface Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
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