Over 150 real-world recipes to simplify database management, automate repetitive tasks, and enhance your productivity

About This Book

• This book helps you build a strong foundation to get you comfortable using PowerShell with SQL Server, empowering you to create more complex scripts for your day-to-day job
• The book provides numerous guidelines, tips, and explanations on how and when to use PowerShell cmdlets, WMI, SMO, .NET classes, or other components
• It offers easy-to-follow, practical recipes to help you get the most out of SQL Server and PowerShell

Who This Book Is For

If you are a SQL Server database professional (DBA, developer, or BI developer) who wants to use PowerShell to automate, integrate, and simplify database tasks, this books is for you. Prior knowledge of scripting would be helpful, but it is not necessary.

What You Will Learn

• Explore database objects and execute queries on multiple servers
• Manage and monitor the running of SQL Server services and accounts
• Back up and restore databases
• Create an inventory of database properties and server configuration settings
• Maintain permissions and security for users
• Work with CLR assemblies, XML, and BLOB objects in SQL
• Manage and deploy SSIS packages and SSRS reports

In Detail

PowerShell can be leveraged when automating and streamlining SQL Server tasks. PowerShell comes with a rich set of cmdlets, and integrates tightly with the .NET framework. Its scripting capabilities are robust and flexible, allowing you to simplify automation and integration across different Microsoft applications and components.

The book starts with an introduction to the new features in SQL Server 2014 and PowerShell v5 and the installation of SQL Server. You will learn about basic SQL Server administration tasks and then get to know about some security-related topics such as the authentication mode and assigning permissions. Moving on, you will explore different methods to back up and restore your databases and perform advanced administration tasks such as working with Policies, Filetables, and SQL audits. The next part of the book covers more advanced HADR tasks such as log shipping and data mirroring, and then shows you how to develop your server to work with BLOB, XML, and JSON.

Following on from that, you will learn about SQL Server's BI stack, which includes SSRS reports, the SSIS package, and the SSAS cmdlet and database. Snippets not specific to SQL Server will help you perform tasks quickly on SQL servers. Towards the end of the book, you will find some useful information, which includes a PowerShell tutorial for novice users, some commonly-used PowerShell and SQL Server syntax, and a few online resources. Finally, you will create your own SQL Server Sandbox VMs. All these concepts will help you to efficiently manage your administration tasks.

Style and approach

SQL Server 2014 with PowerShell v5 Cookbook is an example-focused book that provides step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish specific SQL Server tasks using PowerShell. Each recipe is followed by an analysis of the steps or design decisions taken and additional information about the task at hand. Working scripts are provided for all examples so that you can dive in right away.

You can read this book sequentially by chapter or you can pick and choose which topics you need right away.

About This Book

• Create scripts using PowerShell to manage and monitor server administration and application deployment
• Automate creation of SQL Database objects through PowerShell with the help of SQL Server module (SQLPS) and SQL Server snapins
• A fast paced guide, packed with hands-on examples on profiling and configuring SQL Server

Who This Book Is For

This book is written for SQL Server administrators and developers who want to leverage PowerShell to work with SQL Server. Some background with scripting will be helpful but not necessary.

What You Will Learn

• Create scripts using PowerShell to manage and monitor server administration and application deployment
• Automate the creation of SQL Database objects through PowerShell with the help of the SQL Server module (SQLPS) and SQL Server snap-ins
• Use PowerShell to work with SQL Server specific providers and cmdlets
• Identify and manage SQL Server services, instances, settings, and confi gurations
• Profile your SQL Server instances and export current configurations to a file
• Monitor SQL Server jobs and alerts
• Manage logins, database users, and instance security and permissions
• Invoke T-SQL queries from PowerShell and export results
• Accomplish tasks from your DBA daily/weekly/monthly/yearly checklists with PowerShell

In Detail

PowerShell for SQL Server Essentials helps us to manage and monitor server administration and application deployment. Use PowerShell along with SQL Server to perform common DBA tasks.

