So far, we've seen two different ways to utilize the API provided by BizTalk Services, directly making HTTP requests in Fiddler and by writing code to make the calls to it programmatically. Now we'll look at an even easier way, using Windows PowerShell. Windows PowerShell is a command-line tool aimed at administrators that provides a consistent way to perform tasks across many Microsoft products (and third-party ones). With PowerShell, it is possible to automate common actions and create sophisticated scripts that perform configuration and administration of BizTalk Services environments and Azure in general.

BizTalk Services provides a set of PowerShell cmdlets that can call the complete set of APIs provided. Cmdlets are units of functionality that are executed in PowerShell, and BizTalk Services provides a cmdlet for each API call available.

To be absolutely correct, BizTalk Services actually provides two sets of cmdlets. The first is installed when you download and install...