PowerShell for Sysadmins Workflow Automation Made Easy

Learn to use PowerShell, Microsoft's scripting language, to automate real-world tasks that IT professionals and system administrators deal with every day.

Save Time. Automate.

PowerShell® is both a scripting language and an administrative shell that lets you control and automate nearly every aspect of IT. In PowerShell for Sysadmins, five-time Microsoft® MVP "Adam the Automator" Bertram shows you how to use PowerShell to manage and automate your desktop and server environments so that you can head out for an early lunch.

You'll learn how to:

Combine commands, control flow, handle errors, write scripts, run scripts remotely, and test scripts with the PowerShell testing framework, Pester

Parse structured data like XML and JSON, work with common domains (like Active Directory, Azure, and Amazon Web Services), and create a real-world server inventory script

Design and build a PowerShell module to demonstrate PowerShell isn't just about ad-hoc scripts

Use PowerShell to create a hands-off, completely automated Windows deployment

Build an entire Active Directory forest from nothing but a Hyper-V host and a few ISO files

Create endless Web and SQL servers with just a few lines of code!

Real-world examples throughout help bridge the gap between theory and actual system, and the author's anecdotes keep things lively.

Stop with the expensive software and fancy consultants. Learn how to manage your own environment with PowerShell for Sysadmins and make everyone happy.

Covers Windows PowerShell v5.1

Adam Bertram is a 20-year IT veteran. He's an automation engineer, blogger, consultant, freelance writer, Pluralsight course author, and content marketing writer to multiple technology companies. Bertram focuses on DevOps, system management, and automation technologies as well as various cloud platforms, mostly in the Microsoft space. He's the founder of TechSnips, an IT career development platform, and focuses on solving technical problems through automation and sharing his knowledge with the world.

Introduction

Part I: Fundamentals
Chapter 1: Getting Started
Chapter 2: Basic PowerShell Concepts
Chapter 3: Combining Commands
Chapter 4: Control Flow
Chapter 5: Error Handling
Chapter 6: Writing Functions
Chapter 7: Exploring Modules
Chapter 8: Running Scripts Remotely
Chapter 9: Testing with Pester

Part II: Automating Day-to-Day Tasks
Chapter 10: Parsing Structured Data
Chapter 11: Automating Active Directory
Chapter 12: Working with Azure
Chapter 13: Working with AWS
Chapter 14: Creating a Server Inventory Script

Part III: Building Your Own Module
Chapter 15: Provisioning a Virtual Environment
Chapter 16: Installing an Operating System
Chapter 17: Deploying Active Directory
Chapter 18: Creating and Configuring a SQL Server
Chapter 19: Refactoring Your Code
Chapter 20: Creating and Configuring an IIS Web Server