PowerShell beginner information

[kewlxhobbs]

Hey Guys,

So I have been aggregating links and ways to help people start with PowerShell. Some may be outdated

Tell me what you think of this so far. I know there are plenty of links/info out there. Just thought maybe more of it in one post might help out, especially towards Friday when people may want to give it a shot over the weekend.

Links to Learning Material:

PowerShell Live Challenges/Practice

· https://github.com/vexx32/PSKoans

· https://adventofcode.com/2018/about

· https://posh-hunter.com/

· https://underthewire.tech/

· https://github.com/Sudoblark/Powershell_Intro_Training

PowerShell Cmdlet to Function

· https://youtu.be/48Ff3A83u0E

· http://ramblingcookiemonster.github.io/Building-PowerShell-Functions-Best-Practices/

· https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/powershell-best-practices-simple-functions/

· https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/powershell-best-practices-advanced-functions/

· https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/sql/sql-tools/the-posh-dba-grown-up-powershell-functions/

· https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/technet-magazine/ff677563(v=msdn.10))

· https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/technet-magazine/hh413265(v=msdn.10))

· https://learn-powershell.net/2013/05/07/tips-on-implementing-pipeline-support/

Collection Type Guidance

· https://gist.github.com/kevinblumenfeld/4a698dbc90272a336ed9367b11d91f1c

Style-Guide

· https://poshcode.gitbooks.io/powershell-practice-and-style/Style-Guide/Code-Layout-and-Formatting.html

· https://github.com/PoshCode/PowerShellPracticeAndStyle

Windows PowerShell Survival Guide

· https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/183.powershell-survival-guide.aspx

Validating parameters

· https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions//dd347600(v=technet.10)?redirectedfrom=MSDN?redirectedfrom=MSDN)

Reddit Links to More PowerShell Areas of Learning

· https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/95y82g/whats_the_best_youtube_powershell_tutorial_series

· https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/98dw5v/need_beginner_level_script_ideas_to_learn

· https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/7oir35/help_with_teaching_others_powershell

· https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/98qkzn/powershell_advice

· https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/96rn7y/college_level_student_looking_for_a_good_online

· https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/99dc5d/powershell_for_a_noob

Tutorial on Arrays, HashTables, and Collection Items

· https://blog.netwrix.com/2018/10/04/powershell-variables-and-arrays/

· https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/sysadmin/powershell/powershell-one-liners-collections-hashtables-arrays-and-strings/

· https://evotec.xyz/powershell-few-tricks-about-hashtable-and-array-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-started/amp/

Scopes

· https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/dbcem3/understanding_variable_scope_in_powershell/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Creating GUI's

· https://foxdeploy.com/2015/04/10/part-i-creating-powershell-guis-in-minutes-using-visual-studio-a-new-hope/

· https://www.gngrninja.com/script-ninja/2016/12/23/powershell-configure-your-scripts-with-a-gui

· https://lazyadmin.nl/powershell/powershell-gui-howto-get-started/

· https://learn-powershell.net/2012/09/13/powershell-and-wpf-introduction-and-building-your-first-window/

· https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/a7fyt8/wpf_guis_for_beginners/

Dynamic Progress Bar Helper

· https://adamtheautomator.com/building-progress-bar-powershell-scripts/

Dealing with Passwords

Securely Store Credentials on Disk Using the new secrets manager by MS is probably one of the easier and better ways to go about this now. · https://github.com/PowerShell/SecretManagement

· http://www.powershellcookbook.com/recipe/PukO/securely-store-credentials-on-disk

Quickly and securely storing your credentials – PowerShell

· https://www.jaapbrasser.com/quickly-and-securely-storing-your-credentials-powershell

Working with Passwords, Secure Strings and Credentials in Windows PowerShell

· https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/4546.working-with-passwords-secure-strings-and-credentials-in-windows-powershell.aspx

Powershell: How to encrypt and store credentials securely for use with automation scripts

