Best Books To Learn PowerShell Scripting in 2021

Looking at PowerShell with face value without digging deeper can be quite misleading because most people think it is just a Shell to communicate with your servers with like command prompt. What is interesting is that PowerShell offers more than that and has more tools and capabilities that I personally did not expect. Let us take a closer look at this tool with power as its name hints.

From Microsoft PowerShell is a cross-platform task automation solution made up of a command-line shell, a scripting language, and a configuration management framework. PowerShell runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
As a scripting language, PowerShell is commonly used for automating the management of systems. It is also used to build, test, and deploy solutions, often in CI/CD environments. PowerShell is built on the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR). It can further be used for text processing, general scripting, build management, creating test frameworks, and so on.

As you can probably see from the brief expose above, PowerShell has more than one can expect and it is for that very reason that we decided to provide a suite of resources that anyone who is interested in this tool of power can jump on and have a good grasp of it. We present the following books that are listed in no particular order for your consideration.

1. Mastering Windows PowerShell Scripting

Spread over twenty one chapters, author Chris Dent presents this text to help you master PowerShell as the title of the book suggests. Targeting a broad range of readers, this resource does them all a favour by using easy to understand language and knowledge that they can use to understand PowerShell better.

This comprehensive guide starts with the fundamentals before moving on to advanced-level topics to help you become a PowerShell Core 6.0 expert. The first module, PowerShell Core 6.0 Fundamentals, begins with the new features of PowerShell Core 6.0, installing it on Linux, and working with parameters, objects and .NET classes from within PowerShell Core 6.0. As you make your way through the chapters, you will see how to efficiently manage large amounts of data and interact with other services using PowerShell Core 6.0.

You will be able to make the most of PowerShell Core 6.0’s powerful automation feature, where you will have different methods available to parse data and manipulate regular expressions and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). From XML, REST, JSON, Modules, Pester testing, and other topics, there are informational nuggets here that anybody touching PowerShell would do well to know.

What you will learn

• Optimize code through the use of functions, switches, and looping structures
• Work with objects and operators to test and manipulate data
• Parse and manipulate different data types
• Create scripts and functions using PowerShell
• Use jobs, events, and popular public modules which assist with implementing multithreading
• Write .NET classes with ease within the PowerShell
• Create and implement regular expressions in PowerShell scripts
• Make use of advanced techniques to define and restrict the behavior of parameters

If you are a system administrator who wants to become an expert in controlling and automating your Windows environment, then Mastering Windows PowerShell Scripting is for you. It is also ideal for those new to the PowerShell language and would wish to learn something about it. Click below to find out more information about the resource as well as consider ordering your copy home from Amazon.

2. PowerShell Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition

Author Lee Holmes does it again. Lee is a developer on the Microsoft Windows PowerShell team, and has been an authoritative source of information about PowerShell since its earliest betas. For all people who have the desire to have a quick reference beside them as they are busy using or learning PowerShell, this is the space you should be reading right away.

This portable reference to PowerShell summarizes the command shell and scripting language and provides a concise guide to the many tasks that make PowerShell so useful. If you are a busy administrator and do not have time to plow through huge books or in-depth online searches, this is the ideal on-the-job tool.

Written by PowerShell team member Lee Holmes and excerpted from his PowerShell Cookbook -among the list of books here, this edition offers up-to-date coverage of Windows PowerShell 5.1 and open source PowerShell Core up to 7 and beyond.

Beginning with a guided tour of PowerShell, this handy guide covers:

• PowerShell language and environment
• Regular expression reference
• XPath quick reference
• .NET string formatting
• .NET DateTime formatting
• Selected .NET classes and their uses
• WMI reference
• Selected COM objects and their uses
• Standard PowerShell verbs

With limited time in your hands, a good reference in your pocket comes in utterly handy. Give Lee’s summarized work a try and see how your work will speed up and performance improve. Click on the link below to get started by having your book delivered from Amazon.

3. Windows Server 2019 Automation with PowerShell Cookbook

What is sweet about this book is that its author, Thomas Lee, is a consultant/trainer/writer from England and has been in the IT business since the late 1960’s. He holds numerous Microsoft certifications, including MCSE (one of the first in the world) and later versions, MCT (22 years), and was awarded the Microsoft MVP award 17 times. He has the experience that anyone would relish to learn from which makes this book a gem.

The book helps the reader learn how to use PowerShell and manage core roles, features, and services of Windows Server 2019.

You will begin with creating a PowerShell Administrative Environment that has updated versions of PowerShell and the Windows Management Framework, updated versions of the .NET Framework, and third-party modules. Next, you will learn to use PowerShell to set up and configure Windows Server 2019 networking and also managing objects in the AD environment.

Moreover, you will learn to set up a host to utilize containers and how to deploy containers. You will also be implementing different mechanisms for achieving desired state configuration along with getting well versed with Azure infrastructure and how to setup Virtual Machines, web sites, and shared files on Azure. Finally, you will be using some powerful tools you can use to diagnose and resolve issues with Windows Server 2019.

