I'm not sure I'd consider Powershell devops than a core Windows administration tool. Devops to me would be like Chef, Puppet, Ansible, Salt, etc. (Puppet I think would be good for a Windows person to learn.)

You can do Powershell in a month of lunches: https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

You can do the Microsoft Virtual Academy as well: https://mva.microsoft.com/en-us/training-courses/getting-started-with-powershell-3-0-jump-start-8276

Powershell is very object oriented and pipelined, it's not a bunch of "++1, !, +3," style of true programming. It's more of a "get-aduser doej"

A lot of the commands are the same syntax prefixes, like "get" and "export".

Don't be discouraged, envision yourself knowing this inside and out in a year, and your mind will work you toward this goal.

What, specifically, do you work with that you think can benefit from scripting?

Powershell in a month of lunches is apparently quite good, that will cover Powershell from the basics to relatively advanced concepts, although I don't recall it covers AD.

Once you have a grasp of PowerShell, the AD modules are not much trouble to learn at all, MCSA should at least cover some of that.

Also - Take a look under the "resources" tab on the right of this sub.

MS Virtual Academy Powershell Jumpstart

Powershell in a Month of Lunches by Don Jones

PowerScripting Podcast

/r/Powershell

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6D474E721138865A

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

I've heard good things about this.

I like a nice ham sandwich for a lunch point.

As far as getting into PS. This is the usual recommendation.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Enjoy your book and sandwich.

I highly recommend doing these things

Buy/Read this:

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Look this over:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scriptcenter/dd742419.aspx

Check out the hey script guy columns

Last browse the script repository for examples

https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/site/search/?f%5B0%5D.Type=ScriptLanguage&f%5B0%5D.Value=PowerShell&f%5B0%5D.Text=PowerShell

Pick up Powershell in a month of lunches and grab a free month trial of pluralsight. Two great resources for learning the basics.

For your lab, check on your local craigslist; someone is always getting rid of some gear there. If not there try EBay, can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a CCNA lab kit like these: Cisco Lab Kit

Once you have lab equipment, get some windows servers spun up as that will make learning powershell both applicable and rewarding to you.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

For anyone who reads this and goes "Wow! What else can powershell do that I haven't heard about??"

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches is one of the most widely-recommended books on starting PowerShell. I'd recommend following along and physically typing commands in to see what happens - don't just read it.

Alternatively, if you've got the time, one of the most comprehensive introductions is the Microsoft Virtual Academy course on PowerShell 3.0. Don't worry - even though PowerShell 5.0 has been released, this is still very relevant information. It's long - almost 8 hours of videos - but these guys know what they're talking about and they explain it quite well.

Beyond that, check out the resources in the sidebar of this sub. There are a couple other intro books and guides, as well as a lot of script resources to look at.

Finally, once you have a feel for what the language is, the best way to discover what the language can do is to find something you already do a lot, and figure out a way that PowerShell can automate that process. It sounds like your senior engineers have some examples of this already, but don't be afraid to expriment. I have to produce a lot of Excel reports, so the PSExcel module for PowerShell lets me automatically create those reports.

Hope that helps!

Yep, if you're a Windows admin you need to learn powershell.

This is a great book to get started.

Don't use batch. It's outdated and should only be used for compatibility with very old versions of Windows.

PowerShell is the right way to to do this. I'm assuming when you say "create 20 users in Windows Server 2012" you are referring to Active Directory (AD) users, and not local users. You'll want to use the New-ADUser cmdlet to create the AD users. For importing from a csv file, you will need to use the Import-Csv cmdlet.

I won't tell you how to write the script, you should learn that on your own. The two cmdlets I mentioned should point you in the right direction. If you know nothing about PowerShell and need to learn the basics then get the book Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches. The book will teach you everything you need to know to get started with PowerShell.

My buddy used this. He highly recommended it to me.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Link for those curious. Thanks for the tip!