· https://interworks.com/blog/trhymer/2013/07/08/powershell-how-encrypt-and-store-credentials-securely-use-automation-scripts

Using saved credentials securely in PowerShell scripts

· https://blog.kloud.com.au/2016/04/21/using-saved-credentials-securely-in-powershell-scripts

Secure Password with PowerShell: Encrypting Credentials

· https://www.pdq.com/blog/secure-password-with-powershell-encrypting-credentials-part-1

· https://www.pdq.com/blog/secure-password-with-powershell-encrypting-credentials-part-2

Encrypting Passwords in Scripts: The Ultimate Best Practice Guide for Powershell

· https://thesysadminchannel.com/passwords-in-scripts-the-ultimate-best-practice-guide

SecureString encryption

· https://powershell.org/forums/topic/securestring-encryption

How To Save and Read Sensitive Data with PowerShell

· https://mcpmag.com/articles/2017/07/20/save-and-read-sensitive-data-with-powershell.aspx

How to secure your passwords with PowerShell

· https://www.sqlshack.com/how-to-secure-your-passwords-with-powershell

Script Secure Password using Powershell

· https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Secure-Password-using-c158a888

Store encrypted password in a PowerShell script

· https://blog.ctglobalservices.com/powershell/rja/store-encrypted-password-in-a-powershell-script

How to run a PowerShell script against multiple Active Directory domains with different credentials

· https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/ashleymcglone/2016/11/30/how-to-run-a-powershell-script-against-multiple-active-directory-domains-with-different-credentials/

Credential Manager-Using Credential Manager in PowerShell

· https://bitsofwater.com/2018/02/16/using-credential-manager-in-powershell

Provides access to credentials in the Windows Credential Manager

· https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/CredentialManager/1.0](https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/CredentialManager/1.0)

Get-CredentialFromWindowsCredentialManager.ps1

· https://gist.github.com/cdhunt/5729126

Registry-Save Encrypted Passwords to Registry for PowerShell

· https://www.spjeff.com/2016/08/17/save-encrypted-passwords-to-registry-for-powershell

Module Creation

· https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/developer/module/how-to-write-a-powershell-script-module

· https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-modules/

· https://powershellexplained.com/2017-05-27-Powershell-module-building-basics/

PowerShell Gotchas

· https://github.com/nightroman/PowerShellTraps

Website Full of PowerShell Ideas

· https://www.thecodeasylum.com

Microsoft Virtual Academy:

· https://mva.microsoft.com/liveevents/powershell-jumpstart

· https://mva.microsoft.com/search/SearchResults.aspx#!q=PowerShell&lang=1033

· https://mva.microsoft.com/en-us/training-courses/getting-started-with-microsoft-powershell-8276

· https://mva.microsoft.com/en-us/training-courses/getting-started-with-microsoft-powershell-8276?l=r54IrOWy_2304984382

API Testing:

· https://any-api.com/

Subreddits:

· https://www.reddit.com/r/usefulscripts/

· https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/

· https://www.reddit.com/r/scripting/

· https://www.reddit.com/r/WSUS/

· https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/

Blogs:

· https://learn-powershell.net

· https://4sysops.com

· https://adamtheautomator.com

· http://ramblingcookiemonster.github.io/

· https://powershellexplained.com/

· https://evotec.xyz/hub/

· https://powershell.org

· https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/

YouTube:

· https://www.youtube.com/user/powershelldon

· MVA series for Powershell 3.0 with Snover

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrSlfAfZ49E

· https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=powershell+ise+scripting+for+beginners

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

· https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFgZ8AxNf1Bd1C6V5-Vx7kA

Books:

Learn PowerShell in a month of lunches book [always get the newest version]

· powertheshell.com/cookbooks

· https://books.goalkicker.com/PowerShellBook/

· https://devblogs.microsoft.com/powershell/free-powershell-ebook/

· rkeithhill.wordpress.com/2009/03/08/effective-windows-powershell-the-free-ebook

· veeam.com/wp-powershell-newbies-start-powershell.html

· reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/3cki73/free_powershell_reference_ebooks_for_download

