Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches

It is a good book for learning like I wanted to. The issue is that there is no website(404 error) to see what the answers are nor is there a forum where Don Jones answers question like it is stated in the book. So when you get stuck somewhere in the book, like I am, you are on your own which defeats much of what is stated in the opening chapter. So if you can find another book, I would suggest that one instead as I am looking for another one now.EditedI posted on there asking about the book and one of the MVPs there contacted Don Jones and they are in the middle of updating the site so that is why it is down now. I'll give 5 stars when the site is up. Again it is a very good book to learn powershell if you are just getting into it. There are other resources on the web to find the answers that you need.EDITEDThe site is up and has all the content as promised. One thing I will say is that he drills the help files into your head until you are sick of it but he is 100% correct. Now that I can understand what the help file says instead of the usual MS cryptic speak, it is so much easier. All the examples and labs work together to the point were i feel confident in just writing a script and troubleshooting it myself instead of googleing(don't know if that is a word yet) for an hour.This is a beginners book but it gets you the foundation to go were you need to go with Powershell.

I have taught hundreds of people how to use PowerShell over the last several years and wish I would have had this book to do it. Overall, I recommend four main books for learning PowerShell as a system administrator and this one is the first on my list. For many, it might be the only book they want or need. As always Don Jones shows that he does not just know the topic but knows from experience how to teach it for those new to PowerShell. He does not assume any previous scripting background and uses a nice logical progression to teach PowerShell without adding topics that you simply do not need to know at the moment which can cause confusion and overly complicate learning. This makes for a less overwhelming learning experience and ultimately, I believe, to better retention of the content. Many chapters includes a "common points of confusion" section where Don's experience teaching this content really shows as he always has great explanations for where people often get tripped up with the topic. At around 300 pages there is no fluff here, but just a solid book with short focused chapters to learn the fundamentals of PowerShell.Lastly, do not forget to download the free lab manual which also includes an 11 page reminder of syntax along with the labs which is a great quick reference when you are learning or just need a quick refresher.

This will get you going with powershell if you are pretty new to the language. I used this in a crisis when I found I had to automate some pretty complicated Windows stuff and realized powershell was the way to go - but I didn't know anything about it (what the heck is a cmdlet and what is this pipeline concept?) I have done lots of shell scripting, but powershell is so much more than basic "shell scripting". I would consider this a warm up book, and I did all exercises in 15 days and had a decent handle on how it works. From there to do advanced tasks and write advanced programs (or even your own cmdlets) you are going to need to dive much much deeper... thankfully there are tons of powershell communities online for those really advanced questions. But this a highly recommended book for getting up to speed on what powershell is, what it can do (a TON) and the particulars of the language. I would recommend this to anyone looking to learn about powershell and jump right into basic tasks.

I HAVE PURCHASED THREE OF THE " MONTH OF LUNCHES" series. Theses references books will always be EXACTLY THAT - GO TO REFERENCE - so I will end up reading these books many times over. Not only I read them I also go on the computer and repeat all the steps as best as possible.Cheers ..................

This is the fourth powershell book I have purchased and turns out it was the only one I really needed. Not that the others are bad, it is just this one is crystal clear and matches both my learning style and skillset quite nicely (I am more of an admin than a scripter).The positives are the way each chapter builds on the prior (read in order) and the concept of a lesson each day works quite well. The labs also promote a learning style that makes you think about what to do and even give you tools to find out how to do them on your own. This is a big improvement over many of the other books I have where it is simple, repetitive usage of commands rather than in depth exploration. A huge plus for me was the copy of the book I got in PDF format as well as for my Kindle by purchasing the paper version. I can use it regardless of where I am working and don't have to drag my iPad or the actual book along with me.The cons - you are expected to have a Windows 2008 Domain Controller to complete some of the labs. This is where the book misses getting all 5 stars from me. I have no DCs that are not in production and it is simply insane to think I would try out commands in a book on a production DC. The book suggests bringing up a VM - but I need another VM like I need a new hole in my head not to mention that my company policy prevents me from doing this. There would have been no issues sticking to commands for Win 7 based systems.

Very well done.This book is my first real foray into Powershell. The author guides you through different topics just as if you were sitting in a class. The labs at the end of each chapter are very helpful. Nonetheless, for me at least, Powershell has quite a learning curve. Something tells me I will be referencing this book quite a bit in the future as I try to understand or recall certain concepts.Don Jones also has one of these books out for Powershell 3, but version 3 was not out yet at the time I bought this version 2 book.