How to get started with Powershell.

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My big question to most people I met at MMS 2009 (Microsoft Management Summit 2009) was “What are you doing to ramp up on Powershell”?

The most common answer: Nothing.

Usually the reason given for this was “I don’t need Powershell because I can do so much with Visual Basic”…and that’s true.  But that’s not always going to be the case.  Many functions that can do in the console (whether it is OpsMgr, ConfigMgr, Exchange, etc) are actually Powershell underneath.

So, that begs the question “How do I get started with Powershell?”

Here are some great links:

PowerGui.org  - PowerGui gives you a graphical interface to create Powershell scripts for AD, Exchange, OpsMgr, and Windows.  Very useful, though not quite intuitive.

Powershell Articles at myItforum.org – excellent resource for all things Manageability.

Powershell Scripts at myItforum.org wiki

Powershell Downloads at SystemCenterForum.org – several very useful scripts, many around Maintenance Mode for OpsMgr 2007 (who knew that was so popular?).

Powershell Scripts from ScriptingAnswers.com 

What about books?  Well opinions differ on the quality of books out there on Powershell, if you have a favorite, please send me feedback and maybe someday I’ll rate them.

Microsoft Windows PowerShell Programming for the Absolute Beginner (Paperback) –Amazon

Windows PowerShell Unleashed -Amazon

Windows PowerShell Cookbook: for Windows, Exchange 2007, and MOM V3 (Paperback) - Amazon

Windows PowerShell in Action (Paperback) -Amazon

If you’ve got a favorite Powershell script that solves a problem in OpsMgr, ConfigMgr, or SCVMM…I’d love to see it.  I’m always on the look out for great Powershell scripts.