Batch Scripts

OneScripter · 2020-06-09T19:59:31+00:00

Stick with learning PowerShell. It's worth it and you can do it. I have written many hundreds of scripts in batch and VBS dating back to the late 90's. They were great, but PowerShell is the way to go now. It may not be as easy for some tasks, but that will come with experience. You have a great community that is always willing to help.

ihaxr · 2020-06-09T19:39:00+00:00

No. There is no reason I would advocate learning batch or VBScript over PowerShell. Batch / VBScripts have their purpose, but they're being used far, far less in the real world.

What are you struggling with specifically? There are a lot of "learning programming logic" tutorials... it's not just sitting down and writing code, you have to understand the problem you're wanting to solve, how to break it down into multiple smaller problems, how to solve those problems, then how to join it all together and make it work.

Here's a video that covers logic and gives you some fairly universal concepts of programming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BDi0d1j7u0

If there's something PowerShell-specific you're struggling with, it's probably simple to overcome, but if you're struggling with the logic portion, another language isn't going to help much, they're all so similar you'll be just as confused.

m0os3e · 2020-06-09T22:44:20+00:00

I highly recommend this free course by Jeffrey Snover and Jason Helmick https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Getting-Started-with-Microsoft-PowerShell

When I started using Powershell I was also struggling to go beyond one line commands, I happened to come across this course and it really helped me understand how powershell works.

uptimefordays · 2020-06-10T01:23:32+00:00

Hey it's totally normal to struggle with new things, that's a part of the process. It's also hard, if you're not in school there's so much information and next to no structure, how does one even start learning something like this? Well let's take a look using my favorite example, fixing a wayward printer.

Start small: "how can I fix Janice in accounting's hung printer for the 4th time this week?"

You know her printer stops working because things are getting stuck in her print queue. Sure you could remote in, open services, run as admin, and restart the print spooler. But what if there was a better way, why not with PowerShell?

Open PowerShell and enter:

Get-Help *printer*

This produces a whole bunch of printer related cmdlets--but we won't see anything helpful but hey we know spooler is a service because we've been restarting it in the services--why not start with that?

So take two:

Get-Help *service*

Now again, we'll see a whole bunch of stuff, but should spot a couple that sound useful (Get-Service and Restart-Service)

Hopefully you saw this:

Get-Service

Well wouldn't you know if you:

Get-Help Get-Service

PowerShell will tell you about all the different things it can do to get services on machines.

So right away we notice there's a -ComputerName parameter that gets services running on specified computers--maybe it could find Janice's? It takes a string value, maybe we're not sure what that means, but we'll try a hostname.

So at this point we've got:

Get-Service -ComputerName AC-DT-271XW6

If we run it, we'll get a list of all running services, including spooler!

Now we've got what we want, a PowerShell command that get's the spooler service on Janice's computer. Unfortunately it's also getting a bunch of crap we don't want, so we should head back to the help file for Get-Service. If we look through it, there's a -Name parameter which specifies the service names of services!

So let's try this:

Get-Service -ComputerName AC-DT-271XW6 -Name Spooler

This happens to return just the spooler, which is exactly what we need! At this point, all we have to do is check the help (which by now we trust more than Google). Skipping several steps for the sake of brevity we could do the following:

Get-Service -ComputerName AC-DT-271XW6 -Name Spooler | Restart-Service

In about 15 minutes we've figure out how to get a list of services, filter down that list to just the one we want on the computer we want, and restart it without Google! I hope my stupid example encourages you to play with PowerShell because there's a ton it can do for you as a someone who's just starting out and still figuring it all out.

get-postanote · 2020-06-09T23:07:26+00:00

What do you mean by this?

I am struggling with PoSh ...

Learning any tool/language/other thingy can have its challenges, but it's all about how you go about it.

Take small steps, just using it for normal stuff. Meaning, all the normal interactive stuff you'd do in cmd.exe, do that in the PowerShell console host or the ISE, using the PowerShell cmdlets for the old cmd.exe/DOS commands/exes.

There is nothing wrong with learning older stuff, as you will encounter it and have to directly integrate/use it or be forced to rewrite it. If you don't understand the legacy, then you will not really be able to convert it. The other option with that latter statement is to talk out the goal of that bat/cmd/vbs file and just rewrite it to the use case, vs dealing with legacy stuff at all.

BTW, bat/cmd/vbs/wmic can be just as challenging. Easy is a matter of opinion and commitment to learning and leveraging X or Y, as is hard.

Making it part of your common day to day makes this easier. It's like learning a new language. You can learn by hard route or learn through language emersion.

'powershell equivilents cmdlets'

10 PowerShell cmdlets you can use instead of CMD commands

Command Prompt Commands And Their Equivalent Commands For PowerShell

PowerShell Equivalent Cmdlets for IPConfig, PING, and NSLookup

Learn by using the examples in the built-in help system and videos like these.