Also, there's a CBT Nuggets video series on Powershell for those who dig CBT Nuggets kind of learning.

http://amzn.com/1617291080

That's what I used, came highly recommended by folks in this subreddit, and I see why. Starts off slow and simple, assumes you have no prior experience in programming. By chapter 4 you're making scripts that show just how awesome PS is.

This is probably the most recommended book: https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Books aren't really my learning style - to me, it's just solve a problem, then solve it gooder

Maybe I should read more....

Great book to start with: http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Start Here

Anything by Don Jones.

Even look up "Don Jones Powershell" on YouTube will bring up a lot of his powershell stuff. He is entertaining and very informative.

Or pick up his book: http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372257080&sr=8-1&keywords=don+jones

I taught a powershell class at work a few years ago. We went chapter by chapter through "Lean powershell in a month of lunches"
https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

If you're looking at Powershell, the Learn Windows Powershell in a Month of Lunches is pretty well reviewed.

>However, at least at this office, you can have days like today where things slow way down and you can derp around on Reddit until you get more calls or a user gets back to you.

System/Network Administrators (especially at smaller companies) either work well or they work often. I'm getting towards the "well" side of things more and more as I get better, which leaves more time for other activities, like reddit or going through Powershell in a Month of Lunches.

Rule 1: You better start learning how to teach yourself cause classes are probably not gonna happen. I got this book and taught myself the fundamentals of powershell. You'll need to do something similar. For the application, I'm sure the developer provides an entire site full of documentation for you to use to help develop your skills. It may seem intimidating now, but you'll get used to it.

Note: The powershell book is very easy to find for free if you know where to look.

I think it is always safe to look at all of the material in the 70-640 curriculum. Most of it easily applies to 2012+ and you may still see a lot of 2008 systems.

https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/exam-70-640.aspx

Combine the reading with the lab work and you can learn a lot.

Also /r/powershell and Powershell in a Month of Lunches. New version addresses Powershell 3 http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Powershell in a Month of Lunches

Powershell is a very handy tool to have, but you don't need to 'dedicate' yourself. Go through this book and you'll be a step above a majority of IT professionals easily. https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Fuck that. You want to learn the newest shit, not some old antiquated OSs that your company just happens to use atm. Yes I'm being very blunt, you will have a better career if you do so.

1. Yes. Powershell in a month of lunches and /r/Powershell . If you're gonna do Windows you need this.
   
   
2. No. If you're gonna learn Windows, learn 2012R2. I'm running the 2016 version at home already in test. MCSA atm is for 2012R2, so stick with that. No reason to focus on 2008. The menus are very similar, functions are identical only 2012R2 has some added capabilities and some different ways of implementation. Learn the new way and you'll have better career opportunities. Including where you work now - what happens when they want to update to 2012R2 and you already know that OS?! Don't think of the present, think of the future.
   
   
3. Not familiar with it.
   
   
4. I run it at home for personal use. It's ok, wish I could join it to the domain and it'd stick/be stable at it. For storage is alright. I would not feel comfortable implementing it for a large business though. Small sized, maybe. Great to learn iSCSI and shares and BSD I suppose.
   
   
5. Sure. Edgerouter Lite or even PFSense are great home routers. A coleague runs PFSense as a VM btw. /r/Ubiquiti /r/PFSENSE
   
   
6. Not familiar with it.
   
   
7. Get VMWare 6.0 (Look to the future)
   
   Also note that Hyper-V is free if you'd like to play with that. You can get that and other Windows Evaluation OSs here.
   
   I run a Hyper-V cluster with two Lenovo M93 systems, a VMWare 5.5 hypervisor on a TS140, and FreeNAS on a custom machine. My network is all Ubiquiti, ERL, ES Lite, 2x UAP-AC.
   
   
   

Not to mention that a lot of VMware functions use PowerCLI.

I also vote Powershell.
Edit: Might I also suggest Powershell in a Month of Lunches?

