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Powershell Scripting Book
Last Post 03 Sep 2008 06:57 PM by Niki. 21 Replies. |
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Ayth
Basic Member
Posts:240
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| 24 Oct 2007 09:35 AM |
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Hello All,
I know I am going to get different opinions on this, but wanted some advice. My company gives us a certain amount for training materials/books. I'm a fairly competent VB Scripter and already have Windows Scripting with WMI by Ed Wilson, and Advanced VBScript for Microsoft Windows Administrators by our own Don Jones and Jeffery Hicks. I am in the market to pick up a book on Powershell scripting and wanted to know which to use.
I know that the 2nd edition of Powershell: TFM is due out soon, and I've heard very good things about Powershell in Action. What are some of the other good ones out there? Thanks.
Cheers,
Ayth |
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| My Blog about Powershell http://poweroftheshell.blogspot.com/
Follow me on twitter @darrinhenshaw |
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Marco Shaw
Veteran Member
Posts:1684
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| 24 Oct 2007 10:29 AM |
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Anything in particular that interest you more than another? Basic scripting? Using .NET? ETS? PowerShell in Action and PowerShell: TFM (1st) are very good overall. There's also another book by Ed on PowerShell if you like his style (and a 2nd due in February or so). |
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Ayth
Basic Member
Posts:240
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| 24 Oct 2007 11:01 AM |
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Hi Marco,
Basically I'm interested in what I would call the meat and potatoes type stuff, good old fashioned administration of Windows. That's where my job lies. I am interested in .NET and creating cmd-lets etc, but life always seems to disagree with me.
I took a look and I might be limited to Powershell in Action since I'm not seeing much else listed on Chapters.ca website, however, I haven't had a moment to check Amazon.ca yet. Thanks. |
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| My Blog about Powershell http://poweroftheshell.blogspot.com/
Follow me on twitter @darrinhenshaw |
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Marco Shaw
Veteran Member
Posts:1684
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| 24 Oct 2007 04:54 PM |
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Don't overlook amazon.com... With the exchange and all, it won't be all that bad. Lee Holmes' 'PowerShell Cookbook' is due out in the next few days apparently. A recipe type book isn't the best *learning* tool, but is still good to have around at times. |
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Jason Zhang
New Member
Posts:3
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| 24 Oct 2007 05:34 PM |
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If you are interested in developing Cmdlet and Providers, there is a book called "Professional Windows PowerShell Programming: Snapins, Cmdlets, Hosts and Providers" by A. Kumaravel coming out on Jan 29, 2008. Hope that is what you want. |
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Don Jones
PowerShell MVP
Basic Member
Posts:134
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| 25 Oct 2007 05:45 AM |
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I always recommend my own book (PowerShell: TFM), of course  - but I also recommend Bruce's "PowerShell in Action" because it includes a lot of insights I don't think you gt elsewhere. FWIW, for the upcoming 2nd edition of our TFM book, we looked around to make sure we were covering EVERYTHING (for an admin - we don't really hit dev topics as it wasn't the intention)- the TOC is posted on SAPIENPress.com if you want to read through it. We also had a peer review process whereby every chapter was read by at least six PowerShell users, who made a lot of suggestions for additional content, reorganization, and so forth. We do have a chapter on basic cmdlet creation if you want to dabble, and several chapters that cover general Windows administration tasks. The 2nd edition will also be available electronically if you prefer that. |
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- Don Jones
www.ConcentratedTech.com
Subscribe (RSS) or visit for weekly PowerShell tips and lessons |
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ZenNerd
New Member
Posts:1
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| 04 Nov 2007 08:07 PM |
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I've read Don's book and can recommend it. If you are an admin looking to get some scripting under your belt, start there.
Derek Kruger, MCSE
IT Supervisor
City of Safford |
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Don Jones
PowerShell MVP
Basic Member
Posts:134
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| 07 Nov 2007 12:34 PM |
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I should point out that the second edition of the book is now available electronically at www.sapienpress.com; the print edition will be out Dec 1st at which point the first edition will go out of print.
