Administration and Automation with Windows PowerShell

Explore the history and branches of Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core, master the command line interface and basic cmdlets, and learn how aliases, functions, and workflows empower admins across platforms.

Discover how to choose between 64-bit PowerShell and 32-bit options, compare desktop and core editions, manage admin rights, and view version information using the version table.

Learn to master PowerShell command line fundamentals by customizing the console—font size, layout, color, and opacity—and log sessions with start and stop transcript.

Advance PowerShell efficiency using built-in and customizable keyboard shortcuts. Use up/down for history, tab and control-space for autocomplete and parameter suggestions, editing with arrows, and control+r for backward history search.

Explore Windows Terminal as a modern, flexible alternative to the built-in console, featuring multi-tab environments, support for PowerShell Core, Azure Cloud Shell, and Linux subsystems, with customizable backgrounds and panes.

Master the PowerShell cmdlet structure by applying verb-noun naming, using dash parameters, and distinguishing positional versus named parameters, switches, and comma-separated value lists.

Discover how to access PowerShell help with get-help and help, view full help, examples, and online or detail parameters, and use show-window for a focused reference.

Discover how to efficiently locate PowerShell commands using help, Get-Command, and wildcards, filter by modules such as Active Directory, and explore aliases and Show-Command for interactive search.

Learn how to extend PowerShell with modules, discover and install them from the PowerShell Gallery or trusted repositories, load them automatically, and manage via get-module, install-module, update-module, and uninstall-module.

Learn to use PowerShell for command-line administration, performing general server management with handy commands like get computer info, manage Windows features, join domains, rename computers, and test computer secure channel.

Explore Paracel networking commands in Windows PowerShell, including GetNet IP address, GetNet adapter statistics, DNS client and server settings, and connectivity tests like Test-NetConnection.

Master Hyper-V management with Windows PowerShell, creating and configuring virtual machines, applying checkpoints, and enabling and measuring VM resource metering across single hosts or entire data centers.

Master PowerShell comparison operators to filter data and set thresholds, using equal, not equal, greater than, greater than or equal, less than, less than or equal, and like with wildcards.

Learn to query on-premises Active Directory from the command line using Windows PowerShell and the Active Directory tools, including prepackaged searches for disabled, expired, inactive, and locked-out accounts.

Customize active directory searches with PowerShell using Get-ADUser, Get-ADOrganizationalUnit, Get-ADComputer, and Get-ADGroup, narrowing results with search base and ldap filters and selecting properties.

Learn to automate active directory tasks from the command line with PowerShell, including creating users, groups, and computers, managing passwords securely, unlocking accounts, and updating attributes with hash tables.

Explore the Azure PowerShell ecosystem, install module A-Z from the PowerShell Gallery, and manage Azure resources with Azure Cloud Shell commands.

Explore the power shell pipeline as an assembly line that passes results between small, single-task commands using the pipe, a concept that exists in any shell.

Explore how powershell pipelines produce objects instead of text, and learn to use get-member to inspect object types, properties, and methods; practice dot notation, variables, and comparisons.

Format the pipeline output with format list, format table, format wide, or custom to present a list or table, noting these commands alter objects and should be last in pipeline.

Explore how PowerShell passes data through the pipeline by value and by property name, using examples like test-netconnection and get-content to process strings and file lists.

Explore how PowerShell binds pipeline input by property name, using Import-Csv and custom objects to map computer name and port parameters, and handle mismatched properties.

Learn how parentheses change the order of operations in the PowerShell pipeline for one-liners, enabling first-executed subexpressions and extracting single properties like the IP address.

Discover how the measure-object command in PowerShell counts pipeline items and performs calculations like sum, average, min, and max on properties, producing a measurement object for further use.

Learn to sort objects in PowerShell using Sort-Object with ascending and descending orders. Apply unique filters and multi criteria sorts, including primary and secondary keys and hash table orders.

Explore using PowerShell’s Select-Object to pick items by index, skip entries, and display chosen properties in a specified order, including expanding multi-valued properties like member of to reveal group memberships.

Learn to create calculated properties with select-object using a hash table, rename and format data, convert memory units to megabytes, and reference the current object with dollar underscore.

