Book Image

Mastering PowerShell Scripting - Fourth Edition

By : Chris Dent
5 (1)
Book Image

Mastering PowerShell Scripting - Fourth Edition

5 (1)
By: Chris Dent

Overview of this book

PowerShell scripts offer a convenient way to automate various tasks, but working with them can be daunting. Mastering PowerShell Scripting takes away the fear and helps you navigate through PowerShell's capabilities.This extensively revised edition includes new chapters on debugging and troubleshooting and creating GUIs (online chapter). Learn the new features of PowerShell 7.1 by working with parameters, objects, and .NET classes from within PowerShell 7.1. This comprehensive guide starts with the basics before moving on to advanced topics, including asynchronous processing, desired state configuration, using more complex scripts and filters, debugging issues, and error-handling techniques. Explore how to efficiently manage substantial amounts of data and interact with other services using PowerShell 7.1. This book will help you to make the most of PowerShell's automation features, using different methods to parse data, manipulate regular expressions, and work with Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

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Table of Contents (26 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Get in touch
1
Introduction to PowerShell
Introduction to PowerShell
What is PowerShell?
PowerShell editors
Getting help
Command naming and discovery
Parameters, values, and parameter sets
Introduction to providers
Introduction to splatting
Parser modes
Experimental features
Summary
Free Chapter
2
Modules and Snap-Ins
Modules and Snap-Ins
Introducing modules
Finding and installing modules
PowerShellGet 3.0
PowerShell repositories
About snap-ins
Summary
3
Working with Objects in PowerShell
Working with Objects in PowerShell
Pipelines
Members
Enumerating and filtering
Selecting and sorting
Grouping and measuring
Comparing
Importing, exporting, and converting
Summary
4
Operators
Operators
Arithmetic operators
Assignment operators
Comparison operators
Regular expression-based operators
Logical operators
Binary operators
Type operators
Redirection operators
Other operators
Summary
5
Variables, Arrays, and Hashtables
Variables, Arrays, and Hashtables
Naming and creating variables
Objects assigned to variables
Variable commands
Variable provider
Scopes and variables
Types and type conversion
Arrays
Hashtables
Lists, dictionaries, queues, and stacks
Summary
6
Conditional Statements and Loops
Conditional Statements and Loops
if, else, and elseif
switch
Loops
Loops, break, and continue
Implicit Boolean
Summary
7
Working with .NET
Working with .NET
Assemblies
Types
Enumerations
Classes
Namespaces
The using keyword
Type accelerators
Members
Reflection in PowerShell
Summary
8
Strings, Numbers, and Dates
Strings, Numbers, and Dates
Manipulating strings
Converting strings
Manipulating numbers
Manipulating dates and times
Summary
9
Regular Expressions
Regular Expressions
Regex basics
Anchors
Quantifiers
Character classes
Alternation
Grouping
Look-ahead and look-behind
The .NET Regex type
Regex options
Examples of regular expressions
Summary
10
Files, Folders, and the Registry
Files, Folders, and the Registry
Working with providers
Items
Windows permissions
Transactions
File catalog commands
Summary
11
Windows Management Instrumentation
Windows Management Instrumentation
Working with WMI
CIM cmdlets
The WMI Query Language
WMI Type Accelerators
Permissions
Summary
12
Working with HTML, XML, and JSON
Working with HTML, XML, and JSON
HTML
XML commands
System.Xml
System.Xml.Linq
JSON
Summary
13
Web Requests and Web Services
Web Requests and Web Services
Technical requirements
Web requests
Working with REST
Working with SOAP
Summary
14
Remoting and Remote Management
Remoting and Remote Management
Technical requirements
WS-Management
PSSessions
Remoting on Linux
Remoting over SSH
The double-hop problem
CIM sessions
Just Enough Administration
Summary
15
Asynchronous Processing
Asynchronous Processing
Working with jobs
Reacting to events
Using runspaces and runspace pools
Summary
16
Graphical User Interfaces
Graphical User Interfaces
About Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
Designing a UI
About XAML
Displaying the UI
Layout
Naming and locating elements
Handling events
Responsive interfaces
Summary
17
Scripts, Functions, and Script Blocks
Scripts, Functions, and Script Blocks
About style
Capabilities of scripts, functions, and script blocks
Parameters and the param block
The CmdletBinding attribute
The Alias attribute
begin, process, end, and cleanup
Managing output
Working with long lines
Comment-based help
Summary
18
Parameters, Validation, and Dynamic Parameters
Parameters, Validation, and Dynamic Parameters
The Parameter attribute
Validating input
Pipeline input
Defining parameter sets
Argument completers
Dynamic parameters
Summary
19
Classes and Enumerations
Classes and Enumerations
Defining an enumeration
Creating a class
Classes for parameters
Classes and DSC
Summary
20
Building Modules
Building Modules
Technical requirements
Creating a module
Publishing a module
Multi-file module layout
Module scope
Initializing and removing modules
Summary
21
Testing
Testing
Technical requirements
Static analysis
Testing with Pester
Summary
22
Error Handling
Error Handling
Error types
Error actions
Raising errors
Catching errors
Summary
23
Debugging and Troubleshooting
Debugging and Troubleshooting
Common problems
Debugging in the console
Debugging in Visual Studio Code
Summary
24
Other Books You May Enjoy
Other Books You May Enjoy
25
Index
Index

Lists, dictionaries, queues, and stacks

Arrays and Hashtables are integral to PowerShell and being able to manipulate these is critical. If these simple structures fail to provide an efficient means of working with a set of data, there are advanced alternatives.

The following .NET collections are discussed:

  • System.Collections.Generic.List
  • System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary
  • System.Collections.Generic.Queue
  • System.Collections.Generic.Stack

Each of these collections has detailed documentation (for .NET) available on Microsoft Docs:

https://docs.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.collections.generic

System.Collections.Generic.List

A list is similar to an array, but with a larger set of features, such as the ability to add elements without copying into a new array. A generic list using the .NET class System.Collections.Generic.List is shown next.

ArrayList is often used in examples requiring advanced array manipulation in PowerShell...

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