Windows Powershell Training in Bangalore

THE FUTURE OF POWERSHELL

• PowerShell, Microsoft’s scripting platform, is significant for several reasons. It is critical to Microsoft’s strategy of reducing dependence on a GUI in Windows Server. It is also a key piece in automating IT administration, which is fundamental to business agility.
• The platform was invented by Microsoft’s Jeffrey Snover, now Technical Fellow and Lead Architect for the Enterprise Cloud Group. The evolution of PowerShell has gone hand in hand with the company’s broader strategy for Windows and Azure, guided by Snover as architect.
• PowerShell is everywhere in Azure Stack, Microsoft’s packaged version of Azure for running on-premises, and presumably in the online version of Azure as well. There are an “average 472 cmdlet calls” when a VM is created, according to Snover’s keynote at the recent PowerShell Europe conference in Hanover.
• The PowerShell team is now apparently part of the Azure Management Team within Microsoft.
• What is happening with PowerShell? The main thing to understand is that Microsoft has forked the platform. Windows PowerShell is the Windows-only version, while PowerShell Core is cross-platform on Windows, Mac and Linux. Windows PowerShell is based on the .NET Framework, while PowerShell Core is based on .NET Core.
• The situation with this is odd, in that Windows PowerShell is installed by default in Windows Server and the one that most people use; but PowerShell Core is the one that is under active development. 
• Note though that PowerShell is modular, and although the Windows PowerShell engine is not being developed, new or enhanced modules will still appear. In fact, they are likely to run both on Windows PowerShell and on PowerShell Core. Like all forks, there will be some pain over compatibility versus using the latest features as the Core platform evolves.
• If you want to try PowerShell Core you can download it here. However, it is of limited use for day to day work unless you also install and activate a module called Windows PSModule Path which you can get from the PowerShell Gallery. This lets you use all your current Windows PowerShell modules, subject of course to compatibility.

So, what is next for PowerShell?

Snover’s ambition for the platform, he said, is to manage any server or service, from any client, running on any cloud (or on-premises, any hypervisor).

Much of what is interesting is not so much new features in PowerShell itself, but additional modules or other utilities.

• PS Swagger is helpful for creating modules: it will create a PowerShell module from a Swagger API (a popular standard for specifying RESTful APIs).
• CloudShell is a command shell for Azure which you can run from a web browser.
• Windows Admin Center, formerly known as Project Honolulu is a browser application for managing servers (and some desktops). You can open a PowerShell session directly from the browser. In addition, it is PowerShell that enables much of the other functionality.
• As for Microsoft’s plans for PowerShell Core, Snover refers to which sets out the company’s strategic investments. These include help system improvements, a GUI framework for the console perhaps like Curses on Linux, a mechanism for PowerShell to prompt for install (as in Bash) when a command is not found, but a module containing that command is known to exist, and Just Enough Administration (JAE) on Linux.
• At the PowerShell conference Principal Software Engineer Steve Lee talked about a PowerShell Standard Library, which itself targets .NET Standard 2.0, for module authors to use when creating modules so they will work cross-platform.

PowerShell and Microsoft’s platform

• One of the intriguing things about Microsoft’s evolution is its embrace of both Linux and cross-platform. PowerShell is one small part of this, but fits in with that strategy. We should no longer think of Microsoft’s platform as based on Windows, even though of course it mostly runs on Windows today. The OS is becoming less important as the company focuses on services and applications.
• The further implication is that cross-platform support is not just a nice-to-have feature for pieces like .NET Core and PowerShell Core, but essential for Microsoft itself as it integrates multiple operating systems in its cloud platform.
• While we tend to applaud cross-platform support as a good thing, it is not without pain. PowerShell is a case in point. Windows PowerShell is at the same time the current thing, and the thing that is no longer evolving.

PowerShell and IT admins

PowerShell is an essential skill for Windows IT admins. On Office 365, for example, there always seem to be things you can do in PowerShell that you cannot easily do though the GUI, and even where you can, it often pays to use PowerShell because you can script and automate common operations.

How admins benefit from open source PowerShell

• The good points of the recent changes to PowerShell include access to the open source project, a faster release cadence and community input.
• Another point in favor of PowerShell's move is that you can see the code. If you can read C#, you can use that skill to track down and report on bugs you encounter. If you have a fix for the problem, then you can submit it.
• Studying the code can give you insight into how PowerShell works. What it won't explain is why PowerShell works the way it does. Previously, Microsoft MVPs and very few other people had access to Windows PowerShell code, but with the PowerShell Core code now available to more people, it can only make it a better product in the long run.
• A faster release cadence implies quicker resolution of bugs and new features on a more regular basis. The downside to a faster release cadence is that you'll have to keep upgrading your PowerShell instances to get the bug fixes and new features.
• Of the Microsoft product teams, the Windows PowerShell team is one of the most accessible. They've been very active in the PowerShell community since the PowerShell v1 beta releases by engaging with users and incorporating their feedback. The scope of that dialog has expanded; anyone can report bug fixes or request new features.
• The downside is the expectation that the originator of the request is expected to implement the changes. If you follow the project, you'll see there are just a handful of community members who are heavily active.

Shortcomings of the PowerShell Core project

This leads us to the disadvantages now that PowerShell is an open-source project. In my view, the problems are:

• it's an open source project;
• there's no overarching vision for the project;
• the user community lacks an understanding of what's happening with PowerShell; and
• gaps in the functionality.