PowerShell and SharePoint

During our Mastering SharePoint workshop this week, I had a couple of students who wanted additional information about how to use PowerShell to automate the usage of SharePoint.  PowerShell is a fantastic utility to quickly create scripts to perform bulk administrative type operations.  Since PowerShell has the ability to load and work with .NET assemblies, the SharePoint API can be loaded and used in scripts.  This opens the doors to having the ability to do virtually anything you wish.

Is it a good replacement for .NET developers?  Maybe not.  If you an individual with .NET development skills, it may not be worth the time to learn another language.  However, if you are an administrator and don't know C# or VB.NET, PowerShell is a fantastic option for you.

MSDN PowerShell Team Blog

Below are some general resources (reading) that will help you understand what can be done with PowerShell and SharePoint.  As I learn of new resources, I will continue to update this post.

General

DevConnections - PowerShell for SharePoint Developers

SharePoint PowerShell for Beginners
by Karine Bosch (U2U)

SharePoint PowerShell for Beginners - continued
by Karine Bosch (U2U)

SharePoint PowerShell Power Pack
Eric Kraus has compiled a library of PowerShell scrip commands to support the interaction with SharePoint.

PowerShell & SharePoint - Quick Start

GetFeatureDefinition - A SharePoint PowerShell Function
by Darrin Bishop

GetFeatureAndDependencies - A SharePoint PowerShell Function
by Darrin Bishop

PowerShell SharePoint Provider
A full PowerShell provider for exposing WSS/SPS 2003 (support for 2007 coming) as a filesystem. Administer your SharePoint installation with familiar copy/move/rename/delete and new-item metaphors. Move users between roles, copy users between webs; use the full power of the shell to script away the pain of GUI based mass-management.

All SharePoint PowerShell Posts from the Adventures in SPWonderland Blog

Lists and Libraries

PowerShell-SharePoint: Three ways to delete a list item: ID, CAML, string matching

Update a SharePoint List with PowerShell

Web Applications, Site Collections and Sites

SharePoint/PowerShell 1: Make me a portal
PowerShell script to interact with Web Applications and Site Collections