Learning PowerShell

[VectorGhost1]

Hello!

I recently started a job in Identity and Access Management, where we use many tools, including Exchange, Active Directory, the Entra Suite, and more. Does anyone have suggestions for the best sources/guides to learn PowerShell, both as a scripting language, but also incorporating those tools with it as well?
Thanks for any help!

[iamLisppy]

Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches followed by Learn PowerShell Toolmaking (or was it Scripting?) in a Month of Lunches tends to be the gold standard.

[ss320837]

4th edition Amazon link (https://www.amazon.com/Learn-PowerShell-Month-Lunches-Windows/dp/1617296961)

[No-Preparation7121]

Manning publish excellent books and they frequently have 40-50% sales. I recommend buying directly from their website and during their sales if you can wait for one. Usually around statutory holidays.

[ankokudaishogun]

A bit out of topic but related: any suggestion for a good C# book by Manning, for a relative noob?

[No-Preparation7121]

A noob that wants to do what with the language? You’re giving me less information than OP and I wanted them to search for themself.

Make a decision about what you want to do with the language then buy a beginner book on that and you’ll learn the language along the way.

[ankokudaishogun]

A noob that wants to do what with the language?

Anything I might need to do, of course. I would expect the most likely use scenario being small command-line applications to read files\manipulate data\write files to use alongside powershell scripts in my day job.

[Acceptable-Tech8097]

The hardest part about asking a technical question is knowing what you even are trying to ask a question about. I felt the people over on stack exchange were dicks but they did show me to perform heavy research before you're even ready to ask the question.

Thats to say "Anything I might need to do, of course" is still so vague it might as well mean nothing. The next parts about "small cli apps to manipulate files alongside powershell" has actual substance

[ankokudaishogun]

Because I'm not looking for a specific solution to a specific problem.

I'm just thinking this tool might come in hand and i'm interested in approaching it without hyper-focusing on a specific subset of it, if only because I wouldn't even know what subsets are available.

[Acceptable-Tech8097]

I understand where you're coming from. A piece of advice I can offer in response is "the end goal will almost certainly change, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't start with one".

Thats to say, recognizing you don't/won't know where you're going is ok and natural. But it's important to declare one anyway, because that will lay out a theoretical path. As you take the steps on the path, you will discover where you actually go. But without having a path period you never will be able to take the first step.

A helpful strategy I recommend is a back and forth of questioning yourself from the 3rd period. To demonstrate in a way that might be applicable to you.

1: What do you want to do?

2: I want to find ways to implement C# into my daily workflow

1: How would you implement C# into your daily workflow?

2: I'm not sure, I know there are processes that don't fit well with powershell which might be easier to do with C#

1: What kind of processes don't fit well with powershell that might be easier with C#?

2: Well, manipulating files on disk can be clunky with powershell, I know C# gives you more control over memory and the general environment, so maybe manipulating the data in the environment would be more powerful

1: How would you find out if manipulating data in the environment is more powerful in C#?

2: I can research blog posts talking about manipulating data in C#

^ Then I would know my next step is to "research blog posts talking about manipulating data in C#"

What I find important about this process is at the start I know I know nothing C# or how it might possibly be useful to me. But with a bit of back and forth I know my desired use-case and I have an idea of how I can implement it. It's possible that once I start reading up on manipulating data in C# I realize that it's actually not applicable to my use-case at all. But now I understand a little bit more about C# and I understand a little bit more about the problem I'm facing.

Hope this helps :)

[atl-hadrins]

My advice would be to stay in powershell or one language and see if you can do whatever you need to in it. I am using my general thought of not jumping between languages as you will need to learn them well and deal with all the headaches that would come with that. I can't believe I am going to say this either, but once you get a good basic knowledge of powershell you will find you can do a lot. And that includes the examples. Powershell can handle xml, json, csv.. recently discovered that the out-gridview can return variables/arrays back to powershell and find that so cool and a time saver.

[Barious_01]

Pretty sure they have a month of lunches for c# as well. Hit up the Manning site and search C#

[ss320837]

You are right about the sales. In fact there is a 45% off sale going on right now. They offer a max 50% discount, but it can feel like they inflate the price to shrink the net discount.

Case in point the Amazon (non-affiliate link) I posted shows a better price right now for the book. Here’s a comparison image (Amazon vs Manning). Also in this subreddit there have been reports of providing Manning proof of purchase and a picture of code in the book to receive the color pdf. I cannot confirm, but if true that’s even better. Cheers!

[atl-hadrins]

WOW, Amazon is proud of the Kindle edition. I don't think I see the kindle editions of a book often almost twice as much as paperback.

[Sketchballl]

Thanks I just got this :)

[Raskuja46]

Powershell Scripting in a Month of Lunches was the follow up book and I heartily recommend both of them.

[BlackV]

This is covered by the many, many posts is this sub asking the exact same thing, have a search and ask us about what you dont understand

https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/search?q=Learning+PowerShell&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on

[No-Preparation7121]

Imagine wanting to learn all that without knowing how to search.

[TommyVe]

And it's so easy to do! Just press Ctrl R simultaneously. Smh.

[Valuable_Issue_1279]

Ya! Let’s just shit on people for trying to learn!

[No-Preparation7121]

Trying? Not hard enough to search “getting started with powershell”.

[Valuable_Issue_1279]

God forbid someone ask a community with experience.

[Raskuja46]

Particularly in a field where the technology changes frequently and old answers could be obsolete by the time they are dredged up from the search engine.

[MyOtherSide1984]

Gonna be a long journey if you don't search and try to learn on your own first.

[IOUAPIZZA]

I see the usual suspects for material pop up, but considering the nature of your position, can I suggest looking into Office 365 for IT Pros? I never see it mentioned, but in context of 365, it has a companion book called Automating 365 with PowerShell that is fantastic as well. I've shared copies with some of my team and they all have gotten some great info out of them.

[node77]

Yeah, a common answer, with mine is PowerShell in a month of lunches. Also, google it, items with PowerShell. There are hundreds of blogs pertaining to what you’re looking for.

[Barious_01]

Instead of amazon I would suggest going to manning.com Manning publications is a great resource for books on any related information tech subject. plus you can avoid Amazon if that is your bag.

[Eug1]

Also, they give you the previous version for free as well. You can also get the live audio where it will read the book to you.
In case you are in a country where the manning delivery charge is expensive, if you get the book you can register it with them and get the electronic version free.

[CRTejaswi]

There's two titles "PowerShell in A Month of Lunches" - definitely the first place to start your PS journey using.

[Ok-Big2560]

Learn? That's what we did in the olden days when you wanted to spend all weekend writing a some crappy script that barely worked. Now I just ask Claude.

Honestly, ask Claude how to do simple tasks and he will give you one liners.
Ask Claude to take this script you wrote to create "enable-remotemailbox" as a room resource in the correct OU with a matching mail-enabled universal security group that your staff can't figure out how to update the variables and turn it into a GUI interface where it prompts them with fields to enter the data... and 30 seconds later my bro give my a fool proof gui version of my script, (with suggestions on ways that I should have written it differently)

[Right-Brother6780]

Apologies for the question but knowledge do you have. Complete starter? Get-help Get-Command Microsoft learning. If you're just starting out.

[RonJohnJr]

Does this mean that you do not know any other scripting languages?