PowerShell 2.0 ISE Integrated Scripting Engine (GUI)
The command line will always be at the heart of PowerShell. However, all
scripting languages benefit from a GUI, or an Integrated Scripting
Environment (ISE) as Microsoft describes this add-on console. If you
merely use PowerShell to issue a few one-line commands then it's probably
not worth bothering with the ISE shell. But if you want to debug a
block of code, or create and save .ps1 files, then the ISE will soon become your
best friend.
In truth I was disappointed when I first saw the ISE, but
that was back with PowerShell 2.0 CTP2. However, in CTP3 the graphical interface
is coming of
age, and by the final release, ISE will be a tasty appetizer for the
main course of PowerShell 2.0. For once it seems that a
program's flashy front-end, namely ISE, is the last feature that
Microsoft implements, and not the first.
Assuming that you have successfully installed PowerShell 2.0, to launch the
ISE click on the 'Start' button, navigate to All Programs, Windows PowerShell
V2, and then simply click on Windows PowerShell ISE. Incidentally, the
underlying executable is powershell_ise.exe so you could fire-up the ISE in the
time honoured way of typing powershell_ise in the run box.
Getting to Know the PowerShell ISE and $PsISE
PowerShell is a classic example of learning a feature in one area and then applying it
elsewhere. For me it's just a case of remembering this principle and applying
it at every opportunity. For example, I love Get-Member or gm for
short. Then I discovered that PowerShell's ISE has its own built-In variable $psIse. It came as a pleasant surprise when the instruction: $psIse | gm returned useful information.
# PowerShell ISE v 2.0 $PsIse $psIse | Get-Member # Next, remove hash from next line # $psIse.options
Note 1: Interesting, but what is the point you
may ask? Well, try this: $psIse.options.scriptpanebackground
="Cyan". Now experiment with other settings to suit your style.
Note 2: For instance, you can
reposition the bottom Command Pane with: $psIse.options.CommandPaneUp
= 1 (or zero)
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is one of the hidden
treasures of Microsoft's operating systems. Fortunately, SolarWinds
have created a
Free WMI Monitor so that you can discover these gems of performance
information, and thus improve your PowerShell scripts.
Take the guess work out of which WMI counters to use when scripting the
operating system, Active Directory, or Exchange Server. Give this WMI monitor a
try - it's free.
A Reminder of the ExecutionPolicy for Running Scripts
Be default, and for security, you cannot run any PowerShell scripts.
Now before you
change this setting try the 'get' verb to see the setting before
your run set-ExecutionPolicy. To see the options try this: help set-ExecutionPolicy.
Get-ExcecutionPolicy
# Now try: Set-ExecutionPolicy remotesigned
As an aside, you can control the script behavior when you initialize a
session by running PowerShell.exe with a -ExecutionPolicy parameter.
However, I have not yet found a reason to operate this way, I prefer to make
a lasting change with set-ExecutionPolicy.
See more on Set-ExecutionPolicy
1) Select a Snippet One advantage of the GUI is that you can select a block of code with the
mouse, and click on the green arrow, which then runs that portion of
your script.
My point is that if you have a moderately long script you can
highlight one part and run just that code snippet.
2) Find the Wiper! If you look at the second pane of the ISE, then one tool stands out, and that's the 'Wiper'; its
official tag is 'Clear Output Pane'. As I was a great fan of the DOS cls (Clear screen), I love
clicking on this tool to get a fresh screen.
3) New Tabs This is so simple it seems hardly worth mentioning, but if you go to
the file menu and click on 'New' you can easily access another script or
window. I find these extra tabs useful for hopping between
different versions of a script I am working on. As usual,
Microsoft provide two ways of doing everything, there is a 'New' icon on
the vertical toolbar.
4) Save Files Once again, 'File --> Save' is pretty obvious, but for me this is a
crucial reason for using the ISE rather than the raw command line. I make excessive use of saving scripts regularly, this to compensate for
me not working methodically. I have learned from the hard school
of knocks, in the past I have a script which is 95% complete, but then I do
something silly and wreck it. If only I could go back to how it
was 10 minutes ago. Well, if I saved a previous version with a
different file name, then I can retrieve that stage of the script.
5) Debug Menu By the time you explore the Debug menu, you are no longer a beginner.
While my task of getting you started is over, I just want to reassure
you that as you become more proficient at PowerShell, so ISE has powerful tools to correct any wayward code.
Guy Recommends: A Free Trial of the Network Performance Monitor
(NPM)
SolarWinds'
Network Performance Monitor
will help you discover what's happening on your network. This
utility will also guide you through troubleshooting; the dashboard will
indicate whether the root cause is a broken link, faulty equipment or
resource overload.
What I like best is the way NPM suggests solutions to network
problems. Its also has the ability to monitor the health of individual VMware
virtual machines. If you are interested in troubleshooting, and creating
network maps, then I recommend that you try NPM now.
While the ISE is the last feature that Microsoft has developed in
PowerShell v 2.0, it will probably be the first place you go when you start
using PowerShell regularly. As with any utility it's worth spending a
few minutes investigating all the tools, and as usual the 80:20 rule
applies, you will only use 20% of the features 80% of the time.
Furthermore, each person uses a different 20%, so my greatest joy is if you
experiment to see which ISE features suit your style of scripting.
If you like this page then please share it with your friends
Please email me if you have a better example script. Also please report any factual mistakes, grammatical errors or broken links, I will be happy to correct the fault.
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is
most useful for PowerShell scripting.
SolarWinds
have produced this
Free WMI Monitor to take the guess work out of which
WMI counters to use for applications like Microsoft Active Directory,
SQL or Exchange Server.