Learn PowerShell in a month of lunches https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Powershell in 30 days of Lunches is what I buy for all my team members expressing an interest. It is hands down one of the best books to start with that I have found and my team recommends.

Also check out /r/PowerShell

I would take a look at Don Jones, PowerShell in a month of Lunches
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6D474E721138865A
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Not sure if the book is the latest, so have google first.

If you see yourself repeating a task 2 /3 times or more, then look into scripting it, start small and simple and go from there. Once you start seeing the time put into scripting paying off, it'll get easier.

Some tips.

r/homelab is a great place if you want to look and ask quiestions

r/SysAdminBlogs is a great place to find other information from other sysadmins

r/PowerShell is great for powershell stuff

If you want to get started on powershell the book "Powershell in a month of lunches" is a great read if you have time!

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

/r/powershell is a nice place to begin and there are a number of links on the sidebar that can help get you started. When I was getting started I used the book Windows PowerShell Unleashed which I really liked. I have heard good things about Learn Windows PowerShell In A Month Of Lunches but I haven't had the chance to look in to it myself.

For free online resources I like ss64 and I also referenced computerperformance.co.uk when getting started.

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

You can find a pdf of it somewhere on google as well. This book is possibly one of the most valuable things for a sysadmin for windows to have. Seriously.

I used this book: http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

As a beginner (still am), I have found the easiest way to learn is to just dive in using Powershell for any tasks that you do during your normal day (especially the repetitive ones).

With that said, I have found it highly beneficial to use a couple resources:

• Subscribe to this Reddit /r/PowerShell
  
• Subscribe to "Hey, Scirpting Guy!" blog
  
• Buy the book Powershell in a Month of Lunches - A Youtube Channel also exists
  
• Search for Powershell related courses on Microsoft Virtual Academy
  
• Head on over to PowerShell.org and go exploring
  
• Visit the TechNet Script Gallery. Study and understand any available, high-rated scripts.
  
  To be honest, the most important tip in my opinion to learn how to use PS is the get-help command. This will teach you how to use just about every command out there minimizing most questions that you are looking to ask. A second tip: Learn what it means to "Pass by value" and "Pass by Property Name." This will help you immensely when combining commands using the pipeline.
  
  Quick warning: Powershell will quickly get addictive. Also, it is a community where people enjoy sharing and giving back.
  
  Last note, I swear. Learn shortcuts. It will save you a HUGE amount of time (i.e.like hitting esc on your keyboard to clear the line.)

this book

Hey /u/Dude_with_the_pants! So this is a wall off text now that I've written it..sorry about that but honestly when I start talking PowerShell I can go on forever (as my peers at work can attest). So I hope this is kind of useful for you.

So you're looking for some real-world examples...so here goes from where I sit. I've been using PowerShell since it was in beta...so a long time. Prior to PowerShell I was a point-n-click guy. No scripting experience (beyond embarrassingly bad batch files). I'd open VB scripts and kind of zone out. PowerShell really opened a door for me. For the past 20 years I've been working for some really large companies (5,000 - 160,000) as an Exchange\AD guy with my current stint...about the last 13 years or so, I've worked for the same company. This has been an evolution of sorts, but ever since PowerShell v1.0 dropped in my lap during the Exchange 2007 beta I was hooked and started to automate and built tools.

This was a long time ago now, so my skills and uses have matured quite a bit (at least I'd like to think so). Looking through this thread you've already gotten a lot of really good responses. In terms of using PowerShell and where to start I like what others have said. When you reach for the mouse and start clicking on stuff to complete a task, note somewhere what that task was and then when you have down time, look up how to do it with PowerShell. Odds are really good, especially now, that there is a way to do it with PowerShell. If I may be so bold, but I'd recommend taking a look at Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches. I recently did a manuscript review of it for the publisher which required me to slowly read through every single page. It's a good staring point and I highly recommend it.

