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PowerShell has been a favorite solution
of Windows administrators for over a decade,
with the capability to automate almost any task that exists
in the Microsoft ecosystem.
From governing user accounts, servers, databases,
and more, the list of uses for it has been never ending.
And in this ACG Fundamental, we'll show you what it is,
and why it's been a favorite.
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Let's start with PowerShell.
It's a cross-platform task automation solution
made up of a command line interface,
and a scripting language.
It's available for Windows natively and can be installed
on both Mac and Linux systems.
Instead of text-based programming,
PowerShell uses objects for all of its inputs and outputs,
which works kind of like a template.
It enables a more natural and pragmatic approach
to scripting through its flexibility,
and ability to troubleshoot and reuse code.
For example,
I can make an object that includes my first name,
then add my last name and then query or reuse that object
throughout my script.
Two primary features I wanna talk about are CMDLETS,
and MODULES.
A module is a set of related functionalities,
and resources grouped together.
You can install modules for things like querying a database,
or managing your VMware environment,
or troubleshooting your network.
You can even create your own modules.
Azure PowerShell is actually a module that you install,
and use.
A cmdlet is a single,
lightweight command that performs an action.
We'll go through some of the features and functionality
of how they work as well, but first,
how does Azure PowerShell manage Azure?
How does it work?
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Every single way you could possibly connect to Azure
goes through a single management interface called,
the Azure Resource Manager.
The interface authenticates and authorizes
whatever action that you wanna perform.
For Azure PowerShell and the Azure Command Line Interface,
they use the Software Development Kit or SDK to connect
to Azure Resource Manager and perform the actions.
When you install the Azure PowerShell module,
the SDK is automatically installed as part of the module.
one of the many cool features of working with modules
in PowerShell.
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It's gonna be tough in order for me to tell you exactly
what to use Azure PowerShell for, there's so many features,
utilities, and modules that the only limit
of what you can create, monitor, manage and automate
is your own imagination.
You still want examples?
Sure, you could use it to upgrade your website,
managing your web app.
You could use it to migrate your file servers
over Azure Blob storage.
You can even create and manage your users or assign roles,
or other group memberships.
And this is where it gets mind boggling.
There are hundreds of PowerShell modules,
including ones for Amazon Web Services,
Google Cloud Platform, VMware, and more.
You really could use PowerShell to be the one-stop shop
for all of your administrative tasks.
You see, there are a load of ways
that you can use PowerShell,
but the main benefits of using Azure PowerShell
is that it's easy to use, powerful and really flexible,
which allows users to build on their knowledge
of the language to manage and automate a myriad
of other products, solutions, and services.
Bill Gates once said,
I choose a lazy person to do a hard job
because the lazy person will find an easy way to do it.
And to me, that's Azure PowerShell.
It's the easy way to manage Azure resources,
from automating your daily tasks to complex scripts,
and deployment scenarios, PowerShell has got you covered.
If you wanna learn more about Azure PowerShell,
and start using it to manage all of your resources,
check out the additional links I've listed on this topic.
If you wanna learn how to get started with Azure PowerShell,
that's listed in the resources as well.
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and keep being awesome Cloud Gurus.