A third edition (corresponding to PowerShell v2) will go live in "preview" next Monday, if you're playing with v2.0. |
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- Don Jones
www.ConcentratedTech.com
Subscribe (RSS) or visit for weekly PowerShell tips and lessons |
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Jacob Saaby Nielsen
New Member
Posts:20
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| 06 Dec 2007 11:05 PM |
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Hey, I bought two books so far: Windows Powershell: TFM and Professional Windows Powershell. TFM contains a lot of good stuff in terms of scripting bits. But as a new PS scripter myself (also from a vbscript background, so there's a lot of my mindset that has to be completely rearranged), I found the book to be very confusingly arranged. Don't get me wrong, the info is there. I just had to think of TFM as a reference book more than a tutorial. Cause as a tutorial it fails I think. As a reference book it's fine. Also, it uses a LOT of pages in the book listing what is basically the help you can get from powershell itself. And that kinda seems like a waste to me. I feel like I got a bit ripped off on that part. Professional Windows PowerShell is easier on the brain, the typesetting is WAY better, and to me it seems a bit more accessible when you're a new scripter. However, I think there's a lot of stuff that doesn't get covered well enough in both. Take arrays for example. Sure, they're mentioned, and explained to a certain degree. But none of them get into multidimensional arrays and hashtables. Which is an extremely useful concept to grasp (I still haven't completely). Also I think the explanation of how to build modular scripts with functions etc. could've been better in both. Sure, they show you how to create functions, but I'm kinda missing some of the "why's and why not's". E.g. "Why do you need [param], and when. When don't you" etc. How do you properly pass arguments to a script. Perhaps it's just not the scope of those books, dunno. But I'm not too satisfied with either. I just ordered PowerShell In Action, and PowerShell Cookbook, as I've read great reviews on those. Being a VBscripter, I would also recommend this: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sc...pschm.mspx It contains a whole section of VBscript commands that get mapped to PS commands. Extremely useful to me, as I could just look up the VBscript command and get the PS equivalent. Will get back in this thread on Powershell In Action and Powershell Cookbook, and what I think of those. |
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Don Jones
PowerShell MVP
Basic Member
Posts:134
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| 10 Dec 2007 06:46 AM |
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Most of that is feedback we've heard from others, and that we addressed in the 2nd edition. As you might imagine, the 1st edition was taking a guess at how people might learn PowerShell; the 2nd has the benefit of some experience.
So the material was reorganized into more of a tutorial (as you can probably see from the ToC on sapienpress.com, or here in the Library). The cmdlet reference was pulled, although the page count actually went up and the book is physically larger.
Hashtables pick up some more coverage although not so much multidimensional arrays - we don't see them used much in administration. Functions were also expanded.
Just for what it's worth - I'm certainly not expecting you to rush out and buy the 2nd edition, but wanted to let you know we're being as responsive as we can with a print book! If you do become interested in the 2nd edition, though, contact me and I'll see what I can wrangle in terms of a bit of a discount for you, perhaps.
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- Don Jones
www.ConcentratedTech.com
Subscribe (RSS) or visit for weekly PowerShell tips and lessons |
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Jacob Saaby Nielsen
New Member
Posts:20
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| 11 Dec 2007 12:49 AM |
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Posted By DonJ on 12/10/2007 7:46 AM
Hashtables pick up some more coverage although not so much multidimensional arrays - we don't see them used much in administration. Functions were also expanded.
Just for what it's worth - I'm certainly not expecting you to rush out and buy the 2nd edition, but wanted to let you know we're being as responsive as we can with a print book! If you do become interested in the 2nd edition, though, contact me and I'll see what I can wrangle in terms of a bit of a discount for you, perhaps.
I use MD arrays a lot. Or rather, hashtables containing arrays now, since I got convinced of their goodness  But it'd be nice to have the concept explained thoroughly, from creation to accessing, to deleting, in a way that make people really understand what's going on when you use such a construct. Also custom objects. Why's and why not's, how's and when's. It seems odd when PS is so object oriented, that noone really pay any attention to you creating objects yourself, to store data in. Thanks for your offer btw, it's great to see such good response. But I don't think my boss will let me buy one more copy of the same book Great to see some response from one of the gurus |
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Brandon Shell [MVP]
Basic Member
Posts:396
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| 11 Dec 2007 05:26 AM |
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But it'd be nice to have the concept explained thoroughly, from creation to accessing, to deleting, in a way that make people really understand what's going on when you use such a construct. This could be added to the wiki Also custom objects. Why's and why not's, how's and when's. It seems odd when PS is so object oriented, that noone really pay any attention to you creating objects yourself, to store data in. Why: Because Powershell is object based and it always easier to deal with objects Why Nots: It would be absurd to create a custom object where a object already exsist. Noone? Have you seen my blog |
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Brandon Shell
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Microsoft Powershell MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Brandon
Blog: http://www.bsonposh.com |
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Jacob Saaby Nielsen
New Member
Posts:20
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| 11 Dec 2007 10:13 AM |
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Posted By bsonposh on 12/11/2007 6:26 AM This could be added to the wiki Why: Because Powershell is object based and it always easier to deal with objects Why Nots: It would be absurd to create a custom object where a object already exsist. Noone? Have you seen my blog " align="absmiddle" border="0"> I would appreciate the wiki part I of course agree that it would be stupid to make objects where objects exist. But sometime it's useful to create your own construct or object. I know this is scripting, but as I see it, PS takes a step closer to actual programming. And as such, I think it would be healthy for scripters to learn "the way of the object" (OSH, SENSEI ! ). Since that seems to be the world we're gonna live in (which I personally think is a good thing). I read your blog regularly, but haven't seen the part with custom objects. URL ?
