How to Use This Book

Envisage attending a PowerShell conference, where there are over thirty speakers each presenting a singular forty-five minute session. Normally, some sessions would be run concurrently. However, this conference has organized all presentations to be at different times. How much a would conference like this will cost? The tickets, airfares, accommodation, and meals would all add up to thousands. Thankfully, this conference costs a mere fraction of that as it has been compiled into a book.

This book is designed to be treated like a conference. It is not a textbook, nor is it a reference document that has been created to be used in conjunction with a course, but a book that is meant to be treated as a conference. Each chapter is written by a subject matter expert, with there being no dependency on other chapters. One could start with the first chapter, the last chapter, or somewhere in-between and not miss out on anything that is on offer.

About OnRamp

OnRamp is an annual entry-level education program focused on PowerShell and Development Operations. It is a series of presentations that are held at the PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit and is 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. Basic knowledge of server administration is beneficial. OnRamp ticket holders will be able to network with other Summit attendees who are attending the scheduled Summit sessions during keynotes, meals, and evening events.

Through fundraising and corporate sponsorships, The DevOps Collective, Inc. will be offering several 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 intermediate to advanced audiences 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:

Get-CimInstance -ComputerName $computer -Classname Win32_logicalDisk -Filter "dri\
vetype=3" -property DeviceID,Size,FreeSpace

Here, you can see the default action for a line that is too long—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 unavoidable, splatting will be used instead.

$params = @{
    ComputerName = $computer
    Classname = 'Win32_logicalDisk'
    Filter = "drivetype=3"
    property = 'DeviceID','Size','FreeSpace'
}

Get-CimInstance @params

When writing PowerShell expressions, you shouldn’t be limited by these constraints. All downloadable code samples will be in their original form.

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, log in to Leanpub, and click on the “Join the Forum” link in the Feedback section of this book’s webpage.