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. My problem is, what’s that look like in a class? I mean, for me, using .NET basically works like this:
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.
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.
It’s finally starting to be published - my Ultimate PowerShell Video Training Series, covering versions 2 and onward. This series will initially consist of 90 chunks of roughly 20 minutes each, adding up to more than 30 hours total. I’m building each individual video to CLEARLY differentiate between PowerShell v2, v3, and v4; for the most part, I switch to Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 to demonstrate specifics in each version. That means you can clearly tell what features and techniques go with each version. It also means the series can be extended as new versions are released in the future. This is going to cover everything - think of it as a “PowerShell In Depth” done in video. And, whatever I forget, if there is anything, can be easily added to the series. In other words, this will be my new, permanent video training for PowerShell. It’ll cover every version from v2, be extended to cover new version techniques and features, and be expanded to cover new topics as they become of interest. It’s being built with hands-on labs, too. I describe a lab environment you can set up (super-simple), and provide written lab documents for you to work through. Each is then covered in a standalone video, so that you can see sample solutions. Best of all, you can watch the whole thing for under $100. CBT Nuggets’ program gives you monthly access to their entire library for that price, including my entire PowerShell series, their hundreds of titles related to certification and technology, _everything. _Or pay $1000 for an entire year - which also gets you access to practice certification exams from Transcender. I’ll be publishing 5-10 videos per week in this series, until it’s done - and we’ll then be tackling domain-specific PowerShell management, including Exchange, AD, SQL Server, System Center, all of it. It’ll take some time to build out all of that, but I’m committed to building the most comprehensive PowerShell video training offering in the universe! If you get a chance to check out the new series, let me know what you think.
We’re in the process of working on a 10961C revision to the Microsoft PowerShell course, and I’ve been reviewing the anonymous comments submitted by MCTs and students on 10961A (the “B” rev, which is what was produced after our beta teach, is just now orderable so we don’t have comments yet). **By the way - if you’re a student or MCT who has taken/delivered 10961A, you’re welcome to contact me directly if you want to share any info on typos you found. Would like to fix those. **Microsoft unfortunately didn’t bill 10961A as “pre-beta,” which it was, and I think that may have not properly set some expectations. Anyway, if you’ve ever taken a course and thought anything bad about the courseware (not necessarily the instructor), take a look at these comment excerpts from this one course:
Later this month, Jason Helmick will be offering a revised “PowerShell Scripting and Toolmaking” course at Interface Technical Training in Phoenix. This new course carries the Microsoft Courseware Marketplace number 55039 - that’s right, this is an official, unofficial course that will be available to all Microsoft training partners! (Courseware Marketplace offerings are not written or endorsed by Microsoft, but they are equivalent to Official Curriculum in many ways, including being eligible for Software Assurance voucher programs. Marketplace offerings supplement Official offerings by providing courses that Microsoft doesn’t have the time or resources to generate themselves.) This course is based directly on Learn PowerShell Toolmaking in a Month of Lunches, and incorporates much of that book’s actual text (in fact, a portion of the course’s sale price goes to the book publisher, with a portion of that going to the book authors as royalties). That’s combined with a full slide deck, some awesome brand-new labs, lab answer key, “starting points” (for lab students who fall behind), and a complete inventory of demo scripts for the instructor to use. It walks through a quick PowerShell review, and moves all the way through creating modules, advanced functions, custom views, and much more. It’s a pretty handy course, and even dives into creating “controller” scripts, such as scripts that automate processes or generate HTML reports. We provide a complete 3-VM build guide, and a simple ISO image containing all of the instructor and student files. Students are even welcome to download that ISO themselves for later reference! That URL will be provided in the student manual. I’m especially proud of the labs, and thankful to Mike Robbins and Jason Helmick for debugging them for me. Through the main part of the course, students have three lab tracks (A, B, and C) to choose from - and overachievers can work on more than one track. Through each module, the labs gradually build from a basic command to a complete, fleshed-out “script cmdlet” packaged in a module, with a custom view and more. It’s extremely realistic, and it means much of the classroom time is spent on hands-on labs, where students will get the most value for their money. This course is designed to complement Microsoft’s official 10961 course, which covers substantially the same material as Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, meaning 55039 is kind of a “sequel” course. Training centers are welcome to offer a 5-day accelerated class that combines both courses; that’s pretty much the class I teach myself. I don’t personally categorize 55039 as “advanced;” rather, it’s more of a specific application of PowerShell - building reusable tools. I do offer an advanced course of my own, and there’s a chance for that to become a packaged course in the future. After the beta is complete, the course will be orderable in the Marketplace with a suggested price of $150 per student. It’s a full 5-day course, with multiple lab tracks per module, so I felt that was a pretty fair price, especially since students basically get the Toolmaking book “included” in their manual! If any other trainers would like to know more about the course, they’re welcome to contact me. We will be selling it directly as well, for trainers who can’t access the Marketplace. Download the table of contents: 55039-TOC
Soooo…. it’s time for me to start looking at updating my various training materials (books, videos, courses, whatnot) for v4. I’m going to, with at least some of these, take an all-versions approach. I’ll teach what’s in v2, then cover what v3 added, then cover v4, etc. It’ll be easier to maintain over the upcoming years. For right now, I’m trying to assemble an organized topic list of “everything” the shell does. Now, I need to wrap that in an important caveat: I’m aiming at admins. Not developers. I’m not saying devs aren’t a great audience, but for this project I need to constrain my scope to just the admin audience. I’m also focused mainly on what the shell does _natively, _with only a few diversions into external or underlying technologies. Those are fixed caveats for this project - no exceptions. Right now I"m kind of chunking the list into what I feel can be taught (by me) in 20-30 minutes, or a book chapter, or something like that. This isn’t necessarily how the material will be presented - this is just me organizing my thoughts so as to not miss important stuff. So, given the list below, what do you feel is missing? (Numbers are major topics; letters are basically my mental notes about what the topic might include that I might otherwise forget; like I said, this isn’t meant to be a real book outline - it’s just a topic list) PowerShell Core
I’m in the process of building a referral list for teachers and trainers who work with Windows PowerShell. My goal is to build a “find a trainer” page here on PowerShell.org, with the ability for prospective clients to send an inquiry via email. This would be for customers seeking private classes, not for individual students seeking a class. If you’d like to be on the list, please send me an email, or use the “Contact” page under the “Site Info” menu here on PowerShell.org. Please provide an email address that referrals can be sent to; you’d receive the potential client’s contact information directly and would work with them directly - I’m not looking to act s middleman or agent, and there are no referral fees. We won’t be providing pricing information or anything other than a means of connecting clients and trainers. You can also provide a link to your Web site, if you have one, preferably a page that describes your PowerShell training offering(s).
Through my company Concentrated Tech, I’ve decided to run a set of three PowerShell Summer School classes (click that link for descriptions). These will be a combo of self-study and weekly online sessions, designed to teach Toolmaking, Practical applications of PowerShell, or how to teach PowerShell in a lunch ’n’ learn style format. Registration is open from now until August 1st, and you’ll also get a discount on some great SAPIEN products to use during class, if you like. The Toolmaking class will also prepare you for PowerShell VERIFIED EFFECTIVEâ„¢ certification, if you’ve been considering that. Two of the classes will incorporate group code reviews of student assignments, to help improve your style; the third will include mock delivery sessions to help polish your delivery skills. All will include a private Q&A forum where you can ask questions both of me and of your fellow students while you’re in the self-stufy phase. Classes will meet online, on Wednesdays, for six weeks through August and September. Planning a vacation in the middle of summer school? It’s fine - we can schedule a make-up online session when you get home. I’m also willing to try and make other accommodations to help make this an effective learning experience for everyone. All of these classes assume a basic level of PowerShell knowledge, although you’ll get plenty of review material to help you catch up, or dredge up old memories from when you last tried to learn the shell. Tell a friend, tell a colleague - I don’t do these kinds of offerings all that often; my travel schedule usually precludes it. But a fortuitous schedule has made it possible, so consider taking advantage!
At the last TechMentor (in Orlando), I did a Windows PowerShell pre-conference workshop. The conference was kind enough to let me record it - I basically just used Camtasia, so this isn’t a professional video by any stretch, but it gives you an idea of what a TechMentor conference is like. Obviously, my focus was on the folks in the room, but you can see all of the demos and hear me pretty clearly. You can view the video for free, although note that registration is required.
