Windows PowerShell in Action, Second Edition [Paperback]

Bruce Payette (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2011 | ISBN-10: 1935182137 | ISBN-13: 978-1935182139 | Edition: Second Edition

Windows PowerShell transformed the way administrators and developers interact with Windows, allowing them to script administrative tasks and control Windows from the command line. It's now a daily timesaver for anyone working with Windows Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server, and other mission-critical tools.

Windows PowerShell in Action, Second Edition shows how to build scripts and utilities to automate system tasks or create powerful system management tools to handle the day-to-day tasks that drive a Windows administrator's life. This updated edition covers PowerShell V2 in detail, with full chapters on remoting, modules, events, and the PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment.

While no prior knowledge of PowerShell is required, the reader should have some amount of scripting or programming experience.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

PowerShell V2 added an enormous number of new features to the product. Similarly, this book represents a major expansion on the first edition. At nearly twice the length of the first book, it provides deep and detailed coverage of PowerShell V2 and its features:

Chapter 1-PowerShell's history and a quick tour of its features.
 
Chapter 2-Foundations of PowerShell - the core concepts underlying the PowerShell language and execution environment.

Chapter 3-An introduction to the PowerShell type system and how it works.

Chapter 4-Operators and expressions including basic arithmetic, comparison and assignment, wildcard and regular expression pattern matching.

Chapter 5-Operations for working with arrays (indexing, slicing) and objects (properties and methods, output redirection, the formatting operator and PowerShell variables.

Chapter 6-PowerShell language constructs like conditional statements and loops.
 
Chapter 7-Basic scripting in PowerShell, introducing functions and variable scoping.

Chapter 8-How to write advanced functions and scripts using parameter metadata, dynamic parameters and how to create in-line help for your functions and scripts.

Chapter 9-Using and authoring PowerShell modules.

Chapter 10-Advanced topics in modules including how modules should be used in a production environment.

Chapter 11-Advanced scripting techniques covering metaprogramming, scriptblocks, dynamic modules and closures.

Chapter 12-PowerShell remoting - the basics of operation and application.

Chapter 13-Remoting in depth covering the protocol stack, custom configurations and constrained service endpoints.

Chapter 14 Error and exception handling.

Chapter 15 The PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment and debugger.
 
Chapter 16-Text processing such as basic string processing, file processing (including handling binary files) and working with XML documents including the use of the new XLinq APIs.

Chapter 17-Leveraging the .NET framework to do network programming and build GUIs in Windows Forms and WPF.

Chapter 18-Using COM to automate Windows features including the task scheduler and applications like Word and Internet Explorer.

Chapter 19-Using WMI and WSMan from the command line and in scripts to inspect, update and manage a Windows system.

Chapter 20-In-depth coverage and application of the PowerShell eventing subsystem.

Chapter 21-Security concepts and best practices for PowerShell

Sample chapters, the appendixes and code for the examples in the book can be downloaded from the Manning website.

About the Author

Bruce Payette is a Princpal Developer in the Manageability group at Microsoft. He is a founding member of the PowerShell team, the author of the PowerShell language interpreter, and one of the designers of the Windows PowerShell language. Bruce has been working on shells and related tools for the past 20 years on a wide variety of operating systems including Unix and Linux.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1016 pages
• Publisher: Manning Publications; Second Edition edition (May 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935182137
• ISBN-13: 978-1935182139
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 2 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Development > C & C++ Windows Programming
  • #94 in Books > Computers & Technology > Home Computing & How-to > Microsoft How-to > Windows OS

More About the Author

Bruce Payette is a founding member of the Windows PowerShell team, the author of the Windows PowerShell language interpreter, and one of key designers of the Windows PowerShell language. He has been working on UNIX shell and utility tools for Windows for the past 15 years at companies like MKS and Softway Systems (now part of Microsoft Services for Unix).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive PowerShell book June 2, 2011

By J. Hofferle

Format:Paperback

This is sort of like Kernighan and Ritchie for PowerShell. Very deep look at how PowerShell works, written by the principal author of the language. Covers everything from the parser to the remoting stack. I would not recommend this to a beginner trying to move beyond the Windows GUI, but the book is great for someone with a programming or scripting background. Light on hand-holding and heavy on gory details.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive detail July 23, 2011

By Ben Fulton

Format:Paperback

Manning was kind enough to send me the eBook version of PowersShell In Action to review. At right around 1000 pages, you certainly couldn't ask for a more detailed book on PowerShell; nor could you ask for a more respected author - Bruce Payette was one of the original designers of the language. His insider knowledge really shows through the book, too. If you're a coder like me, you're probably often found yourself using some new technology and shaking your head in amazement, wondering what the designers possible could have been thinking when they wrote this or that feature.

