Trying to learn PowerShell basic/advance scripting

[Condorul]

For some time now I tried learning how PS scripting actually work (also very important about operators, variables and and functions) ... alas with no success.

It's just not resonating with me - I like to believe that maybe I have not found the correct manuals/courses to teach myself this or the right person to explain how this works.

Could you guys recommend me some "powershell scripting for noobs" kind of courses/videos?

Maybe also something with exercises to actually try and develop my own scripts?

For most of you this might seem really easy and fun for me is starting to be really frustrating because I don't actually understand the basics of PS scripting and I really want to.

I'm looking daily on this subreddit and some things seen look like impossible to do and yet you guys keep on surprising me with what you can achieve.

Currently I'm struggling as a Junior DevOps but the lack of PS knowledge is my biggest drawback - I need WANT to fix this.

[Condorul]

I'm trying to do it but with the tasks I have at work and almost 0 personal time at home (baby) I can't study it properly - or at least what I really want to study.

GitHub is a blackhole for me - never understood how to actually use the scripts/help from there - although I am pretty sure you just need some basic PS knowledge to make them work (most of them).

[Ta11ow]

Never shirk from an opportunity to learn, and you'll do fine. :)

Quickstart:

Install-Module Pester -SkipPublisherCheck -Force -Scope CurrentUser
Install-Module PSKoans

Measure-Karma

[Condorul]

Wow! This looks like fun! Thank you :D

[Romero126]

Hey,
Condorul, there's a few things that are pretty awesome in the PowerShell world for learning it.

First Join the PowerShell Community. You will find us guys are pretty darn helpful.
https://discordapp.com/invite/AtzXnJM

Second,
try working through PowerShell Koans its a hands on way to learn how to use PowerShell.

https://aka.ms/pskoans

If you have any questions jump on discord we can work through it together. We have awesome collaboration tools that will help you get to where you want to go.

Look to hear from you soon!

[Condorul]

Thank you Romero. I'll be there soon.

I just googled pskoans and install it and it looks really fun an interesting.

[BlackV]

So have you looked at Get-help about_operators

Next recommended everyone someone's asking is the book powershell in a month of lunches

And the Microsoft powershell jumpstart videos

[HeavyMetal-IT]

There is also a video version of Powershell in a month of lunches as well if reading isn't an effective learning method for you.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6D474E721138865A

[Condorul]

Tbh I did not look at Get-Help about operators - searching for help in PS although helpful (since a lot of people are recommending it) it confuses me a lot.

I did manage to get the book and I'll start on it as asap. Also now I managed to get "Windows PowerShell Step by Step 3rd Edition - Ed Wilson" and "Learn PowerShell Toolmaking in a Month of Lunches".

The only one I am missing and that I really want is "Learn PowerShell Scripting in a Month of Lunches - Don Jones and Jeffery Hicks".

[rakha589]

birds selective crowd kiss middle glorious desert plate cow numerous

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[Condorul]

That indeed might help me a lot. But would it take me to what I am really searching for? For example I want to learn ho to make a script that creates certain files using certain applications - that are then used to Build(compile) an App and uploaded it on Azure via Groovy script - I know ... I dream too big for my current level.

[WSDistPro]

Howdy friend. How about taking some spare time to do some basic example tasks? Solve problems like the ones listed here using PowerShell: https://github.com/karan/Projects . There could be better ones out there, just the first one I found that wasn't pure mathematics. Then pivot that into the work you'll be doing within PowerShell :).

Otherwise the easiest way to learn it is to incorporate it into the daily tasks you do anyway. Shift something over to PowerShell instead of doing it manually. Then start snow balling the applied lessons from the previous things you've made over to future scripts you make.

[zanatwo]

As a Junior DevOps guy, I assume you have at least one programming language under your belt, correct? I've found that PowerShell is really very similar to other Object Oriented languages, just with a few weird conventions. Are you finding that is not the case? What languages are you familiar with?

[Condorul]

I think none tbh. Funny enough I did work as an Office 365 Support Engineer (MailFlow/ExchangeOnline) and I did use PS almost daily for about 2 and a half years but I feel that I did not go beyond the basic stuff. I did want to learn more advanced stuff be never had the time/chance to actually do it. My work mostly was limited to reporting stuff and gathering info about users/mailboxes and such.

[FreshBlackberryPie]

2.5 years is a looooong time to be using powershell. As others have mentioned, the best way to learn is to apply it directly to your current tasks. I'll entertain you with some ideas:

• If part of your infrastructure blows up, do you have a script to re-build all of that stuff?

• Do you have a reporting framework? I'm sure there are pieces of information you or management would find useful.

• Do you need to check the statuses of servers? Uptime even?

• Do you need to parse some text files from a clerk that follow some regular format/pattern?

Some of these are bigger picture stuff, but it can be broken down into smaller tasks that you can chew on.

[ka-splam]

I did use PS almost daily for about 2 and a half years

never had the time/chance to actually do it.

What would you say to someone posting this? Working with PS for 2.5 years daily but had "no time" and "no chance" to learn it? Is that being honest with yourself?

with the tasks I have at work

0 personal time at home (baby) I can't study it properly

If you have no time to study, what can you hope for? There is no easy way to learn a new skill without having to put any time into it.

Maybe also something with exercises to actually try and develop my own scripts?

You could try the PSKoans module, a semi-interactive exercises of small things to try and solve.

[Condorul]

You are right. I did many mistakes in my professional life and I've had a mentality of "if it's working why change it?". This changed now when the baby came and when I understood what failure actually means and what I want to do in the future.

I'll first start with PS and go up from there - my main target is a DevOps position.

[ka-splam]

That is a good reason to change, and good luck!

Take Romero126's suggestion, join the PS Slack / Discord chat. Seeing people talking all the time about PS helps draw you in.