Poshoholic

I just finished releasing the bits for PowerGUI Pro 2.2 and PowerGUI 2.2 to the web.  This release contains some really useful updates to PowerGUI, most notably a new debugging engine based on the native PowerShell 2.0 debugger.  This allows you to do take advantage of all of the debugging functionality in PowerShell 2.0, including support for:

• The Disable-PSBreakpoint, Enable-PSBreakpoint, Get-PSBreakpoint, Remove-PSBreakpoint and Set-PSBreakpoint cmdlets;
• Command and variable breakpoints;
• $MyInvocation;
• and more

For basic debugging support of a single script file you might not notice a difference right away, but if you do anything beyond basic scripting the new debugging engine will be a welcome change.  It allows you to set breakpoints in a module that you have loaded or a script file that you have dot sourced, and the debugger will open the file with the breakpoint if it is not already open and stop on the breakpoint when the breakpoint is hit.  It also allows you to debug module scripts themselves by setting a breakpoint within a module psm1 file and loading the module using the Import-Module cmdlet from the embedded PowerShell Console.  Breakpoints are retained between sessions as well, so that you can pick up where you left off day after day.

In addition to the debugger changes, there are a number of useful bugfixes included in this release such as improved compatibility between the PowerGUI Script Editor and the Quest AD cmdlets when using STA mode (the default), proper $MyInvocation support in scripts, and other fixes that allow Start-Job and Invoke-Command to be used in scripts that are run through the debugger.

To get the latest release, if you are a PowerGUI Pro customer you can visit SupportLink to get the most recent version or if you use the freeware version you can visit the PowerGUI Downloads page and download and install the release from there.  Alternatively, for both PowerGUI Pro and PowerGUI freeware you can simply wait until auto-update kicks in and prompts you to upgrade (auto-update checks for a new version once per day, the first time you open the product each day), or you can use the Help | Check for Updates menu item in the Admin Console or Script Editor to check for updates without waiting for the next time it checks automatically.

Note to 2.2 public beta testers: if you were participating in the PowerGUI 2.2 public beta, and if you upgraded your beta install to the release candidate when we had posted it, then you already have the RTM version of PowerGUI.  We collected feedback during the release candidate stage and did our own internal testing and the release candidate was solid enough that we were able to leave it as is.  This means that you don’t have to do anything to upgrade to the 2.2 release in this case.

As always, if you have questions, comments, concerns, we’re always listening.  Please let us know what you think of the new capabilities that are introduced with the new debugging engine!

Kirk out.

Last month I announced the PowerGUI Challenge, a contest that gives you the opportunity to win some money while having fun with PowerShell and PowerGUI.  Well the contest is going on right now (it started last Friday), and contestants have already started submitting their entries.  This is a great way to collect feedback from the community which allows you to make your entries even better.  The contest runs from October 15, 2010 to November 15, 2010 and it gives you a rare opportunity to show your PowerShell talent to a line-up of fantastic judges.

So far we have two entries, one in each category:

• a Copy to Colorized HTML Add-on for the PowerGUI Script Editor that makes it easier to copy and paste your scripts into HTML compliant programs like Microsoft Outlook or Windows Live Writer with line numbers and syntax highlighting preserved; and
• a SharePoint 2010 PowerPack for the PowerGUI Admin Console that allows you to manage some SharePoint entities that were missing or buried in Central Admin from an easy to use management console.

These are great entries, and since they were posted early the authors will be able to collect feedback and improve their entries before the contest finishes.  One of them has already received quite a bit of feedback and posted an update, and we’re not even a week into the contest yet!

If you’re interested in participating in the contest, here is what you should do:

1. Visit the contest page to familiarize yourself with the rules and to discover the resources that are available to you.  There is a lot of information out there to help you out once you know where to find it.
2. Decide whether or not you want to create a PowerPack (management interface extension) for the PowerGUI Admin Console or an Add-on for the Script Editor.  If you work with products that have PowerShell interfaces for them already, creating a PowerPack is really easy.  In fact, you might even be able to do it in 10 minutes.  There are plenty of products out there with PowerShell support that don’t have a PowerPack already, so pick your favorite and put a PowerPack together.  Some possibilities that come to mind are the System Center products, Forefront products, and Intel’s vPro module.  There are plenty of others too.  If you prefer working with scripts and the command line than a user interface, think about additional features you would like to see in the PowerGUI Script Editor and try adding them yourself.  There are a lot of Add-ons available already to give you samples to work with, plus an Add-on Authoring Toolkit and a tutorial to help you get started.  There are even snippets to make it easier to create Add-on extensions.  There are tons of possibilities for Add-ons, and you’re only limited to where your imagination can take you.
3. Ask questions!  Anyone including the judges can answer questions you have about the contest or about PowerPack and Add-on creation.  If you have a cool idea but you’re not sure how to do it with PowerShell scripts, ask!  I have contestants who contact me regularly with questions via direct mail, and others who post questions on the PowerGUI Forums.  These resources are there to help you out, even during the contest period, so use them early and often to help you get ahead on your entry.
4. Learn by example.  There are tons of PowerPacks and Add-ons available in the PowerGUI Library.  If you’re trying to figure something out, there are likely other PowerPacks or Add-ons out there that do something similar.  They are all open source, so you can see the PowerShell scripts that drive their functionality.  These are great resources!
5. Post early, update often.  The community is already established to give you feedback, so use it to your advantage.  Leveraging the community will only help make your contest entry stronger.

You can use either PowerGUI Pro or PowerGUI to create your Add-ons and PowerPacks, and anything you create will work in both products so pick your favorite and get started soon!  I look forward to seeing your entries, and will be happy to answer any questions you may have along the way to help you out.  Have fun!