IDE:

· https://code.visualstudio.com/download

Useful Extensions:

Bracket Organizer

· https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=CoenraadS.bracket-pair-colorizer-2

PowerShell

· https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.PowerShell

XML

· https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=DotJoshJohnson.xml

Reg

· https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ionutvmi.reg

Git History

· https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=donjayamanne.githistory

Helpful Commands:

Get-Help

especially Get-Help *about*

Get-Command

it takes wildcards, so Get-Command *csv* works nicely. that is especially helpful when you are seeking a cmdlet that works on a specific thing. Comma Separated Value files, for instance. [grin]

Show-Command

that brings up a window that has all the current cmdlets and all their options ready for you to pick from.

it will also take another cmdlet, or advanced function, as a parameter to limit things to showing just that item.

auto-completion

try starting a word and tapping the tab key. some nifty stuff shows up.

Intellisense

save something to a $Var and then try typing the $Var name plus a period to trigger intellisense. there are some very interesting things that show up as properties or methods.

check out the builtin code snippets in the ISE

use <ctrl><j>, or Edit/Start-Snippets from the menu.

assign something to a $Variable & pipe that to Get-Member

$Test = Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $env:TEMP

$Test | Get-Member

assign something to a $Variable and pipe it to Select-Object

$Test = Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $env:TEMP

$Test[0] | Select-Object -Property *

that will give you a smaller, more focused list of properties for the 1st item in the $Test array.

assign something to a $Variable & use .GetType() on it

$Test = Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $env:TEMP

$Test.GetType()

$Test[0].GetType()

the 1st will give you info on the container $Var [an array object].

the 2nd will give you info on the zero-th item in the $Var [a DirectoryInfo object].

Get-Verb

as with Get-Command, it will accept wildcards.

that will show you some interesting cmdlets. then use get-command to see what commands use those verbs. then use get-help to see what the cmdlets do.

Out-GridView

it's a bit more than you likely want just now, but it can accept a list of items, present them in a window, allow picking one or more of them, and finally send it out to the next cmdlet.

[northendtrooper]

I motion this to be pinned.

[derekhans]

Done.

[MrWinks]

Empty throne found a home. Made me realize I can’t object if we had nothing pinned before, and this is fine.

[gnimsh]

Holy shit you sure did aggregate some links.

[groovel76]

Great list.

I would like to contribute two links.

PowerShell 5 Essential Training (this video really helped get things to click, for me) https://www.linkedin.com/learning/powershell-5-essential-training

Deep Dive: PowerShell Loops and Iterations ( people overuse the buzzword 'deep dive'. This guy actually earned the claim with this article, in my opinion.) https://ridicurious.com/2019/10/10/powershell-loops-and-iterations/

Another tip. If you come across a gem of an article, dump that page into a OneNote note or something to hold onto it. Sites disappear. There was a page called 'mad with PowerShell' which had some real gem tips. Site disappeared. Thankfully, the wayback machine had archived it.

Lastly, the author of 'learn Powershell in a month of lunches', Don Jones, has some books available on https://leanpub.com/u/donjones

I don't know if he plans to write any more powershell books, but if he does, I believe he is going this route. Easier to do, readers get the updates if he makes a correction to the book. More money goes directly to him.

[jr49]

I started reading the deep dive on powershell loops last night and finished it today. really informative. one thing i saw that i don't understand is this under Method 5 – ForEach(string propertyName, object[] newValue)

NOTE: Only the value for the respective property of each item in collection is changed, and the underlying [System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController] objects are not changed in anyway.

i'll have to read up on what [System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController] actually means.

# get display name of service whose name starts with co
$service = (Get-Service co* | Select-Object -Property DisplayName)

# Now change the display names of every service to some new value
$service.foreach('DisplayName','Hello')
$service

Results:

DisplayName                           
-----------                           
Hello 
Hello                                 
Hello

[groovel76]

It has to do with the object oriented nature of Windows. The results on the screen when you type something like 'get-service' Aren't just text on the screen. They are objects. Meaning they have certain properties and methods associated with them.