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Don Jones
PowerShell MVP
Basic Member
Posts:134
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| 11 Dec 2007 01:54 PM |
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Also custom objects. Why's and why not's, how's and when's. It seems odd when PS is so object oriented, that noone really pay any attention to you creating objects yourself, to store data in.
Couldn't agree more - did a whole chapter on 'em in the new edition, in fact, and if you browse the "Peer Review" forum, here, you'll find that custom objects over text, as output, is almost the #1 suggestion offered to folks. Our five-day PowerShell course also talks about them in some detail, including the all-important "why" and "why not." I even blogged on it a bit in my blog series (blog.sapien.com) on cmdlet development, since outputting custom objects there is just as important (if not more so) than in script.
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- Don Jones
www.ConcentratedTech.com
Subscribe (RSS) or visit for weekly PowerShell tips and lessons |
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Brandon Shell [MVP]
Basic Member
Posts:396
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| 11 Dec 2007 03:40 PM |
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I have a category for them (5 articles I think) http://bsonposh.com/modules/wordpress/?cat=12 |
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Brandon Shell
----------------
Microsoft Powershell MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Brandon
Blog: http://www.bsonposh.com |
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Jacob Saaby Nielsen
New Member
Posts:20
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| 17 Dec 2007 01:21 AM |
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DonJ and BS, thanks for your replies I got Windows PowerShell Cookbook last thursday, and have had the chance to read some chapters. Really really good book. Very commendable. It's got very nice explanations. A whole chapter dedicated to one of the most important concepts of PS: The pipeline. And it's absolutely, positively LOADED with examples ! So not only does it explain things in a good way, it can also be used as a reference book. Each chapter has the examples in the form of "Problem, Solution, Discussion". So if you have a problem, and just want the solution - you read a very brief set of text. If you also want to know why it works like it does, you read the Discussion part. I think that's a brilliant way to arrange it, cause it leaves room for both the "I just want a solution" type of people, and the "I want to know why PS behaves like it does" (me) kinda people. If you're using Systems Center Operations Manager 2007 or Exchange 2007, there's a whole chapter for each, on how to administer those with PS. I highly recommend the book. I'll get back to you on Powershell In Action when I get it. Actually I should've gotten it last week with the Cookbook, but will probably receive it this week. |
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Don Jones
PowerShell MVP
Basic Member
Posts:134
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| 17 Dec 2007 10:12 AM |
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For interested parties, the "Cookbook" has a sample chapter in the Library, here, so you can see what it looks like. |
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- Don Jones
www.ConcentratedTech.com
Subscribe (RSS) or visit for weekly PowerShell tips and lessons |
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Jacob Saaby Nielsen
New Member
Posts:20
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| 19 Dec 2007 01:36 AM |
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By the way Don, any chance you'll be setting up a good rebate program for the 2nd Edition ebook, for users that bought the paperversion of the 1st edition ? So we can get the book we wanted, instead of the one we bought ? ;D |
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Don Jones
PowerShell MVP
Basic Member
Posts:134
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| 19 Dec 2007 07:41 AM |
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Unfortunately not. There's almost no feasible way to do that with something like a print book - I'm not aware of any other publisher who's been able to do so. Also, keep in mind that when a book is sold through someone like Amazon or a bookstore, the publisher doesn't get very much of the sale price - you'd need to apply to Amazon for a rebate. Good luck with that . FWIW, everything in the 1st edition "still goes," the 2nd just has *more.* We did think really hard about this - but we just couldn't think of a way to make it financially feasible for us or for readers. Mark Minasi (who knows all about editions of books) posts a pretty good synopsis at http://minasi.com/gethelp/#wantupgrade. |
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- Don Jones
www.ConcentratedTech.com
Subscribe (RSS) or visit for weekly PowerShell tips and lessons |
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Jacob Saaby Nielsen
New Member
Posts:20
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| 20 Dec 2007 10:59 PM |
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Allrighty then. Tough luck I guess |
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pk
New Member
Posts:1
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| 24 May 2008 06:20 PM |
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This is an interesting and knowledgeable site. This is an independent international community uniting PowerShell users. And also vendors can promote this new and exciting platform. Professional Windows PowerShell is easier on the brain, and it can keep long time. The typesetting is WAY better, and to me it seems a bit more accessible when you're a new scripter. If you have a problem, and just want the solution you read a very brief set of text. you read the Discussion part. I think that's a best way to arrange it,
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pasan
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Niki
New Member
Posts:1
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| 03 Sep 2008 06:57 PM |
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First focus on PowerShell basics, how it relates to existing Windows scripting practices, and how the reader's existing knowledge can be translated into PowerShell knowledge. Next, after gaining insight into PowerShell, the reader will be presented with transferable PowerShell scripting examples. The goal of presenting these examples will be to outline methods of using PowerShell to manage Windows Server, Active Directory, and Exchange Server 2007 that have not been explained or touched upon by other sources.
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Nikimathew
The Fastest, Easiest way to learn DotNetNuke! Free Trial Lessons!!
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