That all said, daily PowerShell usage.. So I've spent the last decade automating and tool-making which my employer has really taking a liking to (not sure why, but I enjoy myself). Here are some examples of what I've done with PowerShell:

• Designed a centrally managed PowerShell console that is extended by custom functions that various IT teams manage. When I user logs in to my custom PowerShell console it looks over what groups they're a member of and customizes they're PowerShell environment based off that. This includes loading custom modules, establishing remoting connections to Exchange\Skype, and so on. Currently used by ~100 or so IT folks. I built this, in my free time, about 6 years ago after I was tired of seeing everyone doing things differently (and inefficiently) and pointy-clicky on things when I knew I could make it faster for them.
  
• When ever a user changes their password I have an hourly script which detects that change and notifies them via email as well as SMS that their password was changed and gives them some steps on what to do (such as change their password on their mobile devices and such).
  
• Designed a PowerShell, PHP (for PowerShell backed web services), & PSSQLite architecture (thanks /u/ramblingcookiemonste!) which I've used to link together separate Active Directory forests and track various acquisitions. Basically this system tracks groups (and their memberships), users, and computers as they are migrated from one forest into the other. We do a lot of ..ahem.. acquisitions so this is a HUGE time saver. For example, when the project manager for an acquisition needs an update on what percentage of an office has migrated to our forest instead of hounding me (or the tech lead who is running an acquisition) they can just view a few web pages to get the info they need. No more bugging me so I can get back to my code! Did this in my spare time so the PM's would leave me alone...and it worked...so much so they asked for an official framework which I'm working on still.
  
• I have a suite of tools that I wrote which query Splunk's REST API to pull data out for various tasks. For example, not long ago I was asked to provide a detailed report on the exact last logon time for approximately 300 people...who were no longer in our AD. My Splunk module made quick work of that. Took me about 10 minutes to get that info for the auditors. In the old days this kind of request would make me cry.
  
• A long time ago we used to have real pains over unused accounts (both users and computers). I wrote an automation process which completely automates the detection of stale\unused accounts and send them through a workflow that I designed so that they are first identified, their contacts notified (manager..if they're a user, or admin contact if they're a machine), then they are disabled, and then eventually deleted after further notifications. All automated so I (or my peers) need to worry about it.
  
• We don't use Active Directory for DNS, and so I had to write a tool which interrogates our DNS system to pull out subnet info (new subnets, changes, and deletes) and then pass that into Active Directory. This also heavily uses PSSQLite...I might be a little obsessed with this little database technology. With this I don't need to worry about what subnets are (or are not) in AD and if they're associated with the right AD site. Quite a few teams are quite happy with my tool, in particular the software distribution team as they're tools can now properly work with clients and find them in the right AD site.
  
• By far my more heavily used tool is a directory searching tool. See where I work we don't have just AD (~140 DC's I might add), but other LDAP based directories and we needed a tool that could search any of them. Instead of having 15 ways of getting at that data I have 1. A single module where I can pass in a few basic parameters and get my LDAP query back.
  
  For day-to-day stuff, not long ago I needed to query the Windows time configuration status of all our domain controllers. Using remoting this was trivial. If you had 2 DC's then I guess it isn't a big deal, but for us fanning out through remoting to audit this data is absolutely necessary. I find remoting is a quality of life kind of thing. Yes I could RDP into something, but 9/10 times it is way faster to just run
  
  Invoke-Command -ComputerName machineName -ScriptBlock {do something}
  
  So day-to-day, for what I do, I'm honestly writing tools or working in automation projects 90% of the time. I only get into the shell to do something if something is really broken and none of my automation tools have already handled it. Not everyone has that luxury (and it is btw). If I was you I'd look for every opportunity to learn how to do stuff with PowerShell. I think you'll find that in most cases it will free you up to do other things. It'll be awkward at first as you fumble around, but you'll soon find ways to speed things up.
  