Kirk out.

My children made me really happy this morning.  It’s my birthday today, and every birthday I’m greeted by my son and daughter who are very anxious for me to come downstairs so that they can shower me with all sorts of gifts (cards they made, drawings, crafts, etc.).  It’s always a wonderful experience, but this time it came with something a little more unexpected.

This morning I was present with this wonderful gift:

How cool is that?  My son is a Lego fanatic and he and my daughter asked for a PowerGUI sticker a few weeks ago, which I happily gave to them.  The sticker looked something like this, minus the blue in the background:

It turns out that this Lego project is the reason they wanted the sticker.  Quite a nice resemblance, don’t you think?  This wouldn’t have been possible if we didn’t have such a cool Logo for our product (thanks Dmitry!).  Sure, you could make a Lego mosaic version of the PowerShell Logo, but this is just so much more fun!

Color me a happy camper today!

Kirk out.

P.S. This totally reminded me of a blog post I published over 3 years ago about Lego PowerShell.  PowerShell isn’t just about IT automation…it’s about fun toys for kids too!

Over three and a half years ago, Jonathan Walz posted the very first recording of the PowerScripting Podcast, a podcast that is dedicated to PowerShell.  What started out as a small, solo effort that produced episodes on a not-so-regular basis matured into the best PowerShell podcast around, with two co-hosts (Jonathan Walz and Hal Rottenberg) that continually produce anywhere between 2 and 4 episodes every month!  To date there are 127 episodes available, full of PowerShell news, tips and tricks, and interesting interviews with people who are heavily invested in PowerShell.  It’s really a great resource for anyone looking to learn more about PowerShell during their daily commute, and I highly recommend checking it out.

As the PowerScripting Podcast evolved, so did the way in which it was recorded.  All recent episodes of the podcast are recorded live using UStream, which is great because it gives you a chance to hang out in the chat room and ask questions to the guest being interviewed.  All you need to do is visit the PowerScripting Podcast channel on UStream during the recording, which you can usually learn about by checking out the PowerScripting Podcast blog.  Recordings are typically done between 9 and 11PM EST on Thursday nights.

This time Hal and Jonathan are a little behind on putting out the announcement about the next podcast, but I have the inside scoop so I wanted to share the news to give you a chance to check it out.  Tonight I’ll be hanging out with Hal and Jonathan on the PowerScripting Podcast channel, and I welcome you to come and join me in the chat room and ask questions about PowerShell, PowerGUI, PowerGUI Pro, the PowerGUI Challenge contest, what it’s like being a Poshoholic, or anything else you feel like asking.

Hope to see you there!

Kirk out.

In case you haven’t heard, there is a contest coming up that gives you the opportunity to win some money while having fun with PowerShell and PowerGUI.  In order to win something in the contest you have to enter, and in order to enter you have to create either a PowerPack for the PowerGUI Admin Console or an Add-on for the PowerGUI Script Editor.  I have spent a lot of time creating Script Editor Add-ons over the past few months, and when you work on things like Add-ons it can be very helpful to have the right tools at your side.

One of my favorite tools that I like to use for any repetitive PowerShell scripting is PowerShell snippets.  A PowerShell snippet is an xml document (.snippet file) that defines a short piece of PowerShell script with a few fields that can be customized when the snippet is inserted into a script.  Think of a snippet as a little user interface for injecting small pieces of PowerShell script into larger scripts that you are work on.  Snippets are incredibly useful and easy to create and customize, allowing you to arm yourself with tons of useful pieces of PowerShell script and save yourself a lot of typing.

While working on the Add-ons I have been publishing I decided I should build up a collection of snippets so that I could focus my efforts on the core logic inside the Add-on that makes it do wonderful things like sign scripts, create modules, and build other Add-ons, and less on the trivial details like adding and removing menus, menu items, toolbars, toolbar buttons and dockable windows.  This effort has resulted in a collection of 31 snippets that make creating a PowerGUI Script Editor Add-on much easier and today I have published that collection so that anyone can use them when creating their own Add-ons!

If you want to see an example of how easy it is to insert one of these snippets, here is a screenshot showing the snippet menu that appears after I press Ctrl+I (or Edit | Insert Snippet), along with some of the nested folders and their contents showing some of the snippets that are available:

If you want to build Add-ons, these snippets make it much easier to get started.  All you need to do is the following:

1. Download the Authoring Toolkit Add-on version 1.0.2 or later.  In version 1.0.2 I updated the Add-ons that are generated such that they use a $pgse variable for the root of the Add-on SDK.  Most of the snippets are dependent on this variable, so you should either download this version of the Add-on or make sure you are using a $pgse variable as the root of the Add-on SDK in Add-ons you have already started building.

2. Download the Script Editor Add-on snippets.  The download page describes how to install the snippets.  Note that since they must be copied into a Program Files folder, you must have the proper permissions to put them there.

3. Create a new Add-on or open an Add-on you are already working on and start using the Edit | Insert Snippet menu item to build more extensions to the PowerGUI Script Editor UI.

Between the Authoring Toolkit, the tutorial, the SDK documentation, and now these snippets, you should now have plenty of tools available to make it easier for you to create snippets for the contest that starts on October 15th.  I’m looking forward to seeing your entries!

Kirk out.

P.S. As I was publishing this I thought of a bunch more snippets that could be useful, but this is a good first set to get you started. If you like snippets and there are other snippets you would like to see, related to Add-ons or anything else you do with PowerShell, let me know so that I can know where you would like to see more effort in the future.  Thanks!