Introduction to PowerShell Core

PowerShell Core, as the open source alternative to Windows PowerShell from which it evolved, is quickly becoming the automation engine of choice for many administrators and developers alike. As a true cross-platform shell, PowerShell Core is perfectly suited for many different operating system types and workloads.

While the next iteration of PowerShell Core at the time of writing was slated for May 2019 and will drop the Core this book and its recipes will remain accurate and useful. The release of PowerShell is merely a rebranding to unify PowerShell development. In the future we will continue to see rapid new iterations of PowerShell.

While installing PowerShell Core is a breeze, the first steps for people new to PowerShell can be quite challenging. In this chapter, I aim to bridge those little knowledge gaps and show you the ropes.

You'll learn all there is to know about installing and operating PowerShell Core and learn about the cmdlets necessary to find your way on any system running PowerShell Core. In addition to that, you'll discover how to get help without using the internet and do everything from within PowerShell.

This chapter is intended for beginners who are fairly new to PowerShell Core and will help you understand the very basics of PowerShell while the next chapters assume solid scripting knowledge.

In this chapter, we will cover the following recipes:

• Installing PowerShell Core on Windows
• Installing PowerShell Core on Linux
• Running PowerShell Core
• Getting help
• Getting around
• How do cmdlets work?
• Performing read-only operations
• Introducing change to systems
• Discovering the environment