PowerShell can save you a lot of time on Windows admin tasks, but to use it effectively you need to understand how it works. Here's a crash course in Windows PowerShell scripting basics to get you ...

Basic PowerShell functions. Basic PowerShell functions are straightforward and lack advanced features. They are declared using the function keyword, followed by a set of curly braces: function ...

In Part 1 of this series, I showed you an example of PowerShell's native validation capabilities.. In that installment, I wrote a function that accepted a text string as input. The function then ...

Unleashing PowerShell. Working with strings is certainly a necessary function when developing scripts and executing administrative tasks, but let’s take a look at some more useful ways to put ...

When creating functions, follow a consistent naming pattern, such as starting with a verb (e.g., Get, Set, Start) and using ...

This cmdlet uses a scriptblock for a filter. If the status property of the service is equal to "running," PowerShell sends it on to the pipeline. Otherwise it is discarded. When used in Where-Object, ...

A great example of this is using Get-Process and taking one (or more) objects that are outputted and send that into Stop-Process to end the processes. Get-Process -Name powershell | Stop-Process ...

The PowerShell Get-WindowsFeature command—or, more properly, cmdlet—can retrieve a list of Windows features, including server roles, that are installed on a server or workstation running ...

Posey's Tips & Tricks. How To Validate Input in PowerShell Functions, Part 1. If your automated script takes action based on a value, it's critical to make sure the value is correct.