Search icon CANCEL
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Conferences
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Getting Started with Powershell
Getting Started with Powershell

Getting Started with Powershell: Learn the fundamentals of PowerShell to build reusable scripts and functions to automate administrative tasks with Windows

Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Michael Shepard
Arrow right icon
$19.99 per month
Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 1 (1 Ratings)
Paperback Aug 2015 180 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$43.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Michael Shepard
Arrow right icon
$19.99 per month
Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 1 (1 Ratings)
Paperback Aug 2015 180 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$43.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$43.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Getting Started with Powershell

Chapter 2. Building Blocks

Even though books, videos, and the Internet can be helpful in your efforts to learn PowerShell, you will find that your greatest ally in this quest is PowerShell itself. In this chapter, we will look at two fundamental weapons in any PowerShell scripter's arsenal, the Get-Command and Get-Help cmdlets. The topics covered in this chapter include the following:

  • Finding commands using Get-Command
  • Finding commands using tab completion
  • Using Get-Help to understand cmdlets
  • Interpreting the command syntax

What can you do?

You saw in the previous chapter that you are able to run standard command-line programs in PowerShell and that there are aliases defined for some cmdlets that allow you to use the names of commands that you are used to from other shells. Other than these, what can you use? How do you know which commands, cmdlets, and aliases are available?

The answer is the first of the big three cmdlets, the Get-Command cmdlet. Simply executing Get-Command with no parameters displays a list of all the entities that PowerShell considers to be executable. This includes programs in the path (the environment variable), cmdlets, functions, scripts, and aliases.

What can you do?

This list of commands is long and gets longer with each new operating system and PowerShell release. To count the output, we can use this command:

Get-Command | Measure-Object

The output of this command is as follows:

What can you do?

Tip

The pipe character (|) tells PowerShell to use the output of the command on the left of the pipe as the input of the...

The scripter's secret weapon – tab completion

Although Get-Command is a great way to find cmdlets, the truth is that the PowerShell cmdlet names are very predictable. In fact, they're so predictable that after you've been using PowerShell for a while you won't probably turn to Get-Command very often. After you've found the noun or the set of nouns that you're working with, the powerful tab completion found in both the PowerShell console and the ISE will allow you to enter just a part of the command and press tab to cycle through the list of commands that match what you have entered. For instance, in keeping with our examples dealing with services, you could enter *-Service at the command line and press tab. You would first see Get-Service, followed by the rest of the items in the previous screenshot as you hit tab. Tab completion is a huge benefit for your scripting productivity for several reasons, such as:

  • You get the suggestions where you need them...

How does that work?

Knowing what commands you can execute is a big step, but it doesn't help much if you don't know how you can use them. Again, PowerShell is here to help you. To see a quick hint of how to use a cmdlet, write the cmdlet name followed by -?. The beginning of this output for Get-Service is shown as follows:

How does that work?

Even this brief help, which was truncated to fit on the page, shows a brief synopsis of the cmdlet and the syntax to call it, including the possible parameters and their types. The rest of the display shows a longer description of the cmdlet, a list of the related topics, and some instructions about getting more help about Get-Service:

How does that work?

In the Remarks section, we can see that there's a cmdlet called Get-Help (the second of the "big 3" cmdlets) that allows us to view more extensive help in PowerShell. The first type of extra help we can see is the examples. The example output begins with the name and synopsis of the cmdlet and is followed, in the...

Interpreting the cmdlet syntax

The syntax section of the cmdlet help can be overwhelming at first, so let's drill into it a bit and try to understand it in detail. I will use the get-service cmdlet for an example, but the principles are same for any cmdlet:

Interpreting the cmdlet syntax

The first thing to notice is that there are three different get-service calls illustrated here. They correspond to the PowerShell concept of ParameterSets, but you can think of them as different use cases for the cmdlet. Each ParameterSet, or use case will have at least one unique parameter. In this case, the first includes the –Name parameter, the second includes –DisplayName, and the third has the –InputObject parameter.