  I wouldn't be too obsessed with just looking at remoting stuff. It's true that this does expose some of the power of ..well.. PowerShell, but there is sooo much more to it. Look for ways to improve your daily life. Jot down the stuff you do a lot (and repeatedly). Those are your prime targets. It could even be something as simple as processing your mail in the morning. If there are certain patterns you follow and do a lot of...you can absolutely hook in PowerShell into that too if writing Outlook rules won't do what you need (I've done this too).
  
  Good luck and happy shelling!

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

It comes highly recommended.

The best way I found to learn something is to find a project that relies on it.

For example, I never knew any powershell a few years ago, but I was given a project to write some QA scripts for work. That turned into a 8000+ line modularised script that anyone can use and create plugins for.

I am currently working on building servers and applications using PowerShell (installing and configuring AD, SQL, MSCS, RDP, ...)


If you haven't already, buy the book "Learn PowerShell In A Month Of Lunches" (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1617291080) It's the top rated book by everyone.

Start here: http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

[Time Management for System Administrators] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Management-System-Administrators-Thomas-Limoncelli/dp/0596007833)

powershell in a month of lunches

Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches!

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

check out this book

Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches
http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

hmmm...I grew out of that position this past year. It was similar in scope to yours. In your position I highly recommend going desktop infrastructure. Studying for it will allow you to at the very least have a clear understanding of the latest technology available to you for architecting desktop solutions. However, it's not enough to know just that. Here's some advice:

• If you don't have a whiteboard by your desk, get one.
  
  
• learn scrum or some kind of other project management methodology and at first apply it to yourself, then apply it to everyone else within your domain. Hold your bosses to the same standards.
  
  
• learn ITIL and start using the terminology. You don't have to adhere to all the standards, either. Furthermore, it helps you understand your role in IT as part of the enterprise as a whole, and it helps you understand how to architect your IT shop using best practices.
  
  
• If you don't have a testing environment, make sure your department has one. Microsoft MSDN subscriptions allow for as rich a testing environment as you need for as little as 700 bucks a year. Most subscriptions also come with free courses as well. Furthermore, you can buy an r900 hexacore quad socket server with 128gb of ram for under a grand. Plenty of hardware for a competent testing environment.
  
  
• Learn powershell. Don Jones has written books and made training videos showing you how to learn powershell. It's a powerful tool. Learn the .net classes that it can use. If you look up the MSDN writeups for the C# versions of the classes, they are pretty darn close to the powershell version of it.
  
  
• Everything you learn in your studies, test it out. Learn it. Nurture your test environment. Get intimate with the checkpoint feature in virtualization. Get cozy with it.
  
  
• As soon as you possibly can, but only after you've gotten the above fundamentals down, learn system center. It's complex, but wonderful. It'll put you on a whole other level. That will guarantee you a job.

This book and a Windows computer I could play around with. Took me.... well, about a month to start doing it proficiently!

Powershell and HyperV were pretty much the main focus when I took it. This book is usually recommended for learning powershell. It's something you should really learn anyway, as thats the way that MS is moving with most of their server stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

It took me a while to get good at PowerShell and I had a pretty extensive programming background prior to trying to learn it.

The Exchange cmdlets are also less than ideal when trying to learn... but it was also my first experience with PowerShell. They're usually pretty slow to run and aren't great from a syntax standpoint. The AD and file system cmdlets (Get-ChildItem / Get-Item) are more consistent, faster, and generally easier to work with.

Trial and error, as well as looking at code examples on /r/PowerShell is the way I ended up learning. You'll notice on /r/PowerShell people usually post very different ways of solving a problem and one isn't necessarily better than the other, but just use different features or logic.

PowerShell in a month of lunches is usually the recommended book / guide.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6D474E721138865A

The Powershell class i'm taking right now uses this book: http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080
It does a good job explaining the how things work.

https://leanpub.com/powershell-scripting-toolmaking


https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

These two are my favorite.. decently priced and great knowledge. Written by same author Don Jones.

Also, it would be wise to grab the "Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a month of lunches" at some point in the near future if you're going to go down the PowerShell path. Doing so is of course recommended, as most everything Microsoft has been releasing over the last few years has had management based on PowerShell to be as close to, or at parity with, the UI management tools.