By the end of the book, you will learn a lot of trips and tricks to automate your windows environment with PowerShell

What you will learn in a nutshell

• Perform key admin tasks on Windows Server 2019
• Employing best practices for writing PowerShell scripts and configuring Windows Server 2019
• Use the .NET Framework to achieve administrative scripting
• Set up VMs, websites, and shared files on Azure
• Report system performance using built-in cmdlets and WMI to obtain single measurements
• Know the tools you can use to diagnose and resolve issues with Windows Server

If you are a systems administrator, engineer, or an architect working with Windows Server 2016 interested in upgrading to Windows Server 2019 and automating tasks with PowerShell, then this book is for you. In order to get the best out of this book, the author recommends a basic knowledge of PowerShell. A link shared below will lead you to one of the most experienced authors in this subject. Click on it and do yourself a favour by ordering one for yourself from Amazon.

4. PowerShell for Sysadmins: Workflow Automation Made Easy

In PowerShell for Sysadmins, five-time Microsoft® MVP “Adam the Automator” Bertram shows you how to use PowerShell to manage and automate your desktop and server environments so that you can head out for an early lunch and have a peaceful time during deployment.

You will learn how to:

• Combine commands, control flow, handle errors, write scripts, run scripts remotely, and test scripts with the PowerShell testing framework, Pester
• Parse structured data like XML and JSON, work with common domains (like Active Directory, Azure, and Amazon Web Services), and create a real-world server inventory script
• Design and build a PowerShell module to demonstrate PowerShell isn’t just about ad-hoc scripts
• Use PowerShell to create a hands-off, completely automated Windows deployment
• Build an entire Active Directory forest from nothing but a Hyper-V host and a few ISO files
• Create endless Web and SQL servers with just a few lines of code!

This is a resource that every System Administrator will be very happy to have. They will throw away all of the tedious manual deployments and configurations and bask in the comfort of PowerShell that just works. I mean, who can refuse to have a hands-off, completely automated Windows deployment while they sip their favorite cup of tea? You get what am talking about especially of you have been there before. Stop all of the hard work and add some smarts into your daily work with this bundle of joy. Head over to Amazon and book yourself a copy. Make your work easier by clicking below

5. PowerShell Cookbook: Your Complete Guide to Scripting the Ubiquitous Object-Based Shell

A combination of wit and experience is what describes author Lee Holmes. He is a security architect in Azure Security, an original developer on the PowerShell team, and has been an authoritative source of information about PowerShell since its earliest betas. His vast experience with both world-scale security and operational management–and PowerShell itself–give him the background to integrate both the “how” and the “why” into discussions.

This introduction to the PowerShell language and scripting environment provides more than 400 task-oriented recipes to help you solve all kinds of problems. Intermediate to advanced system administrators will find more than 100 tried-and-tested scripts they can copy and use immediately.

It will help you use PowerShell to get things done. It contains hundreds of solutions to specific, real-world problems. For systems management, you will find plenty of examples that show how to manage the filesystem, the Windows Registry, event logs, processes, and more. For enterprise administration, you will find two entire chapters devoted to Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), Active Directory, and other enterprise-focused tasks.

Along the way, you will also learn an enormous amount about PowerShell: its features, its commands, and its scripting language—but most importantly, you will solve problems.

Stuff you will learn among others

• How to use PowerShell on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019
• You will tour PowerShell’s core features, including the command model, object-based pipeline, and ubiquitous scripting
• Master fundamentals such as the interactive shell, pipeline, and object concepts
• Perform common tasks that involve working with files, internet-connected scripts, user interaction, and more
• Solve tasks in systems and enterprise management, such as working with Active Directory and the filesystem

To make your work even simpler, the majority of this book requires only a working installation of PowerShell which comes by default in Windows 7 and above as well as Windows Server 2012 and above. It is the ultimate scripting source that you can depend on to facilitate your work with efficiency and cheer. Click on the link below and get your curiosity served with plenty of good information and skills from this resource in Amazon.

6. Windows PowerShell in Action

Author Bruce Payette is a founding member of the PowerShell team at Microsoft. He is codesigner and principal author of the PowerShell language. His co-author Richard Siddaway is a multi-year PowerShell MVP, author, speaker and blogger with many years of experience using PowerShell.

This Third Edition is the definitive guide to PowerShell revised to cover PowerShell 6. Written by language designer Bruce Payette and MVP Richard Siddaway, this rich book offers a crystal-clear introduction to the language along with its essential everyday use cases. Beyond the basics, you will find detailed examples on deep topics like performance, module architecture, and parallel execution.

Using many examples as already mentioned, both small and large, this book illustrates the features of the language and environment and shows how to compose those features into solutions, quickly and effectively.

