Learning PowerShell

Whether you're a Developer, a DevOps or an IT Professional, this doc will help you getting started with PowerShell. In this document we'll cover the following: installing PowerShell, samples walkthrough, PowerShell editor, debugger, testing tools and a map book for experienced bash users to get started with PowerShell faster.

The exercises in this document are intended to give you a solid foundation in how to use PowerShell. You won't be a PowerShell guru at the end of reading this material but you will be well on your way with the right set of knowledge to start using PowerShell.

If you have 30 minutes now, let’s try it.

Installing PowerShell

First you need to set up your computer working environment if you have not done so. Choose the platform below and follow the instructions. At the end of this exercise, you should be able to launch the PowerShell session.

Get PowerShell by installing package

For this tutorial, you do not need to install PowerShell if you are running on Windows. You can launch PowerShell console by pressing Windows key, typing PowerShell, and clicking on Windows PowerShell. However if you want to try out the latest PowerShell, follow the PowerShell on Windows.

Alternatively you can get the PowerShell by building it

Getting Started with PowerShell

PowerShell commands follow a Verb-Noun semantic with a set of parameters. It's easy to learn and use PowerShell. For example, Get-Process will display all the running processes on your system. Let's walk through with a few examples from the PowerShell Beginner's Guide.

Now you have learned the basics of PowerShell. Please continue reading if you want to do some development work in PowerShell.

PowerShell Editor

In this section, you will create a PowerShell script using a text editor. You can use your favorite editor to write scripts. We use Visual Studio Code (VS Code) which works on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Click on the following link to create your first PowerShell script.

Using Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

PowerShell Debugger

Debugging can help you find bugs and fix problems in your PowerShell scripts. Click on the link below to learn more about debugging:

PowerShell Testing

We recommend using Pester testing tool which is initiated by the PowerShell Community for writing test cases. To use the tool please read Pester Guides and Writing Pester Tests Guidelines.

Map Book for Experienced Bash users

The table below lists the usage of some basic commands to help you get started on PowerShell faster. Note that all bash commands should continue working on PowerShell session.

Bash	PowerShell	Description
ls	dir, Get-ChildItem	List files and folders
tree	dir -Recurse	List all files and folders
cd	cd, Set-Location	Change directory
pwd	pwd, $pwd, Get-Location	Show working directory
clear, Ctrl+L, reset	cls, clear	Clear screen
mkdir	New-Item -ItemType Directory	Create a new folder
touch test.txt	New-Item -Path test.txt	Create a new empty file
cat test1.txt test2.txt	Get-Content test1.txt, test2.txt	Display files contents
cp ./source.txt ./dest/dest.txt	Copy-Item source.txt dest/dest.txt	Copy a file
cp -r ./source ./dest	Copy-Item ./source ./dest -Recurse	Recursively copy from one folder to another
mv ./source.txt ./dest/dest.txt	Move-Item ./source.txt ./dest/dest.txt	Move a file to other folder
rm test.txt	Remove-Item test.txt	Delete a file
rm -r <folderName>	Remove-Item <folderName> -Recurse	Delete a folder
find -name build*	Get-ChildItem build* -Recurse	Find a file or folder starting with 'build'
grep -Rin "sometext" --include="*.cs"	Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.cs \| Select-String -Pattern "sometext"	Recursively case-insensitive search for text in files

Recommended Training and Reading

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Getting Started with PowerShell
Why Learn PowerShell by Ed Wilson
PowerShell Web Docs: Basic cookbooks
PowerShell eBook from PowerShell.com
PowerShell-related Videos on Channel 9
Learn PowerShell Video Library from PowerShell.com
PowerShell Quick Reference Guides by PowerShellMagazine.com
PowerShell 5 How-To Videos by Ed Wilson
PowerShell TechNet Resources from ScriptCenter

Commercial Resources

Windows PowerShell in Action by Bruce Payette
Introduction to PowerShell from Pluralsight
PowerShell Training and Tutorials from Lynda.com