N° 55039 – Windows PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking

This five-day instructor-led is intended for IT professionals who are interested in furthering their skills in Windows PowerShell and administrative automation. The course assumes a basic working knowledge of PowerShell as an interactive command-line shell, and teaches students the correct patterns and practices for building reusable, tightly scoped units of automation.

Who should attend this course?

This course is intended for administrators in a Microsoft-centric environment who want to build reusable units of automation, automate business processes, and enable less-technical colleagues to accomplish administrative tasks.

Prerequisites
  • Experience at basic Windows administration
  • Experience using Windows PowerShell to query and modify system information
  • Experience using Windows PowerShell to discover commands and their usage
  • Experience using WMI and/or CIM to query system information

At Course Completion

  • Describe the correct patterns for building modularized tools in Windows PowerShell
  • Build highly modularized functions that comply with native PowerShell patterns
  • Build controller scripts that expose user interfaces and automate business processes
  • Manage data in a variety of formats
  • Write automated tests for tools
  • Debug tools

Module 1: Tool Design

This module explains how to design tools and units of automation that comply with native PowerShell usage patterns.

Lessons

  • Tools do one thing
  • Tools are flexible
  • Tools look native

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Design a tool

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the native shell patterns that a good tool design should exhibit

Module 2: Start with a Command

This module explains how to start the scripting process by beginning in the interactive shell console.

Lessons

  • Why start with a command?
  • Discovery and experimentation

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Start with a command

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the benefits of discovery and experimentation in the console
  • Discover and experiment with existing commands in the console

Module 3: Build a Basic Function and Module

This module explains how to build a basic function and module, using commands already experimented with in the shell.

Lessons

  • Start with a basic function
  • Create a script module
  • Check prerequisites
  • Run the new command

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Build a basic function and module

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Build a basic function
  • Create a script module
  • Run a command from a script module

Module 4: Adding CmdletBinding and Parameterizing

This module explains how to extend the functionality of a tool, parameterize input values, and use CmdletBinding.

Lessons

  • About CmdletBinding and common parameters
  • Accepting pipeline input
  • Mandatory-ness
  • Parameter validation
  • Parmeter aliases

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Adding CmdletBinding and Parameterizing

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the purpose of CmdletBinding and list common parameters
  • Parameterize a script’s input
  • Define parameters as mandatory
  • Define parameters as accepting pipeline input
  • Define parameter validation

Module 5: Emitting Objects as Output

This module explains how to create tools that produce custom objects as output.

Lessons

  • Assembling information
  • Constructing and emitting output
  • Quick tests

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Emitting objects as output

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the purpose of object-based output
  • Create and output custom objects from a function

Module 6: An Interlude: Changing Your Approach

This module explains how to re-think tool design, using concrete examples of how it’s often done wrong.

Lessons

  • Examining a script
  • Critiquing a script
  • Revising the script

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the native patterns that a good tool design should exhibit
  • Redesign a script to meet business requirements and conform to native patterns

Module 7: Using Verbose, Warning, and Informational Output

This module explains how to use additional output pipelines for better script behaviors.

Lessons

  • Knowing the six channels
  • Adding verbose and warning output
  • Doing more with verbose output
  • Informational output

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Using Verbose, Warning, and Informational Output

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the six output channels in the shell
  • Write commands that use verbose, warning, and informational output
  • Run commands with extra output enabled

Module 8: Comment-Based Help

This module explains how to add comment-based help to tools.

Lessons

  • Where to put your help
  • Getting started
  • Going further with comment-based help
  • Broken help

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Comment-based help

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the purpose and construction of comment-based help
  • Add comment-based help to a function
  • Identify causes of broken comment-based help

Module 9: Handling Errors

This module explains how to create tools that deal with anticipated errors.

Lessons

  • Understanding errors and exceptions
  • Bad handling
  • Two reasons for exception handling
  • Handling exceptions in our tool
  • Capturing the actual exception
  • Handling exceptions for non-commands
  • Going further with exception handling
  • Deprecated exception handling

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Handling errors

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the native patterns for handling errors in a command
  • Add error handling to a command
  • Run a command and observe error handling behaviors

Module 10: Basic Debugging

This module explains how to use native PowerShell script debugging tools.

