Choose a PowerShell path for the work you do

Learn what PowerShell is, how its object pipeline works and how it differs from a traditional command prompt. Explore examples and try the lesson exercise.

Learn to install and verify PowerShell, identify the executable in use and check your version. Follow practical examples before starting your scripting work.

Check $PSVersionTable, distinguish Windows PowerShell from PowerShell 7 and identify the executable used by a script or scheduled task.

Windows PowerShell 5.1 vs PowerShell 7: key differences, .NET Framework vs .NET, and what works where. Know which version to target for your scripts.

Update PowerShell 7, distinguish engine updates from module updates and verify which executable your automation uses after the change.

Launch powershell.exe or pwsh from CMD, choose -File or -Command, quote paths correctly and inspect the process exit code.

Every PowerShell command is Verb-Noun. Learn the naming pattern so you can guess Get-Process, Stop-Service and New-Item correctly on the first try.

Learn to use Get-Help in PowerShell to find syntax, parameters and examples. Explore the help system and practice checking command usage before running.

Learn to discover PowerShell commands with Get-Command. Filter by verb, noun or module, inspect available commands and practice with explained examples.

Identify which policy applies before changing a setting or unblocking a script. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Navigate the registry, certificates and variables like filesystems. Learn PowerShell providers and PSDrives: Get-ChildItem and Set-Location work everywhere.

Learn how PowerShell modules package reusable automation. Explore module examples, understand their structure and practice organizing commands for reuse.

Understand why a displayed table is only a view, and inspect the properties behind it. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

The pipeline: read the examples, check prerequisites and follow the explanation before using the command in your environment.

Find the property or method a command actually returns before building a filter around it. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Store a value, inspect its type and avoid treating a display string as reusable data. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Handle zero, one and many results without changing the meaning of your script. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Learn PowerShell hashtables for key-value data. Follow examples for storing and reading entries, inspect the output and practice using structured lookups.

Learn to build PowerShell reporting objects with PSCustomObject. Follow examples for named properties, inspect the output and practice creating structured.

PowerShell Comparison operators: read the examples, check prerequisites and follow the explanation before using the command in your environment.

Stop mixing up PowerShell's two pattern systems. Learn when to use wildcards vs regex, with -like, -match and -replace explained through examples.

Find services that need investigation without treating every stopped service as a failure. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Learn to inspect CPU and memory usage with PowerShell process commands. Follow examples, interpret process properties and practice investigating programs.

Export a predictable table and check imported types before using the values in calculations. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Preserve nested data deliberately and verify the properties after converting it back. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Control script flow with if, elseif and else. Learn condition syntax, comparison operators, and how PowerShell evaluates truthiness in branching logic.

Learn the PowerShell switch statement for handling multiple cases. Follow worked examples, understand matching behavior and practice choosing the right.

Learn to iterate collections with foreach in PowerShell. Follow worked examples, understand how each item is processed and practice writing your own loop.

Master PowerShell's three remaining loops: for, while, and do. Learn when each runs, how conditions are tested, and avoid infinite loops with clear examples.

Return useful objects from a function and keep diagnostic messages out of its data stream. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Learn PowerShell scope and variable visibility. Follow examples showing variable visibility, inspect the results and practice reasoning about script state.

Reject invalid inputs at the boundary and explain what your function accepts. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Learn how to pass named parameters with a PowerShell hashtable, keep command calls readable and reuse options with splatting.

Turn plain functions into advanced functions with [CmdletBinding()]. Get -Verbose, -Debug and common parameters for free, plus pipeline support and validation.

Make your functions accept pipeline input. Learn [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline)], process blocks, and how objects flow between commands.

Handle a failing operation explicitly and keep cleanup separate from success reporting. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Learn to inspect PowerShell ErrorRecord objects beyond the error headline. Follow diagnostic examples and practice reading exception details to trace.

Master PowerShell's six output streams. Learn when to use Write-Verbose, Write-Debug and Write-Warning, and how to redirect each stream.

Learn the differences between CIM and WMI in PowerShell. Explore the Windows management interface through command examples, explained results and an exercise.

Learn to query Windows event logs with PowerShell. Explore diagnostic and security log examples, interpret the results and practice narrowing a query.

Replace ipconfig with objects. Use Get-NetAdapter, Get-NetIPAddress and Get-NetRoute from the NetTCPIP module for scriptable network admin.

