Basic PowerShell Toolmaking - Spiceworld 2016 session
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The document discusses the fundamentals of PowerShell toolmaking, emphasizing the distinction between scripts and tools, as well as best practices for creating PowerShell scripts. It highlights important commands, the significance of using appropriate development environments, and structured approaches to debugging and coding. Key topics include managing event logs and developing scripts for consistent operational needs within IT environments.
![#SPICEWORLD2016
What do We Use to Make Our PowerShell Scripts
and Tools? [Demo]
Use the right tool for the job!
• Not NotePad or other text-based
editors
• Something that is “PowerShell”
aware
• This could be Visual Studio,
VSCode, Sapien PowerShell Studio,
or…the FREE Microsoft ISE.
Advantages?
1. Easily execute single lines or
sections of code
2. Tab completion of parameters,
properties & methods
3. Debugging, error discovery, and
syntax highlighting
4. Add-on support](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/spiceworldaustin2016powerpoint-new-161105153841/85/Basic-PowerShell-Toolmaking-Spiceworld-2016-session-7-320.jpg)
![#SPICEWORLD2016
[Book] PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, Don Jones &
Jeffery Hicks
[Book] PowerShell ToolMaking in a Month of Lunches, Don
Jones & Jeffery Hicks
[Web] PowerShell 3.0 JumpStart, Microsoft Virtual
Academy, Jason Helmick, Jeffery Snover*
*heck, anything by Jeffery Snover, I mean, he invented it!
Learning PowerShell?](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/spiceworldaustin2016powerpoint-new-161105153841/85/Basic-PowerShell-Toolmaking-Spiceworld-2016-session-22-320.jpg)
Basic PowerShell Toolmaking - Spiceworld 2016 session
- 1. Scripting as a Second Language Basic PowerShell Toolmaking
- 2. Rob Dunn - @maximillianx • Lead Systems Administrator • IT Pro for 22 years • In the Spiceworks Community since 2007 • Pure Capsaicin since 2014
- 3. Sponsored by Netwrix – www.netwrix.com Free products: • Change Notifier for AD, File Servers, Group Policy • Account Lockout Examiner Tool • Password Expiration Notifier • Effective Permissions Analyzer • And more! Flagship Product: • Audit (Active Directory, Azure AD, Oracle, SharePoint, VMware, O365, and more)
- 4. #SPICEWORLD2016 • My take on the Difference Between a Script and a Tool • Toolmaking with a Tool (not just me), the ISE • The Genesis of the Tool • Demo! What We’ll Cover
- 5. #SPICEWORLD2016 A simple script is a file containing a series of runtime instructions which can be executed repeatedly with a relatively specific focus which produces an expected outcome. Typically, the user running the script doesn’t have much, if any control over the output. What is a Simple Script?
- 6. #SPICEWORLD2016 • Input • Functional • Output What is a Tool – Three Types
- 7. #SPICEWORLD2016 What do We Use to Make Our PowerShell Scripts and Tools? [Demo] Use the right tool for the job! • Not NotePad or other text-based editors • Something that is “PowerShell” aware • This could be Visual Studio, VSCode, Sapien PowerShell Studio, or…the FREE Microsoft ISE. Advantages? 1. Easily execute single lines or sections of code 2. Tab completion of parameters, properties & methods 3. Debugging, error discovery, and syntax highlighting 4. Add-on support
- 8. #SPICEWORLD2016 Toolmaking: My Thought Process Problem Level of Need Output Input
- 9. #SPICEWORLD2016 Start with a bit of code that you’ve used once or twice and build your script around that. Today’s Method: Build From the “Inside Out”
- 10. Get-Command - Find that cmdlet you’re looking for Get-Help (RTFM, right?! Don’t forget to ‘Update- Help’ as well!) Get-Member - Find out the methods and properties associated with an object* * Pretty much everything in PowerShell is an object Quick review: Cmdlets you must know
- 11. Quick review: What is a PowerShell Object? It’s a “thing” that represents something. You can also think of it like a row in a database table - with a twist Properties • $Friend.FirstName = Scott • $Friend.LastName = Brosnan • $Friend.Height = 1.7272 • $Friend.Funny = $True • $Friend.BurnsUnderAStreetL ampBecauseHeMustBeAVam pireNotATwilightVampireThe OtherKind= $True $Chair $Friend = Get-Friend | Where-Object FirstName –eq “Scott” $Friend.BeatBox(20) $Friend
- 12. Methods • $Friend.Complain • $Friend.TellHorribleJoke • $Friend.TakeDownStorage Array • $Friend.BeatBox Quick review: What is a PowerShell Object? It’s a “thing” that represents something. You can also think of it like a row in a database table - with a twist $Chair $Friend = Get-Friend | Where-Object FirstName –eq “Scott” $Friend.BeatBox(20) $Friend
- 13. Get Event Log Entries surrounding an item of interest The Scenario #SPICEWORLD2016
- 14. #SPICEWORLD2016 The Problem A service account is experiencing a lockout in the middle of the night. IT needs to gather all the event log entries from the system log x minutes before and x minutes after the time of a specified event to see if there is “something else” going on.
- 15. #SPICEWORLD2016 The IT manager has determined this problem occurs enough times to warrant a closer look at the symptoms by his junior staff; preferably by utilizing a consistent method when the problem recurs. The Level Of Need
- 16. #SPICEWORLD2016 The IT manager would like to have all the surrounding event log entries in a view which can be browsed or exported to CSV for further analysis; potentially in Excel so they can compare them. The Output
- 17. #SPICEWORLD2016 1. The date and time of Event we’re interested in 2. The range of minutes before and after the event to gather other possible interesting information. The Input (our Parameters)
- 18. #SPICEWORLD2016 …find system event log items x minutes before and x minutes after event of interest occurs …output events to end user as objects BONUS: Can we get these items from ALL event logs? To use these parameters, our script needs to:
- 20. #SPICEWORLD2016 • Comment-Based Help • Format your script – look like a Pro! • Make your scripts and functions single purpose, name them accordingly • Use Microsoft supported verbs to name your functions and scripts (Get- Verb) • Configure Execution Policy to run PS1 files (Set-ExecutionPolicy – ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned, etc.) Best Practices
- 21. #SPICEWORLD2016 1. Save your file as a .PS1 and share with your co-workers 2. Create a module (easier than it sounds) Share and Enjoy! I.e. Extra Credit
- 22. #SPICEWORLD2016 [Book] PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, Don Jones & Jeffery Hicks [Book] PowerShell ToolMaking in a Month of Lunches, Don Jones & Jeffery Hicks [Web] PowerShell 3.0 JumpStart, Microsoft Virtual Academy, Jason Helmick, Jeffery Snover* *heck, anything by Jeffery Snover, I mean, he invented it! Learning PowerShell?
- 23. Thank you!
Editor's Notes
- #9: The Problem: What problem am I trying to solve? The Level of Need: Do I find that I need to solve this problem on more than a handful of occasions? Do I need to delegate this? The Output: What do I want to achieve upon script execution? Do I need to perform an action, review data, or notify someone? The Input: Given the requirements for output, what information do I need to supply to the script in order fulfill the above required output?
- #11: Get-Command – just like it says, you can use this to “get” any command that Powershell has to offer. You can search based on a word, and wildcards are supported. Get-Command also works for all your Windows console commands, too! Get-Help – again, very descriptive here. You can use Get-Help in conjunction with any other cmdlet to discover what it does and how to use it. Get-Member – this one is different in that you “pipe” other cmdlets into this one to discover what kind of information the cmdlet presents and what kinds of actions you can take on the resultant objects the cmdlet returns. More on objects shortly!