Each ParameterSet lists the parameters that can be used in a particular scenario. The way the parameter is shown in the listing, tells you how the parameter can be used. For instance, [[-Name] <String[]>] means that the name parameter has the following attributes:

  • It is optional (because...

Summary

This chapter dealt with the first two of the "big three" cmdlets for learning PowerShell, get-Command and get-Help. These two cmdlets allow you to find out which commands are available and how to use them. In the next chapter, we will finish the "big 3" with the get-member cmdlet that will help us to figure out what to do with the output we receive.

What can you do?


You saw in the previous chapter that you are able to run standard command-line programs in PowerShell and that there are aliases defined for some cmdlets that allow you to use the names of commands that you are used to from other shells. Other than these, what can you use? How do you know which commands, cmdlets, and aliases are available?

The answer is the first of the big three cmdlets, the Get-Command cmdlet. Simply executing Get-Command with no parameters displays a list of all the entities that PowerShell considers to be executable. This includes programs in the path (the environment variable), cmdlets, functions, scripts, and aliases.

This list of commands is long and gets longer with each new operating system and PowerShell release. To count the output, we can use this command:

Get-Command | Measure-Object

The output of this command is as follows:

Tip

The pipe character (|) tells PowerShell to use the output of the command on the left of the pipe as the input of the command...

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Description

Windows PowerShell is a task-based command-line shell and scripting language designed specifically for system administration. Built on the .NET Framework, Windows PowerShell helps IT professionals and power users control and automate the administration of the Windows operating system and applications that run on Windows. PowerShell is great for batch importing or deleting large sets of user accounts and will let you collect a massive amount of detailed system information in bulk via WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation). Getting Started with PowerShell is designed to help you get up and running with PowerShell, taking you from the basics of installation, to writing scripts and web server automation. This book, as an introduction to the central topics of PowerShell, covers finding and understanding PowerShell commands and packaging code for reusability, right through to a practical example of automating IIS. It also includes topics such as installation and setup, creating scripts, automating tasks, and using Powershell to access data stores, registry, and file systems. You will explore the PowerShell environment and discover how to use cmdlets, functions, and scripts to automate Windows systems. Along the way, you will learn to perform data manipulation and solve common problems using basic file input/output functions. By the end of this book, you will be familiar with PowerShell and be able to utilize the lessons learned from the book to automate your servers.

Who is this book for?

This book is intended for Windows administrators or DevOps users who need to use PowerShell to automate tasks. Whether you know nothing about PowerShell or know just enough to get by, this guide will give you what you need to go to take your scripting to the next level.

What you will learn

  • Learn to verify your installed version of PowerShell, upgrade it, and start a PowerShell session using the ISE
  • Discover PowerShell commands and cmdlets and understand PowerShell formatting
  • Use the PowerShell help system to understand what particular cmdlets do
  • Utilise the pipeline to perform typical data manipulation
  • Package your code in scripts, functions, and modules
  • Solve common problems using basic file input/output functions
  • Find system information with WMI and CIM
  • Automate IIS functionality and manage it using the WebAdministration module

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Aug 27, 2015
Length: 180 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783558506
Languages :
Tools :

What do you get with a Packt Subscription?

Free for first 7 days. $19.99 p/m after that. Cancel any time!
Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
Subscribe now
View plans & pricing

Product Details

Publication date : Aug 27, 2015
Length: 180 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783558506
Languages :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 147.97
Getting Started with Powershell
$43.99
Mastering Windows PowerShell Scripting
$54.99
Active Directory with PowerShell
$48.99
Total $ 147.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

