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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