VBUG NEWCASTLE: Windows PowerShell: 0-60 in One Evening with Jonathan Noble

Windows PowerShell has been around since 2006, but now that version 2 will ship on the desktop in Windows 7, as well as being in Microsoft's Common Engineering Criteria and several 3rd party products, PowerShell is becoming increasingly compelling. While it is based on the .Net framework, you don't have to be a .Net Developer to use it; PowerShell is relevant to the GUI-based sys admin, the scripter and fully-fledged developers too. This session will go from dipping a first toe in the water, to productive use of PowerShell, via a collection of free tools and resources that will help you get up to speed quickly. Jonathan joined Newcastle University's Computing Service in the summer of 1999, just in nice time for an early migration from NT4 to Windows 2000. One of his early challenges was to deal with the provisioning of user accounts in the new Active Directory, which led to a lot of work with scripting and eventually a fully-fledged identity management system running on SQL Server, with an ASP.Net interface. Being a scripter in the world of Windows hasn't always been easy, with everything exposing different interfaces, be they COM, WMI or something altogether more wild and wacky, which is why he immediately fell in love with PowerShell - a single language he could use to manage AD, Exchange, IIS, SQL and even VMWare! Jonathan has recently presented on PowerShell to the UK powerShell User Group and SuperMondays.org. When he's not PowerShelling, Jonathan enjoys watching NBA Basketball with his Son and Twittering (@JoNoble).