13 Chapters
1. First Steps Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Building Blocks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Objects and PowerShell Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Life on the Assembly Line Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Formatting Output Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Scripts Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Functions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Modules Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. File I/O Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. WMI and CIM Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
11. Web Server Administration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
A. Next Steps Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 1
(1 Ratings)
5 star 0%
4 star 0%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 100%
Kevin Kleinfelter Jun 30, 2018
Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 1
Kindle edition is abysmal. It says things like "Code will look like this" or "errors will look like that", and the font doesn't change. It says "here is an example", and there is no example. Maybe the dead tree edition is better, but the electronic edition needs another pass through proof reading. I'm going to make a note not to buy other e-books from Packt publishing, on their apparent failure at proof-reading their e-books.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is included in a Packt subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

A subscription provides you with full access to view all Packt and licnesed content online, this includes exclusive access to Early Access titles. Depending on the tier chosen you can also earn credits and discounts to use for owning content

How can I cancel my subscription? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

To cancel your subscription with us simply go to the account page - found in the top right of the page or at https://subscription.packtpub.com/my-account/subscription - From here you will see the ‘cancel subscription’ button in the grey box with your subscription information in.

What are credits? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Credits can be earned from reading 40 section of any title within the payment cycle - a month starting from the day of subscription payment. You also earn a Credit every month if you subscribe to our annual or 18 month plans. Credits can be used to buy books DRM free, the same way that you would pay for a book. Your credits can be found in the subscription homepage - subscription.packtpub.com - clicking on ‘the my’ library dropdown and selecting ‘credits’.

What happens if an Early Access Course is cancelled? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Projects are rarely cancelled, but sometimes it's unavoidable. If an Early Access course is cancelled or excessively delayed, you can exchange your purchase for another course. For further details, please contact us here.

Where can I send feedback about an Early Access title? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

If you have any feedback about the product you're reading, or Early Access in general, then please fill out a contact form here and we'll make sure the feedback gets to the right team. 

Can I download the code files for Early Access titles? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We try to ensure that all books in Early Access have code available to use, download, and fork on GitHub. This helps us be more agile in the development of the book, and helps keep the often changing code base of new versions and new technologies as up to date as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be rare cases when it is not possible for us to have downloadable code samples available until publication.

When we publish the book, the code files will also be available to download from the Packt website.

How accurate is the publication date? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The publication date is as accurate as we can be at any point in the project. Unfortunately, delays can happen. Often those delays are out of our control, such as changes to the technology code base or delays in the tech release. We do our best to give you an accurate estimate of the publication date at any given time, and as more chapters are delivered, the more accurate the delivery date will become.

How will I know when new chapters are ready? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

We'll let you know every time there has been an update to a course that you've bought in Early Access. You'll get an email to let you know there has been a new chapter, or a change to a previous chapter. The new chapters are automatically added to your account, so you can also check back there any time you're ready and download or read them online.

I am a Packt subscriber, do I get Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Yes, all Early Access content is fully available through your subscription. You will need to have a paid for or active trial subscription in order to access all titles.

How is Early Access delivered? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is currently only available as a PDF or through our online reader. As we make changes or add new chapters, the files in your Packt account will be updated so you can download them again or view them online immediately.

How do I buy Early Access content? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Early Access is a way of us getting our content to you quicker, but the method of buying the Early Access course is still the same. Just find the course you want to buy, go through the check-out steps, and you’ll get a confirmation email from us with information and a link to the relevant Early Access courses.

What is Early Access? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Keeping up to date with the latest technology is difficult; new versions, new frameworks, new techniques. This feature gives you a head-start to our content, as it's being created. With Early Access you'll receive each chapter as it's written, and get regular updates throughout the product's development, as well as the final course as soon as it's ready.We created Early Access as a means of giving you the information you need, as soon as it's available. As we go through the process of developing a course, 99% of it can be ready but we can't publish until that last 1% falls in to place. Early Access helps to unlock the potential of our content early, to help you start your learning when you need it most. You not only get access to every chapter as it's delivered, edited, and updated, but you'll also get the finalized, DRM-free product to download in any format you want when it's published. As a member of Packt, you'll also be eligible for our exclusive offers, including a free course every day, and discounts on new and popular titles.