PowerShell is a command-line interface and scripting language that is useful for automating and optimizing a variety of processes. As time goes on, PowerShell gets more and more useful for database administrators. While there is plenty of depth to PowerShell, I would argue that gaining the knowledge necessary to perform powerful tasks does not require a significant amount of learning. Let’s go over a few options for picking up PowerShell.
Where to Learn
YouTube has a near endless supply of videos to learn PowerShell. You can find short videos that focus on specific topics or full course videos that start from the basics. A recent search brought up this video that I think is good if you’re starting out or need a refresher.
If you’re more of a reader than a watcher, give Learn Powershell in a Month of Lunches a shot. You should still eat lunch and take a break from your work day, but you can do that and learn with this book as it breaks down PowerShell into easy lessons.
One bit of advice is to be cognizant of the dates for the material you’re learning from. If I’m trying to decide between learning from a resource that’s a year old compared to a resource that’s 10 years old, I’m taking the more recent resource every time. More recent means more updated material and less chances of learning something that has since become deprecated or bad practice.
What You Can Do
The links above can help from an overall PowerShell standpoint. What about database administrator specific resources?
Dbatools is the focus of database administrators using PowerShell. Check out this link for some use cases to get you started. Note that it doesn’t take many lines of code to be effective.
I mentioned Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches earlier. If the “Learn X in a Month of Lunches” is your style, there’s also Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches.
We’re already coming to the end of January. If you’re still looking for 2023 goals, make one of them to learn Powershell.
Thanks for reading!
Chad Callihan 