April 29th, 2008
New-Feature “PowerShell Quick-Tip” | Out-RSS
I’m a bit behind on releasing regular shows, so I’ve added a short feature, where we can briefly review a cmdlet or particular function of the cmdlet.
Thanks for staying tuned!
PowerShell Basics
Unlocking the new Power in the Microsoft Shell
April 15th, 2008
PowerShell vs. Code Runner .NET
I just came across a blog post on Colin’s Microsoft Developer Blog called Scripting for C#. In the post, Colin describes using Code Runner .NET to be able to quickly create a C# application and run it without having to create a new project or solution file or worry about binaries.
PowerShell can serve that exact purpose, without the overhead of launching Visual Studio or needing other tools. PowerShell can leverage the experience developers have with the .NET Framework, right at the command line.
The Code Runner .NET project includes a sample program that takes nineteen lines. Here is the PowerShell equivalent -
Write-Host $MyInvocation.MyCommand
Code Runner .NET seems to be a pretty cool project, but PowerShell in the development environment can be a very useful tool.
[NOTE: I’m a sysadmin, not a developer, so take my comparison with whatever sized grain of salt desired.]
April 7th, 2008
PoShMon for PolyMon!
I’m happy to announce the release of PoShMon - a PowerShell snap-in for working with PolyMon, an open source system monitoring solution.
This is the first release and contains some basic cmdlets for interacting with PolyMon. Cmdlets included are:
- Get-Monitor
- Set-Monitor
- New-Monitor
- Add-Operator
- Remove-Monitor
What I am looking to do with PoShMon was create a scriptable interface to create and modify monitor objects. There is a (limited) help included with this (using the standard PowerShell Get-Help structure).
Please provide me with suggestions, feature requests, and other feedback.
Installation instructions:
You will need to have the PolyMon Monitor installed. Running the install script will copy the PoShMon.dll and PoShMon.dll-Help.xml to the PolyMon\PolyMon Monitor directory and install the snap-in. It will load the snap in for the current PowerShell session.
If you would like to make the cmdlets available in other PowerShell sessions, you can use Add-PsSnapin PoShMon during your console session or add it to your profile script.
PoShMon can be downloaded here.
PoShMon’s source code can be downloaded here.
More information about PolyMon can be found here
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March 19th, 2008
Happy Birthday to A Couple Of Admins/Mind Of Root!
I’d also like to wish Mind of Root (formerly A Couple of Admins) a happy birthday and I would like to say thank you to Rich and Keith for welcoming me to the podcast (August will be a full year for me.)
If you haven’t had listened to the podcast before, we cover a wide array of sysadmin related topics, tech topics, and news stories in a less than formal structure. We also have had a number of interesting interviews.
Hope to see you there!
March 19th, 2008
Happy Birthday to the PowerScripting Podcast!
Just wanted to wish Hal and Jonathan a Happy Birthday, as the PowerScripting Podcast is now 1 year old!
They’ve also released the first half of an interview with Jeffrey Snover. Find it HERE.
Great work guys!
March 6th, 2008
Show #2 - Discoverability
PowerShell is the most discoverable command line I’m aware of. Discoverability in PowerShell means that there is a way to examine the data and methods of objects on the command line.
In this episode, I take a look at Get-Member, which allows you to inspect the properties and methods of the objects that are available from the PowerShell commandline.
Feedback is always appreciated, so please post a comment, send me an email, or find me in the PowerShell IRC chatroom (#powershell on irc.freenode.net).
February 8th, 2008
Now in WMV Format!
I was thinking last night that most people that would be installing PowerShell are probably running a Microsoft OS and should have access to Windows Media Player.. and /\/\o\/\/ (thepowershellguy.com) rightly pointed out that a base install of XP has trouble with the AVI format that Camtasia exports. I’ve also found out that the size of WMV file is 12% of the size of the AVI. So I’m posting a link to the WMV file (below) and I will start posting the WMV file in the feed. I’m also looking at the possibility of making this accessible through ITunes.
Download here: WMV Version
P.S. I have noticed in the WMV version the sound level is a bit lower.. I’ll take that into account in the next show.
P.P.S Show #2 should be a lot smoother and contain more information… I’ve learned a lot about how I need to produce a show in this format in the past few days.
February 7th, 2008
Show #1 - Installing PowerShell
Show #1 is now available.
In this show, I cover installing PowerShell (watch the installer work!), and then demonstrate some basic cmdlets for beginning to explore the shell.
Featured cmdlets:
- Get-Command
- Get-Help
- Get-Member
- Get-PSDrive
Next show :
For show #2:
- I’ll be installing the PowerShell Community Extensions and /\/\o\/\/’s PowerTab.
- We’ll work a bit more with Get-Member and introduce Get-ChildItem and Get-ItemProperty.
Disclaimer:
This was my first “real” screencast, so bear with me as I make use of some of the production tools I have available. I actually had to re-record the audio, as the record narration feature in Camtasia did not have sufficient quality for release. I’m shooting for a bi-weekly release, so that I can improve the post production work.
EDIT - I’ve changed the download to a WMV file.
February 4th, 2008
Sorry, First Show Delayed
I’m working on the final editing for the first show. Unfortunately, the demands of work called me away from the editing table this weekend. I’ll try to have the show posted by Wednesday.
The first show covers installing PowerShell and showing some of the discoverability features of PowerShell.
The second show will cover the installation of some helpful additions and a few more cmdlets to further explore the shell environment.
January 22nd, 2008
Installing PowerShell
Welcome to PowerShell Basics. In this podcast series we will be exploring Windows PowerShell and learning to wield power from the Microsoft command line.
Required:
- .NET Framework 2.0 (for x86 processors)
- PowerShell Installer
Nice Additions:
Free For Non-Commercial Use:
DNRTV Screencast on Installing PowerShell and PowerTab
Starting next week, we will be walking through in an full install of PowerShell and some of the basic cmdlets for exploring this new shell environment. Talk to you soon!
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