Master filtering in the Paracel pipeline by using where-object basics and advanced syntax, comparing properties with operators, and prioritizing leftmost filtering for efficiency.

Enumerate objects in the PowerShell pipeline with the for each object command, applying multiple operations per item via advanced syntax, curly braces, and the dollar underscore.

Learn how to pipe pipeline results to files using out-file, export-csv, and export-xml, preserving hierarchy with seelie xml, and choose formats like json or html for later use.

PowerShell providers let you interact with data stores (registry, cert stores) as if they were a file system, using familiar commands. Map providers to drives and navigate with standard cmdlets.

Explore the filesystem provider in PowerShell, navigate directories with set-location and get-content aliases, and map network drives using the new drive command with persist and explorer considerations.

Explore how the registry provider in Paracel enables navigating the Windows registry and reading or changing values with item commands, illustrated by enabling remote desktop via the registry.

Manage certificates with the PowerShell certificate provider, list from the current user and local machine stores, use expiring in days to identify certs, and export or import with private keys.

Explore how the Web Services Management Protocol powers PowerShell remoting by using the WSMan provider and drive to configure trusted hosts, envelope size, and idle timeout.

Understand how WMI enables remote querying and changes on Windows systems using scripts in any language, with commands like get wmi object, invoke wmi method, and register wmi event.

Explore CIM, the common information model, and how SIM evolves from WMI to extend Windows management beyond, using get-sim instance, invoking methods, and persistent sessions.

Explore how WMI and CIM share architecture by tracing the broker, management objects, and providers that query remote systems, governed by a namespace repository such as the root crm v2.

Explore discovering WMI and CIM classes, properties, and methods using Paracel and WMI Explorer, with practical tips to browse, filter, and query class instances efficiently.

Explore basic WMI queries with the -filter parameter in PowerShell, using Get-WMIObject to fetch class instances and craft concise WQL filters for physical disks, drives, and network adapters.

Learn the WMI query language syntax, including select, from, and where, to query classes like logical disk, and use Get-WmiObject or Get-CimInstance with sessions and query parameter to filter results.

Learn to craft precise WMI queries using like and not with % wildcards and quotes. Filter services with Get-WmiObject and select from Win32_Service by name, state, and start mode.

Use WMI to access the Windows registry locally or remotely via the registry provider, querying release IDs and product names.

Master using variables as named memory locations in PowerShell, including arrays and hash tables in scripts, and storing and reusing text, files, or data with automatic and predefined variables.

Explore how single vs double quotes affect variable expansion in PowerShell strings, escape dollars with backticks, use subexpressions for complex variables, and concatenate or line breaks long strings.

Cast variables in Windows PowerShell to declare data types and ensure proper handling. Use strings, integers, doubles, booleans, and datetimes, along with type operators and array practices.

Explore how to work with variables, access properties and methods, and use get-member, tab completion, and property syntax within the PowerShell pipeline to retrieve and filter data.

Master string manipulation in PowerShell using methods such as insert, remove, replace, split, substring, and trim, with case handling and non-destructive operations.

Learn to work with dates in PowerShell by casting strings to date time, using Get-Date, storing in variables, and manipulating dates with add days and TimeSpan.

Explore how PowerShell distinguishes scalar and array variables, creates and manipulates arrays, accesses items by index, range, and count, and uses plus equals and casting for multi-valued data.

Learn to test for exact items in large collections using in, contains, and not in within PowerShell; understand case sensitivity and that these are exact, not partial, matches.

Learn to import data from files in PowerShell, using get-content for plain text, import-csv with custom delimiters, import-clixml for xml, and convert-from-json in pipelines.

PowerShell uses the dot net array lists to provide dynamic, easily modifiable collections. Create, add, and remove items with array lists, unlike static arrays.

Explore how hash tables act as associative arrays with unique keys and PowerShell usage for set, add, remove, and calculated properties.

Learn to create and use hash tables in PowerShell, including one-dimensional and multidimensional structures, for splatting, firewall rule configuration, and organized data storage.

Explore how PowerShell supports one-liner commands and long-running scripts to automate work. Learn to use downloaded scripts wisely, tweak existing code, and move toward toolmaking when no off-the-shelf solution fits.