There's a menu to the right of this subreddit with various links and book recommendations. You'll need to be on desktop version of the reddit website to see these though.

Personally I really like the Getting started with PowerShell 3.0 Jump Start.

Most will recommend the Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches book.

Glad to hear! If you want to learn more PowerShell, grab this book. It's becoming a standard read for new hires at my office.

If you are looking for an actual book, check out "Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches"
https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

That's come up more times in various IT forums. The link I posted had the video version by the same author. I am going to get started on this myself. I know enough to get by, but think it will be good to go through the entire thing.

I would suggest that you look at this book: Learn Windows Powershell in a month of lunches

It really helped me when I was starting out. As for what you are trying to do, I prefer the output using Quest AD tools for Powershell. They have a lot of really nice AD cmdlets. This would do it for you:

Get-QADGroup | export-csv C:\location\filename.csv

edit for typo

this is what i read through and it helped me out

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462150872&sr=1-1&keywords=learn+powershell+3+in+a+month+of+lunches

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-PowerShell-Action-Second-Payette/dp/1935182137/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462150962&sr=8-1&keywords=powershell+in+action

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370231896&sr=8-1&keywords=powershell+in+30+days+of+lunches

That's the one, I think. It's good.

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

PowerShell isn't really that bad once you get the hang of it.

Start here, and then pick up more in-depth module-specific tutorials online. There are great AD-administration tutorials out there.

Here is the mobile version of your link

Excellent book on the topic if you want to learn: http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Also, the hey scripting guy blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/

If you're involved in windows admin work at all, it's in your best interest to learn powershell. It is so much more robust and...well, powerful than any GUI you use, especially for queries and reporting. I have this book, i'd recommend it highly, about halfway done so far

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

The author's are Don Jones and Jeffery Hicks. Don Jones is an absolute Wizard, and very active on Powershell.org. My recommendation is Jones' ultimate course on cbtnuggets. It's expensive, but holy shit is it some powershe I mean powerful content

I don't think anyone is going to do this work for you but this is the best thing for you; today you are going to learn powershell and it is going to own your soul.

How are your powershell skills? If you haven't yet read anything about Powershell, here are your starting points:

• http://powershell.com/cs/blogs/ebookv2/default.aspx
  
  
• http://www.amazon.ca/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080
  
  
• get familiar with Veeam's powershell module
  https://www.veeam.com/kb1523
  http://itstuffilearnedtoday.blogspot.ca/2012/09/calling-veeam-jobs-via-powershell-script.html
  http://helpcenter.veeam.com/backup/80/powershell/cmdlets.html
  
  My recommendation would be to write as much as your script that you can make work, even if it is "Hey LOOK AT THIS HOLY CRAP I CAN PULL THE JOB SUCCESS AND FAILURES FROM VEEAM" and then post your attempt to r/powershell with questions on what you need to finish things up.
  
  I am really excited for you - I was posting these kinds of questions before someone told me that I should just learn how to do it myself. Probably the most valuable skill I have picked up in the last 6 years is Powershell.
  
  Cheers.

> they don't make the .msi for Java correct?

That script is using msiexec to uninstall all the versions it finds, so I imagine that's not correct. If you don't understand the contents of the script enough to know that is what it's doing, I wouldn't recommend using it. I'd recommend this instead.

Once you've done that, read up on Win32_Product and why you shouldn't use it, so you don't use scripts like this.

Then, you should have enough Powershell chops to use the registry to find installed apps instead, like this. I use /u/gangstanthony's script at least once a week.

Learning Powershell (at the very least) is twofold: on one hand, a person needs to understand how scripts are structured and designed. On the other, a person need the vocabulary and knowledge of commands. Neither of these is really something anyone new is gonna just absorb over lunch. But I would say that you can help yourself with this- although it's definitely not going to help you right away with this issue, it makes things easier in the long run:

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

If you are in a lower cost-of-living area then that is probably ok. What you describe seems like mostly level1/2 stuff. My jr sysadmin makes more than that but I think the help desk people make less, but those are the level1 hd people. I don't know how much our level 2 people make (I'm not their manager).

