Customer Reviews

Windows PowerShell(TM) 2.0 Administrator's Pocket Consultant

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has a good balance of foundational information and practical applications of Powershell 2.0. If there was a version of this for Powershell 1.0 I wish I had known about it. :-) The author assumes that you have some background in scripting so it doesn't come across as a pure beginner's book. The book provides practical examples for Powershell in the Windows environment and some background information on each subject. It has an appropriate balance between detail and maintaining a "big picture" view of teaching you about how to use Powershell.

The only request I make of the author in a future edition is to provide a little more coverage on loading assemblies through the Reflection.Assembly class. This is a minor issue though because he does discuss when to use it and of course one can always consult the online Microsoft documentation for additional methods.

Some of the big pluses in the book include a "real world" view and I particularly liked the quick overview of SQL Server support and how to add the supporting snapins to the basic Powershell environment - that saved me a lot of time!

Overall, one of the better books out there on the subject for those interested in a hands-on approach.

I assumed the book would focus on a bunch on PS One-Liners for basic administration tasks. Stanek proved me wrong, he jumped into key points that I assumed would have been left out because of the nature of the book e.g. "quick and dirty guide to just get it done". He proved me wrong. He touched on the skills required to actually write PS scripts, manage profiles and moved beyond just the quick PS One-Liners that you find in other books.

Another job well done by Stanek. I own every pocket consultant he has ever written. I even own second editions and almost own all of his non pocket consultant titles.

His books are a must have for any seasoned Windows IT administrator. Owning one of his books separates the men from the boys.

This Book has it all right at your finger tips! Microsoft has done a superior job in expounding and down to the depths in PowerShell 2.0 with details, details, details - with How to's including images. Including the important information(s) of the possibilities "if you do this, then you might experience that" - with cautions, warnings, et cetera.

I MUST STRESS THIS EMPHASIS - Please take your time in reading this book! Do not rush through this, having a highlighter, colored pencil, write in it, make notes even though it comes with notes - read it all over again. While it does discuss both PowerShell v1.0 and v2.0; you will learn about both as well as the differing betwixt the two which can be very important to know in various areas. Especially for Businesses and Corporations that are working with both 64 bit and x86 aka 32 bit platforms.

I strongly recommend this book - this one is not going to be the one to be "thrown away or tossed aside" for one will want to return back to it for it is loaded with answers if one were to ever "run into a jam", in my humble opinion.

I got this book because the XML Pocket Consultant book by the same author was so good. The Powershell book is not so clearly written.

If you know Powershell and just need a quick reference focused on Windows admin tasks, then this book might be useful.

Otherwise, the Cookbook by Holmes (O'Reilly) explains specific solutions better. The Manning book Powershell in Action is the best written guide to Powershell in general.

This book mostly just sits on my bookshelf unused.

As a newbie to this subject I found this book very worthwhile to have and use while scripting. Organization is good although could be improved in a few places, particularly given how powershell is alot like C#.

I have 2 of this book because my first one was borrowed by a friend and didn't return it! Told him he can keep it and just got another one. It's a good reference for beginner and quick reference guide for advanced administration.

If you want a concise, practical introduction to PowerShell, and a book that you can refer back to later to quickly look up syntax you've forgotten then this is the PowerShell book for you.

This book is a little like the circle line tourist boats that navigate around the island of Manhattan. You get a big picture but not much else.

This book is primarily for command-line hackers only. It may get you jump-started into the subject of PowerShell but after that you will require a long slow charge to get up to speed. Most of the subjects are given brief discussions only and most of the code examples are simply snippets.

When I purchased this book, I was searching for a start to scripting in PowerShell. This book touches on scripts but
it is aimed primarily at sysadmins (as the cover states). If you are a developer, look elsewhere. The best tome I've discovered is Windows PowerShell 2.0. by Don Jones. It's a lot more expensive but how much is your development time worth?

I like the book - it's a very thorough reference guide. But I'm a PowerShell beginner so the book ran out of usefulness pretty quick. Still, it's going to be great if you have some background and decide, "how would I do this specific task?" This book probably has the answer, and it's written as it says - a reference guide.

I got the book last night and I all ready read two whole chapters, I'm still learning how to use command line. But so far this book is fool proof, pretty detail and real world scenario. If you want to learn Powershell get this book trust me using linux, DOS, and CMD.exe commands in the same shell what more do you want.