Compare the same DNS question across the resolution paths your application actually uses. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Control Windows Firewall with the NetSecurity module. Get-NetFirewallRule, New-NetFirewallRule and Set-NetFirewallRule with real-world rule examples.

Inspect installed hotfixes, understand Get-HotFix coverage and distinguish Windows Update automation from PowerShell and module updates.

Manage AD users, groups, computers and OUs with the ActiveDirectory module. Installation, key cmdlets like Get-ADUser, and hands-on examples.

Query the intended users, request the properties you need, and verify the directory scope. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Read group membership without confusing a direct member list with effective access. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Learn to inventory Active Directory computer accounts with PowerShell. Follow query examples, inspect returned properties and practice interpreting the.

Investigate a specific replication partner and partition before attempting recovery. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Identify the affected role and recovery need before deciding to transfer or seize it. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Check client subnet mapping and replication topology as separate parts of a site problem. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Understand Service Principal Names and how Kerberos authentication works. Diagnose SPN issues that cause silent NTLM fallback or outright auth failures.

Trace the effective policy for an affected user and computer instead of guessing from a GPO link. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Inspect the Entra Connect scheduler, choose Delta or Initial sync and verify connector results before declaring directory synchronization complete.

Separate where a command runs from how its results are returned. Read the command examples and check the expected output.

Learn WinRM prerequisites for Windows PowerShell remoting. Follow the examples, understand connection requirements and practice checking your remoting setup.

Learn cross-platform PowerShell remoting over SSH. Review the session examples, understand remote command execution and practice interpreting returned output.

Learn to call REST APIs with PowerShell and handle structured responses. Follow request examples, inspect returned objects and practice using service data.

Learn Microsoft Graph PowerShell for cloud identity administration. Explore command examples, understand returned objects and practice Microsoft cloud.

Manage Entra ID users and groups through Microsoft Graph with PowerShell. Learn the cmdlets, avoid common pitfalls, and script identity tasks safely.

Learn Exchange Online PowerShell for mailbox and mail-flow administration. Follow command examples, interpret the output and practice working with cloud mail.

Learn SharePoint Online administration with PowerShell. Explore site and permission management examples, inspect results and practice administrative queries.

Learn Microsoft Teams administration with PowerShell. Follow command examples, inspect returned data and practice using Teams queries in administrative work.

Learn Azure PowerShell administration with the Az module. Explore command examples, inspect the results and practice working with Azure resources and context.

Run long tasks without blocking your prompt using PowerShell background jobs. Start-Job, Get-Job, Receive-Job and Wait-Job explained with practical examples.

Learn lightweight PowerShell concurrency with thread jobs. Follow examples for starting work and collecting results, then practice inspecting job behavior.

Speed up loops with ForEach-Object -Parallel in PowerShell 7. Run iterations concurrently in separate runspaces and learn throttle limits and gotchas.

Learn how PowerShell runspaces support concurrent work. Explore execution examples, understand the output and practice the concepts behind parallel.

Find slow code with Measure-Command. Learn to benchmark script blocks, compare approaches, and spot performance bottlenecks in your automation.

Automate with the ScheduledTasks module. Build tasks from actions, triggers and principals, then register them with Register-ScheduledTask.

Record every command and output with Start-Transcript and Stop-Transcript. Create audit trails for change windows and incident response.

Learn PowerShell code signing and trust verification. Follow examples for signed scripts, inspect the results and practice checking trust before execution.

Stop over-privileging automation accounts. Learn to scope service accounts and scheduled tasks to minimum rights without breaking scripts.

Learn Just Enough Administration in PowerShell to constrain operator capabilities. Explore examples, understand access models and practice applying the.

Learn to write automated PowerShell tests with Pester. Follow worked examples, understand assertions and test results, then practice verifying script.

Catch bugs before runtime with PSScriptAnalyzer. Run Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer to check code against best-practice rules without executing anything.

Structure PowerShell modules others can actually use. Learn the conventional layout: public vs private functions, manifests, one function per file.

Describe what a machine should look like and let DSC make it so. Write Configuration blocks with resources that declare desired state, not steps.

Learn to treat PowerShell scripts as software in CI/CD workflows. Follow examples, understand automated checks and practice preparing scripts for a pipeline.

Keep your script library from becoming a liability. Learn versioning, review practices, and standards that make automation safe to change.

Write runbooks someone can follow at 3 AM. Learn to document procedures clearly, then automate from the runbook with PowerShell.