As for my own experience, I made about that much 20 years ago as a level 2 help desk/jr sysadmin at a large company in contract role. I worked a lot on learning everything I could that would help. The more valuable you make yourself to your company the more you'll make, over time and if they have a good management team. This is why switching jobs every few years can be so fruitful, big jumps in pay or smaller jumps with a bigger title and then growth at the new company.

​

Read about time management (https://www.usenix.org/legacy/event/lisa06/tech/slides/limoncelli_time.pdf), script everything you can (https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080), and document everything you can (a wiki or runbook or such).

There's a bunch of good resources out there. My favorite book is probably PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches by Don Jones. Other than that there's the Hey, Scripting Guy! blog which got tons of useful bits and pieces. Last but not least, CBT Nuggets.

For anyone who feels they don't have enough time to learn powershell: https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080 I only made it half-way through, and still got what I needed to. (I'm not harping on you to learn powershell, just providing the info for anyone interested)

Powershell in a month of lunches

Do a quick search here, been asked several times before. So there should be a lot of recommendations.

I highly recommend you check out this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

"Learn PowerShell in a month of Lunches" by Don Jones and Jeffrey D. Hicks.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466023782&sr=1-1&keywords=learn+powershell+in+a+month+of+lunches

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Powershell in a Month of Lunches - https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467232090&sr=1-1&keywords=learn+powershell+in+a+month+of+lunches

Then, when you get the hang of it, Powershell In Depth https://www.amazon.com/PowerShell-Depth-Don-Jones/dp/1617292184/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467232074&sr=1-1&keywords=powershell+in+depth

Outside of that, check out /r/PowerShell and work through the questions that people ask. No better way to learn than practice.

STLPSUG: May 19, 2016

Presentation: PowerShell Functions

Micah Battin, PowerShell Functions
A link to Micah's Demo notes/scripts will be put up ASAP

• Functions
  
• Parameters
  
• Advanced Functions
  
  • Begin, Process, End
    
  • Parameter Attributes
    
  • Parameter Validation and Typing
    
    

    Links
    

    
    

• PowerShell Best Practices and Style Guide
  
• Don Jones' Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches
  
• PowerShell Streams (where warnings, debug messages, errors, output, etc go)
  
• Manipulating PowerShell Object Types (Adding Property Aliases)
  

  Update-TypeData -TypeName Microsoft.ActiveDirectory.Management.ADComputer -MemberType AliasProperty -MemberName Computername -Value Name -Force<br />

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

A lot has come from on the job experience, but it also comes from setting goals for myself.

In December I knew nothing about Windows PowerShell, so I started researching. I bought Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches. I used that to start making some automated AD reports.

My other goals for this year are Security+ by June 31st. Then read Learn Windows PowerShell Toolmaking in a Month of Lunches in July. And finally get Linux+ by December 31st.

This is my most aggressive year, mainly because I am starting to feel stagnant in my current job.

I found this book to be a quick introduction into Powershell. Its a great resource as well. Others have posted materials for using python in windows effectively, but what I have found is that the simplicity messing with windows using powershell will always trump other languages.

http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410367014&sr=1-1&keywords=learn+powershell+in+a+month+of+lunches

Thank you very much everyone for all your answers!
I really appreciate!



I begin with

https://app.pluralsight.com/courses/powershell-v3-essentials-it-pt1

or


https://www.amazon.ca/Learn-Windows-PowerShell-Month-Lunches/dp/1617291080

Thank you

Probably not what you are looking for but if you need to catch up on PowerShell 3 at some point, Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches is a quick,easy read. Free ebook with purchase of the paperback, and the review labs can be answered fairly easily without a pc.