Resources: http://1drv.ms/1I3d9LE An introduction for Windows PowerShell scripting and showcasing its capabilities.

1. Windows PowerShell
Sandun Perera
Geveo Australasia
30th May 2012

2.  Command line interpreter
 Unix shell
 Apple script
 MS-DOS
 Windows Script Host
 Windows PowerShell
 Administrative tasks
 Routine tasks
 Maintenance tasks
Shell scripting

3.  1. Install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
 2. Install Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1.
 Required for Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting
Environment (ISE) and Out-GridView.
 3. Install WinRM 2.0 CTP3. (Windows Remote Shell)
 This is required if you want to take advantage of the remoting and
back- ground jobs features.
 4. Install Windows PowerShell 2.
Starting point (ps2)

4. Integrated Scripting Environment
(ISE)

5.  Set Execution Policy
 Customise Console
 Profile editing
 Profile using
Permission and Profiling

6. Cmdlets
Windows
PowerShell
(Cmdlet)
Windows PowerShell
(Alias)
cmd.exe /
COMMAND.COM
(MS-DOS, Windows,
OS/2, etc.)
Description
Get-Location gl, pwd cd Display the current directory/present working directory.
Set-Location sl, cd, chdir cd, chdir Change the current directory
Clear-Host cls, clear cls Clear the screen
Copy-Item cpi, copy, cp copy Copy one or several files / a whole directory tree
Get-Help help, man help Help on commands
Remove-Item ri, del, erase, rmdir, rd, rm del, erase, rmdir, rd Delete a file / a directory
Rename-Item rni, ren ren, rename Rename a file / a directory
Move-Item mi, move, mv move Move a file / a directory to a new location
Get-ChildItem gci, dir, ls dir List all files / directories in the (current) directory
Write-Output echo, write echo Print strings, variables etc. to standard output
Pop-Location popd popd
Change the current directory to the directory most recently
pushed onto the stack
Push-Location pushd pushd Push the current directory onto the stack
Set-Variable sv, set set Set the value of a variable / create a variable

7.  Boolean: True or false condition.
 Byte: An 8-bit unsigned whole number from 0 to 255, such as 32.
 Char: A 16-bit unsigned whole number from 0 to 65,535. For example, 1,026.
 Date: A calendar date, such as January 1, 2009.
 Decimal: A 128-bit decimal value, such as 3.14159265.
 Double: A double-precision 64-bit floating point number. In effect, this is another kind of
decimal value but has a narrower range of values than a decimal.
 Integer: A 32-bit signed whole number from –2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647, such as 152 or –
1839.
 Long: A 64-bit signed whole number. This is like an integer but holds far more values, such as
9,233,372,036,854,775,807.
 Object: Any kind of object.
 Short: A 16-bit unsigned whole number. This is like an integer but holds far fewer values. It
can only hold values from –32,768 to 32,767.
 Single: A single-precision 32-bit floating point number. This is like a double but holds far
fewer values, such as 20.3654.
 String: A grouping of characters that most people just call text.
Data types

8.  $MyVariable
 $AVariableWithANumber6
 ${A variable with spaces}
 ${A variable with special characters @#%%}
Variables

9.  $Error: An array of error objects representing the most recent errors.
 $Host: Current host application for Windows PowerShell.
 $Profile: Stores the full path to the Windows PowerShell user profile for
the default shell.
 $PID: Contains the process identifier of the Windows PowerShell
process.
 $PSUICulture: Stores the name of the UI culture currently in use.
 $NULL: Contains NULL or empty value.
 $False: Contains FALSE.
 $True: Contains TRUE.
Automatic variables

10.  Concatenating
 Escape characters
 Multiline string
 String functions
String handling

11.  Backslash:
 Dollar sign: $
 Dot: .
 Pipe: |
 Question mark: ?
 Star: *
 Plus sign: +
 Open square bracket: [
 Open parenthesis: (
 Close parenthesis: )
 Caret: ^
Regular expressions

12.  Create functions
 Calling functions
 Passing arguments
 Return values
Functions

13. Operator Meaning
-eq Equal
-ne Not equal
-ine Not equal; not case sensitive (new in Windows PowerShell 2)
-lt Less than
-le Less than or equal
-gt Greater than
-ge Greater than or equal
Operators

14.  if statement
 switch statement
 for loop
 foreach loop
 while loop
 do while loop
 do until loop
Control flow statements

15.  Add (adds a Timespan value)
 AddDays
 AddHours
 AddMilliseconds
 AddMinutes
 AddMonths
 AddSeconds
 AddTicks
 AddYears
DateTime

16.  Arrays
 Hash tables
 Access elements
Collections

17.  Reading files
 Writing file
 Create files
 Delete files
 Copy / Rename / Move files
File handling

18.  Access system information
 Disk info
 Services
 Event log
 BIOS
Windows Management
Infrastructure (WMI)

19.  Connect to SQL Server
 Create SQL Command
 Execute and capture data
 Display data
SQL Query Execution

20.  Count errors
 Throw exception
 Handle exception
 Write to log file
 Write to Event log
Exception handling

21.  Message box
 Installed drivers info
 Path shrink
 Convert to PDF
 Send email
 Hello Anna
 Text to audio recording
Cool stuff

22.  Not allowing scripts to execute
 Improperly using commas to separate parameters when
calling a function
 Not defining functions before using them
 Forgetting that pipelines pass objects and not just strings
 Not casting variables as a string
 Making incorrect comparisons
 Expending the pipeline to far
 Not taking variable scope in account
 Debugging without the debugger
 Forgetting to use available .NET classes
Common Mistakes

23.  Windows PowerShell™ 2 For Dummies® by Steve Seguis
 http://powershell.com/cs/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_PowerShell
 http://sandunangelo.blogspot.com/2010/02/introduction-to-
powershell-scripting.html
References

24. Thank you!