Professional Windows® PowerShell for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

Introduction

Windows PowerShell is a new command-line administration tool that is a giant step forward from

previous command-line tools. Often, each Microsoft product would develop separate tools for

command-line management, and each of these tools usually had a very narrow feature list and

varied command syntax. This would usually lead developers to have to use a variety of management

APIs to accomplish even the simplest tasks. PowerShell is meant to create a unified management tool

for all Microsoft products, and to simplify management.

The first major product to be released with Windows PowerShell as its management interface was

Exchange Server 2007, a complete rewrite of the familiar Exchange management tools using PowerShell

to provide all management functions. The GUI management tools were built on top of PowerShell and

provide only a subset of the functions available from the command line.

Initial feedback during the beta releases was that providing a mostly PowerShell interface was not

something even experienced administrators would embrace. As the beta releases of the product

continued the Exchange Management Shell (the PowerShell-based management tool for Exchange Server

2007) continued to improve as did the Exchange Management Console (the GUI-based management

tool).

Slowly, the Management Shell has begun to win over many of the opposers because it provides more

functionality, it’s often quicker, and it provides more power to the administrator. Many administrators

now ...