Lessons

  • Two kinds of bugs
  • The ultimate goal of debugging
  • Developing assumptions
  • Write-Debug
  • Set-PSBreakpoint
  • The PowerShell ISE

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Basic debugging

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the tools used for debugging in PowerShell
  • Debug a broken script

Module 11: Going Deeper with Parameters

This module explains how to further define parameter attributes in a PowerShell command.

Lessons

  • Parameter positions
  • Validation
  • Multiple parameter sets
  • Value from remaining arguments
  • Help messages
  • Aliases
  • More CmdletBinding

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the use of positional parameters
  • Describe additional parameter validation methods
  • Describe how to define multiple parameter sets
  • Describe other parameter definition options

Module 12: Writing Full Help

This module explains how to create external help for a command.

Lessons

  • External help
  • Using PlatyPs
  • Supporting online help
  • “About” topics
  • Making your help updatable

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Writing full help

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the advantages of external help
  • Create external help using PlatyPS and Markdown

Module 13: Unit Testing Your Code

This module explains how to use Pester to perform basic unit testing.

Lessons

  • Sketching out the test
  • Making something to test
  • Expanding the test
  • Going further with Pester

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Unit testing your code

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the purpose of unit testing
  • Write basic unit tests for PowerShell functions

Module 14: Extending Output Types

This module explains how to extend objects with additional capabilities.

Lessons

  • Understanding types
  • The Extensible Type System
  • Extending an object
  • Using Update-TypeDate

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the purpose of the ETS
  • Extend an existing object type

Module 15: Analyzing Your Script

This module explains how to use Script Analyzer to support best practices and prevent common problems.

Lessons

  • Performing a basic analysis
  • Analyzing the analysis

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Analyzing your script

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the use of Script Analyzer
  • Perform a basic script analysis

Module 16: Publishing Your Tools

This module explains how to publish tools to public and private repositories.

Lessons

  • Begin with a manifest
  • Publishing to PowerShell Gallery
  • Publishing to private repositories

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Publishing your tools

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the tool publishing process and requirements
  • Publish a tool to a repository

Module 17: Basic Controllers: Automation Scripts and Menus

This module explains how to create controller scripts that put tools to use.

Lessons

  • Building a menu
  • Using UIChoice
  • Writing a process controller

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Basic controllers

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the purpose of basic controller scripts
  • Write a simple controller script

Module 18: Proxy Functions

This module explains how to create and use proxy functions.

Lessons

  • A proxy example
  • Creating the proxy base
  • Modifying the proxy
  • Adding or removing parameters

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Proxy functions

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the purpose of proxy functions
  • Create a simple proxy function

Module 19: Working with XML Data

This module explains how to work with XML data in PowerShell.

Lessons

  • Simple: CliXML
  • Importing native XML
  • ConvertTo-XML
  • Creating native XML from scratch

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Working with XML

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the use of XML within PowerShell
  • Use XML data within a PowerShell function

Module 20: Working with JSON Data

This module explains how to using JSON data in PowerShell.

Lessons

  • Converting to JSON
  • Converting from JSON

Lab 1: Designing a Tool

  • Working with JSON data

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the use of JSON data within PowerShell
  • Use JSON data within a PowerShell function

Module 21: Working with SQL Server Data

This module explains how to use SQL Server from within a PowerShell script.

Lessons

  • SQL Server terminology and facts
  • Connecting to the server and database
  • Writing a query
  • Running a query
  • Invoke-SqlCmd
  • Thinking about tool design patterns

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Describe the use of SQL Server from within PowerShell
  • Write and run SQL Server queries
  • Design tools that use SQL Server for data storage

Module 22: Final Exam

This module provides a chance for students to use everything they have learned in this course within a practical example.

Lessons

  • Lab problem
  • Break down the problem
  • Do the design
  • Test the commands
  • Code the tool

Lab 1: Final Exam

  • Lab one

Lab 2: Final Exam

  • Lab two

After completing this module, students will be able to:

  • Create PowerShell tools, using native design patterns, from business requirements.

Practical information

Duration

5 Days

Languages

FR / NL

Price

€ 2150 + 3% VAT

Location

Classroom Course

Schedule

Guaranteed to run

Sessions in Dutch
19 - 23/2/2024Book
27 - 31/5/2024Book
09 - 13/9/2024Book
02 - 06/12/2024Book
Sessions in French
25 - 29/3/2024Book
17 - 21/6/2024Book
30 Sep & 01 - 04 OctBook
09 - 13/12/2024Book

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