In the case of PowerShell, you can wonder no more. Almost every controversial design decision that went into the script language is detailed by Mr. Payette; the pros and cons weighed, and the final arguments that tipped the balance in one direction or another are covered. It's extremely handy when you wonder "Why in the world can't I do X?" and then you find that X couldn't possibly work with Y, and you can easily do Y, and Y makes your job easier anyway.

The book is divided into two parts: First, a section on the language itself; loops and operators, data structures, and the basics of editing scripts, and second, what you might call "Real World PowerShell", where the intricacies of interacting with the Windows computer management system, the .Net framework, XML, and a few other things are covered.... Both sections are covered in spectacular detail; it's my recommendation that you not use this book like a cookbook and dig through it trying to find how to accomplish a specific task - although there is an appendix with many common tasks - but instead, read at least the first section from beginning to end to grok the PowerShell mentality, and then read the parts of the second section that have specific application to your work. From the first section you'll pick up subtle details of the language, like the ability to put pipelines in if statements, and your code will be the better for it. Much of the second section won't be relevant to all developers - there's a chapter devoted to COM, for heaven's sake - but learning the details of the parts that are will be time well spent.

Payette has accomplished with this book an encyclopedia of knowledge combined with a sensibly organized and readable structure that allows you to go from one end to the other very easily. You certainly won't need any other PowerShell book on your shelf. Read more ›

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars best book about Powershell May 27, 2011

By Richard Edwards

Format:Paperback

This is the best book about Powershell. It is well written and does a great job of conveying a picture of how all the various parts fit together.

I use this book to learn the environment, and the O'Reilly Powershell Cookbook for examples. They make a good pair.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How to write a script, not just how to copy a script July 17, 2012

By Michael Cornn

Format:Paperback

This is hands-down the best Powershell book out there. What distinguishes this book is that it teaches you *how* to script, not just how to copy snippets of code.
Other Powershell books (other scripting books in general) will just give you loads of examples that you can customize. They'll show you one script to backup files; another to manage event logs; a third to query WMI; and so on. But they never teach *how* or *why* these scripts work.
This book is different. It will teach you all the Powershell commands, of course. And it includes examples listed above. But it will also teach you important scripting techniques. What properties and methods are. When to use a multi-dimensional instead of a hashtable. How to write a script that runs faster and uses less memory. How to write secure scripts and how to handle errors.
To make a good analogy: Other Powershell books are cookbooks. They'll give you step-by-step instructions that you shouldn't ever change. This book is The Joy of Cooking. It will teach you how to make your own recipes.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Have 2nd Edition August 30, 2011

By R. Hill

Format:Paperback

I've had the misfortune of buying a number of Nth edition books that only added marginal amounts of new information. Windows PowerShell in Action, Second Edition is *not* one of those books. This book has been extensively updated to cover Windows PowerShell version 2 which adds many new and important capabilities such as new cmdlets, advanced functions, background jobs, remote command execution, script packaging via modules, better debugging support and improved error handling. Bruce covers the new capabilities in detail and provides pearls of information that only an insider could know. And of course the second edition carries over the excellent treatise on the PowerShell language from the first edition.

This is a very worthy second edition and is *the* PowerShell reference book for me and I'd dare say for anyone who wants to get the most out of Windows PowerShell.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Why I love this book (as a Unix admin) January 4, 2013

By William Faulk

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is written by one of the authors of PowerShell itself, and he approaches admin scripting in a way that just makes sense, in both the language and in the book. If you're forced to administer Windows machines, you *have* to have this book.

But this quote in the preface completely sold me:

In the early part of this decade, Microsoft commissioned a study to identify areas where it could improve its offerings in the server space. Server management, and particularly command-line management of Windows systems, were called out as areas for improvement. While some might say that this is like discovering that water is wet, the important point is that people cared about the problem.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars great resource June 27, 2011

By Anthony S Niemann

Format:Paperback

This book covers it all. I quickly went from knowing nothing about PowerShell to setting up some utilities that simplified my life. But PowerShell is much more powerful than just batch utilities and Bruce does a good job of making that clear.