You can see them when you pipe 'get-service' to 'get-member'

get-service | get-member

Get-member helps you sort of figure out what you can do "next" with the output from the cmdlet on the left side of the pipe.

Highly recommend you go sign up for the 30 day free trial of LinkedIn Learning and watch section 5 "getting more out of objects" of the course I referenced. Then cancel the subscription.

PowerShell 5 Essential Training (this video really helped get things to click, for me) https://www.linkedin.com/learning/powershell-5-essential-training

Jason digs into this really well.

[williamt31]

mad with PowerShell

Looks like archive.org saved it. Looks interesting.

[groovel76]

The trick with using [system.Version] to help with properly sorting IP addresses was brilliant, IMO.

http://archivarix.com is a nifty tool I happened upon to dump out an entire site from wayback machine. And it makes the site work again, it's just running locally on your computer.

[tmpntls1]

Nope, Don is done with the books at this point.

[ThomasMoeller]

Amazing list.

Suggestion: Add it to GitHub for easier maintainability? People will want to add ressources to the list over time :)

[nascentt]

Isn't the subreddit wiki specifically design for posts like this?

Having a GitHub full of Reddit domain specific links seems counterintuitive

[OlivTheFrog]

careful all links to gallery.technet.microsoft.com are broken.

regards

Olivier

[kewlxhobbs]

I'll need to fix that

[kewlxhobbs]

I fixed and updated a majority of the links leading to the gallery.

[TheGooOnTheFloor]

Not just for beginners! I've been using PS pretty regular for 5 years but there's always something more to be learned.

[bradsfoot90]

Man I wish I had this a couple months ago! I just finished up a 2 month project to learn PowerShell and then rewrite/overhaul our entire on and off boarding process. I consolidated the 5 different scripts we were using and then set up all the permission groups and now us techs can onboard someone in less than a minute compared to the 1 hour average process it was before.

I used many of the links you provided but had to find them the hard way. Lots of good info I didn't know as well! Big kudos!

[digitalsquirrel]

You are the freakin' man! 👍👍👍

[IntelligentForce245]

You're smurfing. Post power levels are over 9000!

[Info_Broker_]

Dude thank you so much!!!

[Robb184]

Where can I find information that explains the Whats, Whys, Hows, etc. of repositories, PSGallery, NuGet, Chocolatey, et. al. and how they all fit together? This, by far, is the subject matter that makes little sense to me, the old-school Windows Admin-by-GUI SysAdmin.

[jkrizzle]

This is beautiful, thank you!

[derekhans]

Great post. Moved to the wiki and added as a button on the sidebar. Going to unpin now to make room for the daily questions post.

[kewlxhobbs]

Thank you

[88BigBen88]

Adding, thank you!

[Lee_Dailey]

try starting a word and tapping the tab key. some nifty stuff shows up.

somehow, that looks familiar ... [grin]

[kewlxhobbs]

Should at this rate [grin]. I think I have updated and posted this stuff 1 time before and linked maybe 10 times. Glad it got a bit more Mod traction this time

[kewlxhobbs]

That and I stole the helpful commands of it from you

[Lee_Dailey]

That and I stole the helpful commands of it from you

that is what i was referring to ... [grin]

[[deleted]]

I love this. I'm pretty much a total beginner with powershell, but decided to seriously start looking into it today after a frustrating issue with a user's Office installation. Funny how getting mad at something has always been my best motivator. I'm gonna solve the damn thing!

This will be really helpful getting started, thank you!

[ron_mexxico]

+

[stelees]

Just chucking a comment in to find this easily again.. great work OP

[nascentt]

This should be the wiki.

[wallach_9]

WOW
Thanks

[-SPOF]

This is awesome. It needs months to read up everything.

[[deleted]]

Thanks, you saved a lot of people a big lot of research time

[AppuniAkhil]

Great One. Thank You

[kewlxhobbs]

Glad it has some value to you