Have you ever spent an afternoon setting site collection properties manually on every site collection in your farm? How about going through and activating features following an upgrade? These are just two simple examples of where PowerShell can turn an entire afternoon worth of work into just a few minutes. In this session we’ll start off with a familiarization of PowerShell and progress into capabilities and usage scenarios of the out of the box SharePoint 2010 cmdlets. Presented at SharePoint Saturday, Richmond (November 5, 2011)

1. MAKING LIFE EASIER
WITH POWERSHELL
November 5, 2011

2. Special Thanks to Our Sponsors

3. SharePint
Everyone is invited to SharePint
Immediately following SharePoint Saturday Richmond
(or around 6:20 PM)
Meet at aloft Richmond West
3939 Duckling Drive
Glen Allen, VA 23060
(down the street from Dave & Buster’s)
Then we will hop to the next location
and the next within walking distance!
SharePint: a gathering of SharePoint enthusiasts for fun, food, and drink.

4. AGENDA
• What is PowerShell
• Working with PowerShell
• When to Use PowerShell
• Top 10 SharePoint 2010 Cmdlets
• Using the PowerShell Pipeline
• User Scenarios
• Tools & Resources
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 4

5. Core Concepts
WHAT IS POWERSHELL
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 5

6. WHAT IS POWERSHELL
• Microsoft task automation framework built on the .NET framework
• Command-line shell
• Scripting language (*.ps1)
• Common “shell” to Microsoft technologies (AD, SQL, SP, Server, etc.)
• Full access to COM (Component Object Model) and WMI (Windows
Management Instrumentation) for local and remote system
management
• Replacement to STSADM (deprecated)
• PowerShell > STSADM
• All STSADM operations have a PowerShell equivalent
• Integrated support for multiple platforms/services (not SP specific)
• Easily Extendable
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 6

7. Core Concepts
WORKING WITH POWERSHELL
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 7

8. POWERSHELL SNAP-INS
• PowerShell snap-in registers sets of cmdlets and/or providers,
extending the default functionality of the shell
• Similar to a web browser plug-in
• Added and removed as needed during user session
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 8

9. POWERSHELL CMDLETS
• A cmdlet (“command-let”) is a specific command executed in the
PowerShell environment
• Following a common {verb}-{noun} naming convention, cmdlet
functions are typically easily understood, ie: Add-PSSnapin, Get-
SPWeb, etc.
• Used like a function, cmdlets take one or more input
parameters/objects, and output objects or arrays of objects
• Cmdlets can be piped together, allowing the output object of one to
become the input object of another
• Objects are always processed individually, if multiple input objects are
specified, each object will be fully processed before the next is begun
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 9

10. WHEN TO USE POWERSHELL
• Making life “easier” with PowerShell should equate to increased
efficiency, lower cost, and lower turnaround
• Identify those processes which are repetitive in nature or those that
require extended “hands-on” time
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 10

11. GETTING STARTED
SharePoint 2010
Management Shell
PowerShell with the
SharePoint Snap-in Loaded
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 11

12. STARTING POWERSHELL
PowerShell 2.0
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 12

13. Demonstration
CREATE A POWERSHELL PROFILE
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 13

14. SharePoint 2010
TOP 10 POWERSHELL CMDLETS
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 14

15. GET-HELP
• Overview
• Displays help about Windows PowerShell cmdlets and concepts
• Examples
• Get-Help {cmdlet}
• Get-Help Test-Path
• Get-Help Test-Path -Detailed
• Get-Help Test-Path –Examples
• Get-Help {topic}
• Get-Help Snapin
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 15

16. GET-MEMBER
• Overview
• Gets the properties and methods of objects. Specify an object
using the InputObject parameter, or pipe an object to Get-Member.
• Examples
• Get-Member –InputObject $object
• $object | Get-Member
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 16

17. GET-SPFARM
• Overview
• Returns the local SharePoint farm.
• Examples
• Get-SPFarm
• $farm = Get-SPFarm
$farm.Properties
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 17

