Windows PowerShell Pocket Reference, 2nd Edition

Preface

Windows PowerShell introduces a revolution to the world of system management and command-line shells. From its object-based pipelines, to its administrator focus, to its enormous reach into other Microsoft management technologies, PowerShell drastically improves the productivity of administrators and power-users alike.

Much of this power comes from providing access to powerful technologies: an expressive scripting language, regular expressions, the .NET Framework, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), COM, the Windows registry, and much more.

Although help for these technologies is independently available, it is scattered, unfocused, and buried among documentation intended for a developer audience.

To solve that problem, this Pocket Reference summarizes the Windows PowerShell command shell and scripting language, while also providing a concise reference for the major tasks that make it so successful.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:

Italic

Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions.

Constant width

Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to program elements such as variable or function names, databases, data types, environment variables, statements, and keywords.

Constant width bold

Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user.

Constant width italic

Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values determined by context. ...