What you will find inside

• The best end-to-end coverage of PowerShell available
• Updated with coverage of PowerShell v6
• PowerShell workflows
• PowerShell classes
• Writing modules and scripts
• Desired State Configuration
• Programming APIs and pipelines

Written not only for intermediate-level developers and administrators it is designed for anyone who wants to learn PowerShell and use it well. Rather than simply being a book of recipes to read and apply, this book tries to give the reader a deep knowledge about how PowerShell works and how to apply it. Don’t wait no more. Click below, get to Amazon and purchase this resource. It is good for you.

7. Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches

Veteran PowerShell MVP Don Jones brings years as successful trainer to this concise, easy-to-follow book together with Jeffery Hicks who is a PowerShell MVP with 20 years of IT experience. Both Jeff and Don blog frequently on PowerShell related topics.

This book by the two experienced authors is an innovative tutorial designed for busy IT professionals. The authors advice that just set aside one hour a day lunchtime in a would be perfect for a month, and you will be automating Windows tasks faster than you ever thought possible. This updated edition covers PowerShell features that run on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and later, PowerShell v3 and later, and includes v5 features like PowerShellGet.

What you will get inside

• Learn PowerShell from the beginning, no experience required!
• Covers PowerShell v3 and up, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 and later
• Each lesson takes you an hour or less
• Among many more in 28 chapters of beautiful knowledge to consume.

In order to get the most out of this resource experience with Windows administration is helpful. On the other hand, no programming or scripting experience needed. So you can jump right in and before you know it, you will be automating most of the manual stuff that has been taking your time. Click below to order your copy from Amazon.

8. Windows PowerShell Step by Step

Written by Ed Wilson who is the Microsoft Scripting Guy and a well-known scripting expert, this a wonderful book for all kinds of readers. He writes the daily Hey Scripting Guy! Blog–the most popular blog on TechNet. He has also spoken at TechEd and at the Microsoft internal TechReady conferences.

The author intends to expand your expertise-and teach yourself the fundamentals of Windows PowerShell scripting, including features available in Windows PowerShell 5. If you are an IT professional, power user, or consultant, you will get the guidance, exercises, and code you need to master core techniques for automating Windows setup, deployment, and management.

You will discover how to:

• Run cmdlets and command-line utilities
• Administer Windows-based servers and desktops with built-in cmdlets
• Use providers to access external information
• Write and run scripts from the Windows ISE
• Create functions that are easy to maintain
• Build standardized environments with profiles
• Automate Windows systems with WMI, CIM cmdlets, and remoting
• Automate Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)
• Debug scripts and handle errors
• Run commands that survive interruptions
• Use Desired State Configuration (DSC) to manage software services and their environments
• Get powerful new modules from PowerShell Gallery

The good news about this book is that no experience with Windows PowerShell or other scripting technologies is necessary. If you would wish to start off using PowerShell, this is the best place to begin the journey. A link to Amazon where you can get more about the book as well as purchase a copy is found below just for you.

9. PowerShell 7 for IT Professionals

What is sweet about this book again is that its author, Thomas Lee, is a consultant/trainer/writer from England and has been in the IT business since the late 1960’s. He holds numerous Microsoft certifications, including MCSE (one of the first in the world) and later versions, MCT (22 years), and was awarded the Microsoft MVP award 17 times. He has the experience that anyone would relish to learn from which makes this book a gem for those who would wish to try out PowerShell 7.

This book shows IT professionals—especially Windows administrators and developers—how to use PowerShell 7 to engage in their most important tasks, such as managing networking, using AD/DNS/DHCP, leveraging Azure, and more.

To make it easy to learn everything PowerShell 7 has to offer, this book includes robust examples, each containing sample code so readers can follow along. Scripts are based on PowerShell 7 running on Windows 10 19H1 or later and Windows Server 2019.

What you will find inside among others

• Learn to navigate the PowerShell 7 administrative environment
• Use PowerShell 7 to automate networking, Active Directory, Windows storage, shared data, and more
• Run Windows Update, IIS, Hyper-V, and WMI and CIM cmdlets within PowerShell 7
• Understand how to handle reporting in the new PowerShell 7 environment

The book provides exclusive coverage of using PowerShell with both cloud-based systems and virtualized environments (Hyper V and Azure). The wit and experience from author Lee is invaluable to any reader. Grab your copy from Amazon below.

Concluding Remarks

If you value your precious time as a System Administrator or infrastructure engineer, automation is the key that will unlock extra hours for you to concentrate on other things while still delivering value where you work or consult. PowerShell scripting is here to take away the burden, to make your work way way easier and to afford you peace of mind from the laborious work you always wake up to. The books above concentrate on making you an expert in this technology and to make you a better professional. Let the headache be taken away by a few weeks of study and practice and before long, you will be the best guy in the department or team. Let us know if there are better or other books we can add in this list for others of benefit from.

We continue to appreciate your support which is tremendous and encouraging. Thank you for reading through and being part of us. Read other books and guides from the links shared below.

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