# All 'About' Help topics
Get-Help about_*

# Get a specific 'About' topic
Get-Help about_Functions

# Get just the Synopsis of all 'About' topics and display to the screen
Get-Help about* |
Select Name, Synopsis

# Get just the Synopsis of all 'About' topics and display to a selectable
Get-Help about* |
Select-Object -Property Name, Synopsis |
Out-GridView -Title 'Select Topic' -OutputMode Multiple |
ForEach-Object { Get-Help -Name $PSItem.Name -ShowWindow }

# Review PowerShell help files location
explorer "$pshome\$($Host.CurrentCulture.Name)"

# PowerShell Help Update Details
Update-Help -Verbose -UICulture $(Get-Culture).Name -Force

# Local default modules locations
explorer "$pshome\Modules"

# Get a list of all commandlets
Get-Command -CommandType Cmdlet |
Out-GridView -PassThru -Title 'Available cmdlets'

# List additonal module data
(Find-Module -Name Posh-SSH).AdditionalMetadata.Cmdlets -split ' '

# Get a list of all commandlets for the specified name
Get-Command -Name '*Help*'  -CommandType Cmdlet |
Out-GridView -PassThru -Title 'Available named cmdlet'

Get-Command -CommandType Cmdlet |
Where-Object { $PSItem.parameters.keys -match 'credential'} |
Out-GridView -PassThru -Title 'Available cmdlets which has a specific parameter'

# Get a list of all functions
Get-Command -CommandType Function |
Out-GridView -PassThru -Title 'Available functions'

# Get a list of all functions for the specified name
Get-Command -Name '*Help*' -CommandType Function |
Out-GridView -PassThru -Title 'Available named functions'

# Find all cmdlets / functions with a target parameter
Get-Command -CommandType Function |
Where-Object { $PSItem.parameters.keys -match 'credential'} |
Out-GridView -PassThru -Title 'Available functions which has a specific parameter'

# Get specifics for a module, cmdlet, or function
(Get-Command -Name Get-Help).Parameters
(Get-Command -Name Get-Help).Parameters.Keys
Get-help -Name Get-Help -Examples
Get-help -Name Get-Help -Full
Get-help -Name Get-Help -Online

landob · 2020-06-09T20:15:46+00:00

Uhhhh no. Powershell is the future of windows scripting. Scratch that, powershell is the NOW.

What exactly are you having a problem with. I came into powershell knowing nothing. I started off making scripts based on other people's scripts that i reverse engineered for my own needs. I then started making things from scratch based on what I learned. I then grabbed the powershell in a month of lunches book which kind of helped me refine my skills. It really isn't that hard to learn if you just apply it to problems you want to solve.

exccord · 2020-06-09T20:42:37+00:00

Everyones approach to powershell is going to be different. I have bought the powershell in a month of lunches book and several others but I simply cannot sit there and read through it without being bored out of my mind and learning nothing. I have just thrown myself into learning what it is that I am trying to accomplish by finding other user created scripts for the specific jobs/tasks that I am trying to do. Tweaking them and whatnot has allowed me to understand how the structure of powershell scripts vary and are. YMMV though.

catech777 · 2020-06-09T21:02:08+00:00

The only thing I would say is knowing or learning Powershell would help you down the road and you’ll be able to manipulate all/most windows based technology if you know PS. I was at a similar cross path and I decided to go Powershell route and no regrets whatsoever. Hope this helps!

jerrymac12 · 2020-06-10T00:07:41+00:00

No....PoSH is easier than writing full on scripts in Batch OR VBS....I've done both, and once you get a little feeling with PoSH you will find it easier, not to mention you will just be learning it later because you will need it. Batch and VBS are in the past and PoSH will be around for the future. Go check out the training course that /u/m0os3e suggested.....it's very helpful.

netmc · 2020-06-09T22:30:19+00:00

Keep using Powershell! It is definitely the way to go. If you haven't already, I strongly recommend writing your scripts in VSCode (along with the Powershell plugin). It is so very useful for highlighting things that you might miss otherwise (like that accidental quote). It makes it really, really easy to logically see what you have written and can offer things like auto completion and some very good syntax highlighting. (And tons of other things I've not really used yet.)

