Sometimes, it is the small improvements in a language that can make a real difference. PowerShell is able to introduce extra common parameters that can be used by any Cmdlet or advanced function. When -PipelineVariable was introduced in V4, we all wondered what it could be used for. Laerte experimented and discovered that it could be a real convenience in every-day scripting with the pipeline.… Read more
When starting out with PowerShell, it is hard to escape from the detail to work out the best strategy for creating scripts. Laerte explains how, when and why it pays to think in terms of versatile functions to meet varying demands.… Read more
PowerShell is like any computer language: you must understand the paradigms, the constructs, and the way it is designed to work to get the most value from it. It is no good just translating 'sausage-string' procedural algorithms. To demonstrate how PowerShell should be used as its' creators intended, Laerte Junior shows the difference between PowerShell problem-solving with, and without, PowerShell paradigms.… Read more
DBAs regularly need to keep an eye on the error logs of all their SQL Servers, and the event logs of the host servers as well. When server numbers get large, the traditional Windows GUI approach breaks down, and the PoSH DBA reaches for a PowerShell script to do the leg-work.… Read more
Every DBA needs to know about SQLPSX, the PowerShell module library that is built by DBAs for DBAs, and designed to provide intuitive functions around the SMO objects. It makes the automation of database administration easier across all versions of SQL Server since SQL Server 2000. Laerte Junior, who is one of the developers on the open-source project, describes how to use it.… Read more
PowerShell is worth using when it is the quickest way to providing a solution. For the DBA, it is much more than getting information from SQL Server instances via PowerShell; it can also be run from SQL Server as part of a system that helps with administrative and monitoring tasks. Laerte explains how.… Read more
Once you pass that point of just hurriedly writing PowerShell scripts for immediate use and start to write PowerShell functions for reuse, then you'll want a robust set of parameters that allow functions to work just like cmdlets. … Read more
Laerte goes step-by-step through the process of tidying up and making more reusable an untidy collection of PowerShell routines, showing how pipelines and advanced functions can make PowerShell more effective in helping to automate many of the working DBA's chores.… Read more
