7015 Windows PowerShell Scripting & Toolmaking #55039

COURSE OVERVIEW

This Course teaches you the correct patterns and practices for building reusable, tightly scoped units of automation. You will learn to: 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; and Use the debugging tools.

PREREQUISITES

• Experience with basic Windows administration
• Windows PowerShell to query & modify system information
• Windows PowerShell to discover commands & their usage
• And experience with WMI and/or CIM to query system information

AGENDA TOPICS:

Tool Design

• Tools do one thing
• Flexible
• And, Tools look native

Start with a Command

• Why start with a command?
• Discovery and experimentation

Build a Basic Function and Module

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

Adding CmdletBinding and Parameterizing

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

Emitting Objects as Output

• Assembling information
• Constructing and emitting output
• Quick tests

An Interlude: Changing Your Approach

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

Using Verbose, Warning, and Informational Output

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

Comment-Based Help

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

Handling Errors

• 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

Basic Debugging

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

Going Deeper with Parameters

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

Writing Full Help

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

Unit Testing Your Code

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

Extending Output Types

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

Analyzing Your Script

• Performing a basic analysis
• Analyzing the analysis

Publishing Your Tools

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

Basic Controllers: Automation Scripts and Menus

• Using UIChoice
• Writing a process controller

Proxy Functions

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

Working with XML Data

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

Working with JSON Data

• Converting to JSON
• Converting from JSON

Working with SQL Server Data

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

Final Exam

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