# Is powershell worth learning?



## PK-her0 (Sep 17, 2007)

Im busy reading about powershell...a lot of people say it is really worth learning and that all ms products are heading this way in future.

my problem is that:

a) i normally work on small networks (10pc and a server)
b) i just cant see (from my stand point) how this actually gets used practically
c) is it something you can learn from a book without applying working knowledge (Can it be practiced)

any thoughts appreciated

PK


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

If you ever need to automate anything I would say yes. I think Exchange 2010 is all command line and powershell. You can set up a virtual test environment with servers and run powershell scripts on them.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

Exchange 2010 is indeed primarily PS......I highly recommend it. We migrated last summer, and I'm still in the process of learning it. 

Makes it a metric crapton easier, and besides that, looks solid on the resume.


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

If you are good at powershell you can make a decent living doing nothing else.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

what resources do you use, Rockn? I've just picked up a standard book on it.....wondered if you have any online resources I've not seen.


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

I know absolutely nothing about Powershell. My instructor when I was in school stated that you can write your own ticket if you are really good at it. I should take the time to learn more about it because it is supposed to be really powerful. I suppose it is kind of a subset of the VBS language.


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## Squashman (Apr 4, 2003)

TheOutcaste and I started playing around with it a few years ago and I was really gung ho on it. I was amazed at how much more you could do with it then a simple batch file. I was even making GUI's for all my scripts as well. Then one day I just got busy and haven't touched it in over 2 years. We should all start brain storming on making a Powershell Library here on Techguy.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

Agreed. And as you have the headstart, I nominate you. 

Even though you are a Packers fan. Do you still have those scripts laying around? Also may be a good idea to think about writing something about PS for the newsletter. I know Ent has something going for the next newsie, but not about PS.


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## PK-her0 (Sep 17, 2007)

Thanks for the info guys!!! 
can any of you recommend a good book to start reading...will any do at this point?

i googled and people had good things to say about this:

http://www.manning.com/jones/

also is it easy to learn on say one server...would this be practical, or would it be best applied on a larger network...just curious...


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## ratchet (Dec 16, 2001)

PK-her0,
I was recently working with a tech who did some amazing things with Power Shell, I was looking for info on PS and found;
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/powershell/index.htm


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## mvirata (Feb 17, 2011)

From the research I have done over the past year regarding PowerShell, I have found that it is the way of the future. The days of the CMD are over.

You already see this in Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Exchange (mentioned already). I try to use it everyday for simple tasks and I even wrote a few basic scripts. Well, I copied them from the internets and was able to manipulate and combine them into useful scripts for my company.

Thanks for the link Ratchet, let me add a few more links that I am using. If anyone has additional PowerShell links to share, I would like to add them to my list.

http://www.powershellpro.com
(this one has a great tutorial!)

http://www.petri.co.il/top-10-server-2008-tasks-done-with-powershell-part-1.htm

http://www.petri.co.il/top-10-serve...campaign=Feed:+Petri+(Petri+IT+Knowledgebase)


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## PK-her0 (Sep 17, 2007)

thanks mvirata can you please give me some good examples where these scripts are used?
what tasks have you used it for your company...?


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## Squashman (Apr 4, 2003)

valis said:


> Agreed. And as you have the headstart, I nominate you.
> 
> Even though you are a Packers fan. Do you still have those scripts laying around? Also may be a good idea to think about writing something about PS for the newsletter. I know Ent has something going for the next newsie, but not about PS.


Not sure if I have the scripts around or not. I sure wish TheOutCaste was here. He seemed to have a knack for understanding scripting languages.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

Indeed........I wish I knew what the heck happened.


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## mvirata (Feb 17, 2011)

PK-her0 I created a script to check all of our exchange hub server queues, it sends an email if it reaches above a certain number. You can easily find this on google, search "powershell check exchange queue"

Then I created a script to check the number of files in a folder and to email if it rises over a specific number. I found it in one of the lessons (in my links above) to check the number of files, then I inserted the "send email" portion of the script from the first script that I used (with the hub server queues).

I also created a script (actually more of a combination of cmdlets and I had to search for a pause feature so the window wouldn't close) to output all hub server queues from a workstation. It makes it easier than going through the exchange console and I gave it to all the admins.

So far, I am just playing with small things here and there, just to get accustomed to it.


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## Couriant (Mar 26, 2002)

Posting just to subscribe and also think that this seems like a good thing for me to look into.


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## mvirata (Feb 17, 2011)

It's kind of funny that the timing is just right but there was a new post about PowerShell a couple days ago, it's another great read for beginners.

http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/windows-powershell/powershell-getting-started-142467


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