Windows PowerShell in Windows Server 2008



A new addition to the server administration tools on Windows Server 2008 is the Windows PowerShell. Released before the server RTM, it is a new command-line shell and scripting language which allows you to automate or organize repetitive administrative tasks on the server.

Windows PowerShell is helpful for server administrators because you don’t need to be a code guru to use it like you would have to on Windows Server 2003 with VB and JavaScript, or complex C# applications. The Windows PowerShell is built to sit atop the .NET common language runtime (CLR) and the .NET Framework, accepting and returning .NET objects that you can interact with.

Windows PowerShell works with the so-called cmdlet. This ‘‘let’’ is a simple, single-function command-line tool built into the shell. More than 130 standard cmdlets comes with the system, and you can open them and manipulate them for your own use. You can also easily write your own cmdlets. The cmdlets can be used on their own or they can be joined and merged with each other to perform tasks on a server that would be very difficult through the regular command line or via Control Panel applets and features.

You can use Windows PowerShell to manage Windows Server 2008 roles, such as IIS 7.0, DNS, DHCO, Terminal Server, and so on. You can also create cmdlets for line of business servers like Exchange Server 2007, SQL Server, and Microsoft Operations Manager.

To use Windows PowerShell take the following action: Click Start button from the Taskbar and then All Programs and then Windows PowerShell 1.0 and then Documents or Click Start button from the Taskbar and then Control Panel and then Windows PowerShell 1.0 and then Documents, and then drill down to the folder that holds the Getting Started manual. This is a WordPad file that will get you running cmdlets in short order. There is also a user guide in the same folder, release notes, and more.