How to Use This Book
Imagine attending a PowerShell conference where over thirty speakers who are subject matter experts in the industry are each presenting one forty-five minute session. All the sessions are at different times so there’s no need to worry about choosing between them. You might be wondering how much a conference like this will cost by the time you pay for the conference, hotel, airfare, and meals? Well, there’s no need to worry because this conference doesn’t cost a fortune because it’s actually a book that’s designed to be like a conference.
This book is designed to be like a conference in a book where each chapter is written by a different author who is a subject matter expert on the topic covered in their chapter. Each chapter is also independent of the others so you can read one chapter, ten chapters, or all chapters. You can start with the first chapter, the last one, or somewhere in-between and not miss out on anything related to that particular topic.
About OnRamp
OnRamp is an annual entry-level education program focused on PowerShell and DevOps. It’s a conference within a conference at the PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit. The OnRamp track requires a distinct ticket type which is specifically designed for entry-level technology professionals who have completed foundational certifications such as CompTIA A+ and Cisco IT Essentials. No prior PowerShell experience is required, although some basic knowledge of server administration is useful. You’ll network with other Summit attendees who are attending the expert level sessions during keynotes, meals, and evening events.
Through fundraising and corporate sponsorships, The DevOps Collective, Inc. will be offering a number of full-ride scholarships to the OnRamp track at the PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit.
All (100%) of the royalties from this book are donated to the OnRamp scholarship program.
More information about the OnRamp track at the PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit and their scholarship program can be found on the PowerShell.org website.
See the DevOps Collective Scholarships cause on Leanpub.com for more books that support the OnRamp scholarship program.
Prerequisites
Prior experience with PowerShell is highly recommended. This book is written for the intermediate to advanced audience and each chapter assumes that you’ve completed the OnRamp track at the PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit or have equivalent experience with PowerShell.
A Note on Code Listings
If you’ve read other PowerShell books from LeanPub, you probably have seen some variation on this code sample disclaimer. The code formatting in this book only allows for about 75 characters per line before things start automatically wrapping. All attempts have been made to keep the code samples within that limit, although sometimes you may see some awkward formatting as a result.
For example:
1 Get-CimInstance -ComputerName $computer -Classname Win32_logicalDisk -Filter "drivet\
2 ype=3" -property DeviceID,Size,FreeSpace
Here, you can see the default action for a too-long line - it gets word-wrapped, and a backslash inserted at the wrap point to let you know. Attempts have been made to avoid those situations, but they may sometimes be unavoidable. When they are avoided in this book, it may be with awkward formatting, such as using backticks (`)
1 Get-CimInstance -ComputerName $computer `
2 -Classname Win32_logicalDisk `
3 -Filter "drivetype=3" `
4 -property 'DeviceID','Size','FreeSpace'
This code is formatted purely for reading purposes, you would never write code in this manner.
When you write PowerShell expressions, you shouldn’t be limited by these constraints. And all downloaded code samples don’t have these limitations.
Feedback
Have a question, comment, or feedback about this book? Please share it via the Leanpub forum dedicated to this book. Once you’ve purchased this book, login to Leanpub, and click on the “Join the Forum” link in the Feedback section of this book’s webpage.