PowerShell Basics
Adam Driscoll
Adam Driscoll
Twitter: @adamdriscoll
[email protected]
Senior Application Developer
Agenda
• What is PowerShell?
• Tooling
• Language Basics
• Pipeline
• Help System
• Module Basics
• Lab
What is PowerShell?
• Scripting language for Windows
• Available since Windows Server 2008
• Object based pipeline
• Built-on .NET
• Currently at version 5
Tooling
• PowerShell.exe
• PowerShell ISE
• VS Code with PowerShell Extension
• Visual Studio with PowerShell Extension
• PowerShell Studio
• ISE Steroids
Language Basics
• Commands
• Syntax
• Help System
• Pipeline
• Drive System
• Modules
Commands
• Verb-Noun Syntax
• Discoverable
• Parameters
Command Format
Get-Process
Standard Verb Singular Noun
Get-SCSMObject
98 Standard Verbs
Frequently prefixed
Command Parameters
Get-Help about_Parameters
Common Parameters
• -Debug (db)
• -ErrorAction (ea)
• -ErrorVariable (ev)
• -InformationAction
• -InformationVariable
• -OutVariable (ov)
• -OutBuffer (ob)
• -PipelineVariable (pv)
• -Verbose (vb)
• -WarningAction (wa)
• -WarningVariable (wv
Get-Help about_CommonParameters
Parameter Sets
• Defines grouped sets of parameters
• Changes syntax of command based on parameters specified
Parameter Set 1
Parameter Set 2
Command Discovery
Help System
• Get-Help
• Command Based Help
• About Files
• Extensible
• Updatable
Get-Help Get-Help
Variables Value
Variable Name Data Type
Get-Help about_Variables
Strings
Conditional Operators Condition
Expression Body
Get-Help about_If
Comparison Operators
Get-Help about_Operators
Arrays
Get-Help about_Arrays
Get-Help about_ForEach
Loops
Get-Help about_For
Get-Help about_While
Objects
• Objects rather than text
• Objects have properties and methods
• Objects can be formatted, filtered and extended
Get-Help about_Objects
Get-Member
Pipeline
• Chain commands together to perform aggregate operations
• Simply looping statements
• Deal with sets of objects easier
Get-Help about_Pipelines
Aliases
• Shorter syntax for commands
• Can be exported from modules
• Can be defined on the fly
• Many built in aliases
Get-Help about_Aliases
Module Basics
• Modules are collection of commands, formatting files, aliases or
providers
• Can be loaded on demand
• Module installation locations ($Env:PSModulePath)
• Install-Module – PowerShell Gallery
Get-Help about_Modules
Lab
1. Get a list of processes that are using more than 100mb of RAM
2. Display all running services
3. Update the help on your machine. Find and use the command to
display command history in your prompt.
4. List all modules currently installed on your machine.
5. Install a new module from either the PowerShell Gallery or GitHub
6. List all commands available in the module