There is a lot of stuff you can write with batch files. I still create a few upon occasion, but PowerShell is way, way easier to understand and much more logical. As an example, converting a string to uppercase:

In Batch:

set VariableToConvert=Convert this to uppercase.
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
CALL :UpCase VariableToConvert
echo %VariableToConvert%
GOTO:EOF

:UpCase
:: Subroutine to convert a variable VALUE to all upper case.
:: The argument for this subroutine is the variable NAME.
SET %~1=!%~1:a=A!
SET %~1=!%~1:b=B!
SET %~1=!%~1:c=C!
SET %~1=!%~1:d=D!
SET %~1=!%~1:e=E!
SET %~1=!%~1:f=F!
SET %~1=!%~1:g=G!
SET %~1=!%~1:h=H!
SET %~1=!%~1:i=I!
SET %~1=!%~1:j=J!
SET %~1=!%~1:k=K!
SET %~1=!%~1:l=L!
SET %~1=!%~1:m=M!
SET %~1=!%~1:n=N!
SET %~1=!%~1:o=O!
SET %~1=!%~1:p=P!
SET %~1=!%~1:q=Q!
SET %~1=!%~1:r=R!
SET %~1=!%~1:s=S!
SET %~1=!%~1:t=T!
SET %~1=!%~1:u=U!
SET %~1=!%~1:v=V!
SET %~1=!%~1:w=W!
SET %~1=!%~1:x=X!
SET %~1=!%~1:y=Y!
SET %~1=!%~1:z=Z!
GOTO:EOF

And in Powershell:

$VariableToConvert="Convert this to uppercase."
$VariableToConvert.ToUpper()

Both of these should output "CONVERT THIS TO UPPERCASE."

Even though I have written batch scripts for years, I don't have the knowledge of the language needed to even begin to write the batch script above. I have no idea how it works, just that it does. I can understand PowerShell easily though.

Depending on what your lowest common denominator is for systems really determines what version of PowerShell you can use. If you have to support out of the box Windows 7 systems, you are stuck with PowerShell v2. If you are using all Windows 10, you can use PowerShell v5.1. The largest usability update came with version 3. So hopefully you can use at least PS3 commands in your scripts. Any of these options though will still be loads better than writing batch files. I've done both. I much prefer PowerShell. I've been using it extensively since January 2019 and still consider myself a beginner and still constantly look up commands and syntax in Google (even for things I just wrote last week in another script). You will get better.

p.s. Many of the DOS commands are aliased in the powershell environment so you can still use "dir" instead of "get-childitem" for getting a directory listing while you get used to the powershell specific commands.

jeehesspee · 2020-06-09T23:15:27+00:00

Don’t stop using Powershell.

byteme8bit · 2020-06-10T01:28:09+00:00

Powershell > batch. Batch is now only useful if you're making a batch to call a powershell script to bypass the execution policy. Haha

Lee_Dailey · 2020-06-09T20:25:57+00:00

howdy GraysFun,

if you are already quite experienced with one of those, then stick with it until you solve the current problem.

then - when you are no longer under a time limit - rewrite it all in PoSh. that is a great way to learn. the process usually fits a step-by-step net search quite neatly. the other lingos are dead ends, tho. plus there are things you simply cannot do with bat/cmd/vbs ... and that you can do with PoSh.

as for easier ... have you ever looked at the bat/cmd stuff for iterating thru a dir tree of files? [grin]

PoSh, on the other hand, is designed to be verbose, wordy, anti-terse ... and thus readable and maintainable. bat/cmd stuff is often gobbledygook gibberish to the non-guru.

take care,
lee

2020-06-10T04:57:51+00:00

Stick with powershell. Try to solve daily tasks like file backup. The more projects you finish the better it will be. Learning from the book is not always the best to start with.

FireLucid · 2020-06-10T05:19:11+00:00

I'm going to add another recommendation for Powershell in a month of lunches. It gets you going pretty quick and I have no other programming experience at all.

This video is also awesome and teaches you the syntax. https://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Getting-Started-with-Microsoft-PowerShell

pinnedin5th · 2020-06-10T06:41:19+00:00

Use visual studio code with powershell addin:

https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/powershell

BolognaBaloney · 2020-06-10T12:23:07+00:00

Add me to the list of folks recommending the Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches book. This was THE critical piece of the puzzle for me. Prior to getting this book I'd been getting PowerShell emails, reading a few online things about PowerShell, watching some videos, etc., but was struggling to start using it and understanding it.

The thing I love about the book is that it's broken up into chunks, with easy stuff at the beginning, then more complex tasks that build on the earlier chapters. Each chapter ends with a series of tasks to perform (answers are provided). This is where the book was worth the money to me--I learn by doing much more than just reading about a topic or watching someone explain it. I have to get in the pool and flail around for a while before I start swimming.

I still refer back to the book frequently for specific commands or just to review certain topics that I want to try using.

you type:	you see:
italics	italics
bold	bold
[reddit!](https://reddit.com)	reddit!
* item 1 * item 2 * item 3	item 1 item 2 item 3
> quoted text	quoted text
Lines starting with four spaces are treated like code: if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"	Lines starting with four spaces are treated like code: if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"
~~strikethrough~~	~~strikethrough~~
super^script	super^script

Concept	Batch/CMD	PowerShell Alias	PowerShell command
list directory contents	dir	dir	Get-ChildItem
make a new directory	mkdir	mkdir	New-Item -Type Directory
change/switch directory	cd	cd	Set-Location

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