18. GET-SPWEBAPPLICATION
• Overview
• Returns all web applications that match the given criteria. If no
identity is specified, all web applications are returned. The Central
Administration web application is ignored unless specified directly
or the IncludeCentralAdministration flag is specified.
• Examples
• Get-SPWebApplication
• Get-SPWebApplication –IncludeCentralAdministration
• Get-SPWebApplication http://intranet
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 18

19. GET-SPSITE
• Overview
• Returns all the site collections that match the given criteria. If no
identity is specified, the farm is scope is used.
• Examples
• Get-SPSite
• Get-SPSite http://intranet
• Get-SPSite http://intranet/depts/facilities
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 19

20. GET-SPWEB
• Overview
• Returns all subsites that match the given criteria.
• Examples
• Get-SPWeb http://intranet/depts/HR/benefits
• Get-SPWeb http://intranet/depts/HR/*
• Get-SPWeb http://intranet/* –filter {$_.Template –eq “STS#0”}
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 20

21. GET-SPSERVICEAPPLICATION
• Overview
• Returns the specified service application. If no service application
is specified, all are returned.
• Examples
• Get-SPServiceApplication
• Get-SPServiceApplication | select Name, Status
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 21

22. GET-SPCONTENTDATABASE
• Overview
• Returns one or more content databases.
• Examples
• Get-SPContentDatabase
• Get-SPContentDatabase –WebApplication http://intranet
• Get-SPContentDatabase –Site http://intranet
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 22

23. TEST-SPCONTENTDATABASE
• Overview
• Tests a content database against a web application to verify all
customizations referenced within the content database are also
installed in the web application. Content databases do not need to
be mounted for validation to complete.
• Examples
• Test-SPContentDatabase –name Lab_Content_Intranet
–WebApplication http://intranet
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 23

24. EXPORT-CLIXML & EXPORT-CSV
• Overview • Overview
• Creates an XML-based • Converts objects into a
representation of an series of comma-
object or objects & stores separated value strings &
in a file. saves file.
• Examples • Examples
• $sites = Get-SPSite • $sites = Get-SPSite
Export-Clixml -InputObject Export-CSV -InputObject
$sites -Path $sites -Path
c:sites.xml c:sites.csv
• Get-SPSite | Export-Clixml • Get-SPSite | Export-CSV
c:sites.xml c:sites.csvs
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 24

25. Demonstration
LIST ALL SHAREPOINT CMDLETS
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 25

26. POWERSHELL PIPELINE
• The use of the PowerShell Pipeline allows the output object of one cmdlet
to become the input object of another
• “Piping” is performed by using the pipe character “ | ” between cmdlets
• Applies to native cmdlets (such as sorting, logical operations, and data
manipulation) and functional cmdlets (such as those for SharePoint)
• Logical Example:
Get-SPContentDatabase -WebApplication http://intranet | Where
{$_.CurrentSiteCount -gt 5}
• Functional Example:
Get-SPSite http://intranet | Get-SPWeb | Enable-SPFeature -Identity
“MyFeature”
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 26

27. Demonstration
USER SCENARIOS
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 27

28. TOOLS & RESOURCES
• Tools
• Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE)
• Idera PowerShell Plus (free trial available)
• Resources
• STSADM -> PowerShell Mapping
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff621081.aspx
• Scripting with Windows PowerShell (5 part webcast series)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scriptcenter/dd742419
• PowerShell Power Hour (monthly lunchtime webcasts)
http://idera.com/Education/PowerShell-Webcasts/
• Automating Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Administration with Windows
PowerShell 2.0. Gary Lapointe, Shannon Bray
• Automating Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Administration with
Windows PowerShell 2.0. Matthew Hester, Sarah Dutkiewicz
11/7/2011 Making Life Easier with PowerShell 28

29. QUESTIONS?

30. MICHAEL GREENE
@webdes03 mike-greene.com