Forget everything you know about the Windows command line because you're about to enter a whole new ballgame. Windows PowerShell provides a new environment for interactive exploration and administration of Windows machines that's different from and more consistent than what you've previously used on Windows and Unix platforms. In one of the first books to cover this groundbreaking technology, Andrew Watt guides you through the ins and outs of PowerShell and demonstrates how to utilize it to create powerful solutions.

You'll find out how to use PowerShell cmdlets and syntax constructs, and how to exploit PowerShell to make .NET Framework objects accessible via scripting, making PowerShell a powerful addition to your administrator's toolbox. You'll also discover how to take advantage of its capabilities, from running scripts programs and commands to customizing the PowerShell environment. With this information, you'll be able to create a wide range of tasks that meet your business requirements.

What you will learn from this book

• Tips for working with event logs

• How to use PowerShell tools for discovery

• Powerful methods for retrieving data and processing text

• How to select security settings to run PowerShell scripts safely

• Techniques for working with the file system, registry, and environment variables

• Steps for debugging as well as working with errors and exceptions

• How to harness WMI from PowerShell

• Tips for working with event logs

Who this book is for

This book is for Windows administrators and developers who want to learn new techniques to explore and control machine state and to begin automating tasks by scripting with Windows PowerShell.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

About the Author

Andrew Watt (Aberdeen, Scotland, UK) was on the Windows PowerShell beta program for almost two years before product release. He is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, MVP, for SQL Server and is an independent consultant and experienced computer book author. He wrote his first programs in BASIC and 6502 Assembler in 1984 while researching his doctoral thesis.
He is a regular contributor to the Windows PowerShell newsgroup, microsoft.public.windows.powershell, and can be contacted by email at SVGDeveloper@aol.com.