PowerShell for Sysadmins: Workflow Automation Made Easy

Brief Contents
Content in Detail
Acknowledgments
Introduction
	Why PowerShell?
	Who This Book Is For
	About This Book
Part I: Fundamentals
Chapter 1: Getting Started
	Opening the PowerShell Console
	Using DOS Commands
	Exploring PowerShell Commands
	Getting Help
		Displaying the Docs
		Learning About General Topics
	Updating the Docs
	Summary
Chapter 2: Basic PowerShell Concepts
	Variables
		Displaying and Changing a Variable
		User-Defined Variables
		Automatic Variables
	Data Types
		Boolean Values
		Integers and Floating Points
		Strings
	Objects
		Inspecting Properties
		Using the Get-Member cmdlet
		Calling Methods
	Data Structures
		Arrays
		ArrayLists
		Hashtables
	Creating Custom Objects
	Summary
Chapter 3: Combining Commands
	Starting a Windows Service
	Using the Pipeline
		Piping Objects Between Commands
		Piping Arrays Between Commands
		Looking at Parameter Binding
	Writing Scripts
		Setting the Execution Policy
		Scripting in PowerShell
	Summary
Chapter 4: Control Flow
	Understanding Control Flow
	Using Conditional Statements
		Building Expressions by Using Operators
		The if Statement
		The else Statement
		The elseif Statement
		The switch Statement
	Using Loops
		The foreach Loop
		The for Loop
		The while Loop
		The do/while and do/until Loops
	Summary
Chapter 5: Error Handling
	Working with Exceptions and Errors
	Handling Nonterminating Errors
	Handling Terminating Errors
	Exploring the $Error Automatic Variable
	Summary
Chapter 6: Writing Functions
	Functions vs. Cmdlets
	Defining a Function
	Adding Parameters to Functions
		Creating a Simple Parameter
		The Mandatory Parameter Attribute
		Default Parameter Values
		Adding Parameter Validation Attributes
	Accepting Pipeline Input
		Adding Another Parameter
		Making the Function Pipeline Compatible
		Adding a process Block
	Summary
Chapter 7: Exploring Modules
	Exploring Default Modules
		Finding Modules in Your Session
		Finding Modules on Your Computer
		Importing Modules
	The Components of a PowerShell Module
		The .psm1 File
		The Module Manifest
	Working with Custom Modules
		Finding Modules
		Installing Modules
		Uninstalling Modules
	Creating Your Own Module
	Summary
Chapter 8: Running Scripts Remotely
	Working with Scriptblocks
		Using Invoke-Command to Execute Code on Remote Systems
		Running Local Scripts on Remote Computers
		Using Local Variables Remotely
	Working with Sessions
		Creating a New Session
		Invoking Commands in a Session
		Opening Interactive Sessions
		Disconnecting from and Reconnecting to Sessions
		Removing Sessions with Remove-PSSession
	Understanding PowerShell Remoting Authentication
		The Double Hop Problem
		Double Hopping with CredSSP
	Summary
Chapter 9: Testing with Pester
	Introducing Pester
	Pester Basics
		A Pester File
		The describe Block
		The context Block
		The it Block
		Assertions
	Executing a Pester Test
	Summary
Part II: Automating Day-to-Day Tasks
Chapter 10: Parsing Structured Data
	CSV Files
		Reading CSV Files
		Creating CSV Files
		Project 1: Building a Computer Inventory Report
	Excel Spreadsheets
		Creating Excel Spreadsheets
		Reading Excel Spreadsheets
		Adding to Excel Spreadsheets
		Project 2: Creating a Windows Service Monitoring Tool
	JSON Data
		Reading JSON
		Creating JSON Strings
		Project 3: Querying and Parsing a REST API
	Summary
Chapter 11: Automating Active Directory
	Prerequisites
	Installing the ActiveDirectory PowerShell Module
	Querying and Filtering AD Objects
		Filtering Objects
		Returning Single Objects
		Project 4: Finding User Accounts That Haven’t Changed Their Password in 30 Days
	Creating and Changing AD Objects
		Users and Computers
		Groups
		Project 5: Creating an Employee Provisioning Script
	Syncing from Other Data Sources
		Project 6: Creating a Syncing Script
		Mapping Data Source Attributes
		Creating Functions to Return Similar Properties
		Finding Matches in Active Directory
		Changing Active Directory Attributes
	Summary
Chapter 12: Working with Azure
	Prerequisites
	Azure Authentication
		Creating a Service Principal
		Noninteractively Authenticating with Connect-AzAccount
	Creating an Azure Virtual Machine and All Dependencies
		Creating a Resource Group
		Creating the Network Stack
		Creating a Storage Account
		Creating the Operating System Image
		Wrapping Up
		Automating the VM Creation
	Deploying an Azure Web App
		Creating an App Service Plan and Web App
	Deploying an Azure SQL Database
		Creating an Azure SQL Server
		Creating the Azure SQL Database
		Creating the SQL Server Firewall Rule
		Testing Your SQL Database
	Summary
Chapter 13: Working with AWS
	Prerequisites
	AWS Authentication
		Authenticating with the Root User
		Creating an IAM User and Role
		Authenticating Your IAM User
	Creating an AWS EC2 Instance
		The Virtual Private Cloud
		The Internet Gateway
		Routes
		Subnet
		Assigning an AMI to Your EC2 Instance
		Wrapping Up
	Deploying an Elastic Beanstalk Application
		Creating the Application
		Deploying a Package
	Creating a SQL Server Database in AWS
	Summary
Chapter 14: Creating a Server Inventory Script
	Prerequisites
	Creating the Project Script(s)
	Defining the Final Output
	Discovery and Script Input
	Querying Each Server
	Thinking Ahead: Combining Different Types of Information
	Querying Remote Files
	Querying Windows Management Instrumentation
		Disk Free Space
		Operating System Information
		Memory
		Network Information
	Windows Services
	Script Cleanup and Optimization
	Summary
Part III: Building Your Own Module
Chapter 15: Provisioning a Virtual Environment
	PowerLab Module Prerequisites
	Creating the Module
		Creating a Blank Module
		Creating a Module Manifest
		Using Built-In Prefixes for Function Names
		Importing the New Module
	Automating Virtual Environment Provisioning
		Virtual Switches
		Creating Virtual Machines
		Virtual Hard Disks
	Testing the New Functions with Pester
	Summary
Chapter 16: Installing an Operating System
	Prerequisites
	OS Deployments
		Creating the VHDX
		Attaching the VM
	Automating OS Deployments
	Storing Encrypted Credentials on Disk
	PowerShell Direct
	Pester Tests
	Summary
Chapter 17: Deploying Active Directory
	Prerequisites
	Creating an Active Directory Forest
	Building the Forest
		Saving Secure Strings to Disk
		Automating Forest Creation
		Populating the Domain
	Building and Running Pester Tests
	Summary
Chapter 18: Creating and Configuring a SQL Server
	Prerequisites
	Creating the Virtual Machine
	Installing the Operating System
	Adding a Windows Unattended Answer File
	Adding the SQL Server to a Domain
		Installing the SQL Server
		Copying Files to the SQL Server
		Running the SQL Server Installer
	Automating the SQL Server
	Running Pester Tests
	Summary
Chapter 19: Refactoring Your Code
	A Second Look at New-PowerLabSqlServer
	Using Parameter Sets
	Summary
Chapter 20: Creating and Configuring an IIS Web Server
	Prerequisites
	Installation and Setup
	Building Web Servers from Scratch
	The WebAdministration Module
		Websites and Application Pools
	Configuring SSL on a Website
	Summary
Index