Starting with a basic introduction to PowerShell, the initial chapters will provide the SQL Server professional PowerShell fundamentals, covering topics such as PowerShell notations and syntax, cmdlets, pipeline, and getting help. Succeeding chapters build upon these fundamentals, and illustrate how to administer and automate SQL Server. Tasks covered throughout include profiling the SQL Server instance, performing backup and restores, invoking T-SQL scripts using PowerShell, and monitoring jobs, security, and permissions.

Packed with practical examples and numerous ready-to-use snippets, this book gets you to an intermediate level in using PowerShell for SQL Server.

• Managing systems through a keyhole
• The Ten Commandments of PowerShell scripting
• Scalable scripting for large datasets
• Adding automatic remoting
• Provisioning web servers and websites automatically to IIS 8
• And 23 more fantastic chapters

PART 1 POWERSHELL ADMINISTRATION

1. Diagnosing and troubleshooting PowerShell remoting
2. CIM sessions 22
3. Collecting and analyzing performance counter data
4. TCP port communications with PowerShell
5. Managing systems through a keyhole
6. Using PowerShell to audit user logon events
7. Managing and administering a certification authoritydatabase with PowerShell
8. Using PowerShell to reduce Active Directory token bloat

PART 2 POWERSHELL SCRIPTING

9. The 10 PowerShell scripting commandments
10. Avoiding the pipeline
11. A template for handling and reporting errors
12. Tips and tricks for creating complex or advancedHTML reports with PowerShell
13. Using and "abusing" dynamic parameters
14. PowerShell type formatting
15. Scalable scripting for large data sets: pipelineand database techniques
16. Building your own WMI-based cmdlets
17. Turning command-line tools into PowerShell tools

PART 3 POWERSHELL FOR DEVELOPERS

18. Using Source Control Software with

Create powerful, effective visualizations to help analyze your data with Tableau 10 by your side

About This Book

• Cook your favorite Tableau 10 business intelligence recipe with the help of this easy-to-follow book
• Build beautiful, interactive dashboards and visualizations in Tableau 10 that help you make informed decisions
• This rich collection of independent recipes cover everything needed to become an advanced Tableau user and get an edge over other Tableau users

Who This Book Is For

This book is targeted to business, data, and analytics professionals who want to build rich interactive visualizations using Tableau. Familiarity with previous versions of Tableau would be helpful, but is not necessary.

What You Will Learn

• Become familiar with the Tableau interface
• Build basic to more advanced charts with step-by-step recipes
• Use filters, calculated fields, parameters, and actions to add interactivity to charts and dashboards
• Prepare and transform data for analysis using Tableau's built-in tools and functions
• Create effective and compelling dashboards and story points
• Leverage Tableau's mapping capabilities to visualize location and shape data
• Integrate analytics and forecasting to enhance data analysis
• Get to know tips and tricks to work more quickly and effectively in Tableau
• Increase your confidence and competence in creating rich, interactive visualizations in Tableau

In Detail

Tableau is a software tool that can speed up data analysis through its rich visualization capabilities, and help uncover insights for better and smarter decision making. This book is for the business, technology, data and analytics professionals who use and analyze data and data-driven approaches to support business operations and strategic initiatives in their organizations.

This book provides easy-to-follow recipes to get the reader up and running with Tableau 10, and covers basic to advanced use cases and scenarios. The book starts with building basic charts in Tableau and moves on to building more complex charts by incorporating different Tableau features and interactivity components. There is an entire chapter dedicated to dashboard techniques and best practices. A number of recipes specifically for geospatial visualization, analytics, and data preparation are also covered.

By the end of this book, you'll have gained confidence and competence to analyze and communicate data and insights more efficiently and effectively by creating compelling interactive charts, dashboards, and stories in Tableau.

Style and approach

This book is a collection of independent recipes that cover a wide range of options for data visualization on offer with Tableau. With the help of the recipes in this book, you can explore Tableau and pick the business intelligence solution that's best suited for your needs.