PowerShell.org

Community Hub

Don Jones

Explore articles and content from this author

Don Jones

372 articles published

• 3 min read

Why Get-Content Ain't Yer Friend

Well, it isn’t your enemy, of course, but it’s definitely a tricky little beast. Get-Content is quickly becoming my nemesis, because it’s sucking a lot of PowerShell newcomers into its insidious little trap. Actually, the real problem is that most newcomers don’t really understand that PowerShell is an object-oriented, rather than a text-oriented shell; they’re trying to treat Get-Content like the old Type command (and why not? type is an alias to Get-Content in PowerShell, isn’t it?

Read Article
PowerShell for Admins Tips and Tricks
• 3 min read

The Shell vs. The Host

One thing that’s often very confusing about PowerShell is the difference between the shell itself - what I’ll call the engine in this article - and the application that hosts the engine. You see, you as a human being can’t really interact directly with PowerShell’s engine. Instead, you need a host application that lets you do so. The standard console - PowerShell.exe - is one such host; the Integrated Script Environment (ISE) is another.

Read Article
PowerShell for Admins
• 1 min read

More Summit Speaker Names Leaked

So, I got hold of one of the Summit planning spreadsheets and have the list of speaker names. Now, these folks haven’t yet confirmed, so there are obviously possible changes, but here’s who’ll be invited based on their proposals: Augh, they caught me! The complete session list isn’t yet finalized, and there are a few on the “final cut list” that may not actually physically fit, so stay tuned… Lotta Jasons in there.

Read Article
PowerShell Summit
• 1 min read

Did you attend the 2013 PowerShell Summit?

I’m looking to hear from folks who attended the PowerShell Summit North America 2013. Specifically, I’d love to hear what you thought of it. What value did you get? If someone were considering attending in 2014, what advice would you offer them? How should they approach the boss? What did you, personally, “take home” from the Summit in the way of new information or skills? Drop a comment below. Some comments might be re-published as standalone posts as we try to help people understand what the Summit is all about, and why they might want to attend.

Read Article
PowerShell Summit
• 3 min read

Why the HECK Do You Want to be Taught .NET in a PowerShell Class?!?!?!

Ok, that post title is deliberately provocative. Twitter and all that. So look, we’re designed this advanced PowerShell class. One of the top five constant suggestions I get whenever I say “advanced” and “PowerShell” is “.NET Framework.” And I get it. When there’s no cmdlet, .NET has a ton of goodies that can solve a lot of problems. Maybe you don’t like turning to it, but you’ll do it if you have to.

Read Article
Training
• 3 min read

Questions about an Advanced PowerShell Class Design

As we continue collecting responses to an outline survey about an Advanced PowerShell class, I’ve come up with a couple of questions and would appreciate any feedback you’d care to leave here. Keep in mind that we’re a bit bound by this course being Microsoft Official Curriculum. I gotta make sure, in other words, that the average MCT can teach it. Ahem. I also have to face facts that people don’t read or obey course pre-requisite suggestions, and that a lot of people taking the course will have zero programming background.

Read Article
Training
• 1 min read

Help me Design the Advanced PowerShell Class!

I’ve been asked to work on an “advanced” PowerShell class. Now, I don’t like the “advanced” word very much, because it means something different to everyone, depending on their experience. So I’m trying to make the class focus on “powerful, practical things you can do with PowerShell that definitely drift into programming and scripting.” You can tell me what you think by taking an online survey about the proposed outline, which will be online through October 18th, 2013.

Read Article
Training
• 2 min read

LEAK: PowerShell Summit NA 2014 Speakers

I got a glance at the “short list” of speakers for the PowerShell Summit North America 2014. While none of these names are guaranteed - these guys haven’t even been contacted to confirm - they’ll definitely receive an invite in the next few days. First up, Mike Pfeiffer. This excites me because Mike’s a former MVP, and now a Premier Field Engineer (PFE) with Microsoft. He _literally _wrote the book on managing Exchange Server with PowerShell, and should be a great addition to our new Domain-Specific track.

Read Article
PowerShell Summit
• 3 min read

Seeking Coaches and Judges for the Winter Scripting Games

We’re now seeking volunteer Coaches and Judges for the Winter Scripting Games! The Games are tentatively scheduled to run for 4-6 weeks starting January 6th, 2014. There will be 4-6 events, each lasting one week. Coaches Coaches have access to all teams’ entries and private discussion threads for the week while entries are being developed and accepted. Coaches are meant to log in throughout that one-week period, evaluate what teams have submitted so far, and offer comments and advice in the in-Game discussion thread.

Read Article
Announcements Scripting Games