Reddit reviews Windows PowerShell Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Scripting Microsoft's New Command Shell

Hi!

I keep a list of resources I've found helpful for learning PowerShell here. Books, cheat sheets, videos, etc.

Highlights (from my perspective)

If you prefer videos:

• Getting Started with PowerShell 3.0
  
• Advanced Tools and Scripting with PowerShell 3.0
  
  If you prefer books:
  
  
• For a beginner (at scripting / code) - Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches
  
• For someone experienced - Windows PowerShell in Action. This guy wrote PowerShell, so... you won't find a better reference out there. But it's not for beginners.
  
• If 'free' is important - Mastering PowerShell
  
  If you learn by example:
  
  
• Windows PowerShell Cookbook
  
• Find popular repositories and publications on sites like GitHub and Technet Gallery. Look for things you can replicate at home. Dive into the code and see how and why it works. Keep in mind that popular != good code.
  
• Find tasks you could simplify on your computer. Need to rename a bunch of files? Try it with PowerShell. Want to search for a question on StackOverflow? Use their API.
  
  Stop by #powershell on IRC (Freenode), and check out twitter. Many folks idle or chat in the IRC channel, and from my perspective, you can't beat twitter for up to date PowerShell content.
  
  If you want to see the vision for PowerShell, check out the Monad Manifesto
  
  Good luck!

1. Powershell can interact directly with AD. Typically you create a query against your active directory, and do something to the results. Say...you decide you want to fill in a field in AD that hasn't been filled before, and you need to do it a thousand times.
   
2. Granular backup in sharepoint- crucial sites are backed up nightly as individual units, meaning I can quickly recover a single site without having to recover ALL the sites.
   
   You'll have to grab a book on the topic- one of the big hurdles most people face is just figuring out the sort of questions you've asked at the end here: how do I execute a script? how do I write portable code? where can I execute this script?
   The answer to all of these depend greatly on the script. A generic script can be executed from any machine with powershell installed and an execution policy of "remotesigned" or better.
   Here's the book I like:
   http://www.amazon.com/Windows-PowerShell-Cookbook-Scripting-Microsofts/dp/0596801505/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314721194&sr=8-1
   And here's a tool that will help you get started:
   http://powergui.org/downloads.jspa
   
   You're more than welcome to PM me any questions- I'm no expert, but having recently learned a lot of this, I can relate to not understanding it, and the questions you'll have are fresh on my mind.

not a problem. Google and ms technet are your friends.

I have heard great things about

beginner level:
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617290211/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323979474&sr=8-1


more of an intermediate/advanced:
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-PowerShell-Cookbook-Scripting-Microsofts/dp/0596801505/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323979485&sr=8-1

Windows PowerShell Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Scripting Microsoft's New Command Shell
http://amzn.com/0596801505

Props to you! I've been reading through the Windows Powershell Cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Windows-PowerShell-Cookbook-Scripting-Microsofts/dp/0596801505, but this looks much more manageable.