Learn how Windows PowerShell secures script execution, from preventing automatic runs to explicit path invocation (dot slash) and policies like restricted, all signed, remote signed, unrestricted, and bypass.

Learn best practices for formatting PowerShell scripts, including consistent capitalization, full command and parameter names, and clear indentation, plus the use of comments to boost readability and troubleshooting.

Learn to use a real editor to write PowerShell scripts, boosting efficiency for larger projects. Compare built-in ISE with Visual Studio Code, noting line numbers, linting, and GitHub integration.

Explore if statements, else and else if, and switch constructs, evaluating conditions to execute script blocks; learn to test connections, display online or offline messages with color.

Learn how to use the PowerShell switch statement to handle multiple menu options, with defaults, wildcards, and regex, plus interactive menus via a here string and read-host.

Explore foreach in PowerShell to enumerate a collection and apply the same operation to each item, with or without the pipeline. Build and update user properties like names and emails.

Master the for loop in PowerShell by setting the start, end, and increment, and use it to enumerate IP ranges, such as 172.16.0.0 to 172.16.0.254.

Learn the differences between do, do while, do until, and while loops, including execution order and condition-based repetition, with examples like a progress indicator and a menu.

Master break and continue to control loops in PowerShell, exiting loops early or skipping iterations in switch and for/foreach. See practical examples across providers and ranges.

Gather input safely by prompting for usernames and passwords, using read-host, get-credential, and git credential, and enhance scripts with grid view or forms to avoid hard-coding and enable interactive selection.

Define a parameter block at the top of the script to pass computer name and username, avoiding hard coded values and increasing flexibility.

Add comment-based help to PowerShell scripts using dot keywords like dot synopsis and dot parameter to expose accessible help via the help system.

Identify syntax, logic, and runtime errors in Windows PowerShell scripts, read error messages, and use debugging and error handling to decide when to continue or halt execution.

Master robust error handling in Windows PowerShell by configuring the ErrorActionPreference, using try-catch-finally, and applying per-command error actions alongside foreach loops to process computers individually and report issues.

Master debugging PowerShell by using breakpoints, step in, step over, and step out to inspect variables and logic errors, then fix misnamed properties like last boot up time.

Create reusable tools by turning scripts into functions that encapsulate a single task. Load them into memory, use from the command line, and package for distribution, following Microsoft naming conventions.

Explore how scope defines memory boundaries for variables, aliases, and functions in PowerShell, and learn to manage global versus script scopes with dot sourcing.

Package and distribute functions as script modules to extend PowerShell, using install, update, and find module commands and private repositories, with module path and module manifest for sharing.

Explore how PowerShell remoting uses the Web Services Management Protocol to run remote commands, and enable it via enable-remoting or group policy, with firewall rules and Windows Remote Management settings.

Explore securing remote PowerShell remoting by configuring admin access, firewall behavior, and mutual authentication with Kerberos or certificates, and understand when to use trusted hosts.

Explore how PowerShell remoting relies on mutual authentication and when to use trusted hosts when certificates or Kerberos are unavailable, including configuring trusted hosts for Azure VMs.

Discover one-to-one remoting in PowerShell using enter session to run commands on a remote system, authenticated via Kerberos, with aliases and remote tabs for multiple hosts.

Execute one-to-many remoting with invoke-command to run scripts or script blocks on many systems in parallel, retrieving serialized results for sorting and grouping by computer name.

Learn to pass locally defined variables to remote systems with invoke-command using the argument-list approach, bridging local scope to remote scope with parameter blocks, and compare with the newer shortcut.

Learn how to pass local variables to remote systems with the using scope modifier in invoke-command, replacing the argument list for seamless parameter transfer.

Explain the double-hop remoting problem and impersonation in Windows, and why credentials are not forwarded by default. Discuss workarounds like domain machine accounts and Kerberos constrained delegation, including KRED SSP.

Establish PS sessions to remote systems to improve performance and avoid repeated authentication. Preserve aliases and variables, then reconnect or disconnect as needed for long-running tasks, with a two-hour timeout.

Borrow remote commands with implicit remoting by creating a remote session to a system with the tools, importing modules so commands appear local, and running them across servers.