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100 lessons published

Stage 01 · Cross-platform automation

PowerShell for DevOps

Object-oriented automation for Windows, Linux, cloud platforms, APIs, CI/CD, infrastructure operations, and production administration.

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20chapters
100lessons
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Course state100 published · 0 planned

Course brief

A complete PowerShell automation curriculum for DevOps engineers.

This 20-chapter, 100-lesson course develops PowerShell from first principles before moving into production automation. It emphasizes beginner-first explanations, the object pipeline mental model, progressive code, failure analysis, safe labs, cross-platform behavior, and production engineering patterns.

By the end

You will be able to

  • Understand PowerShell’s object-oriented pipeline, command model, sessions, runspaces, and cross-platform execution model
  • Build predictable scripts, functions, modules, structured data workflows, and reusable command-line automation
  • Automate files, processes, services, APIs, remote systems, cloud tooling, containers, Kubernetes, and CI/CD runners
  • Handle errors, security boundaries, credentials, secrets, testing, static analysis, performance, and partial failure deliberately
  • Design production automation with idempotency, DSC, observability, operational runbooks, deployment discipline, and maintainable architecture

Complete syllabus

20 chapters in prerequisite order.

The sequence intentionally develops mental models before production automation. It progresses from PowerShell foundations and command discovery through objects, language fundamentals, administration, APIs, remoting, security, testing, CI/CD, DSC, observability, and a production capstone.

01

Chapter 1

PowerShell and Automation Foundations

5 lessons
01
What Is PowerShell and Why DevOps Engineers Use It?Published lesson
Open 02
PowerShell 7.x, Windows PowerShell 5.1, Editions, and CompatibilityPublished lesson
Open 03
Installing and Running PowerShell on Windows, Linux, and macOSPublished lesson
Open 04
Hosts, Sessions, Runspaces, Processes, and the Execution ModelPublished lesson
Open 05
Build a Safe PowerShell Lab and Learn the Course WorkflowPublished lesson
Open
02

Chapter 2

Command Discovery, Help, Syntax, and Native Commands

5 lessons
01
Verb-Noun Commands, Aliases, Functions, Scripts, and ApplicationsPublished lesson
Open 02
Get-Help, Update-Help, about_* Topics, and Reading SyntaxPublished lesson
Open 03
Parameters, Parameter Sets, Common Parameters, and Binding BasicsPublished lesson
Open 04
PowerShell Parsing, Quoting, Escaping, and Command ConstructionPublished lesson
Open 05
Native Executables, Exit Codes, Arguments, and Cross-Shell BoundariesPublished lesson
Open
03

Chapter 3

Objects and the PowerShell Pipeline

5 lessons
01
Objects Instead of Lines of TextPublished lesson
Open 02
Inspect Objects with Get-Member and Type InformationPublished lesson
Open 03
How Pipeline Parameter Binding Actually WorksPublished lesson
Open 04
Filter, Project, Sort, Group, Measure, and EnumeratePublished lesson
Open 05
Formatting Is the End of the PipelinePublished lesson
Open
04

Chapter 4

Variables, Types, Strings, Operators, and Expressions

5 lessons
01
Variables, Assignment, Automatic Variables, and Environment DataPublished lesson
Open 02
Numbers, Booleans, Date/Time, Type Conversion, and Type AcceleratorsPublished lesson
Open 03
Strings, Interpolation, Here-Strings, Formatting, and EncodingPublished lesson
Open 04
Comparison, Logical, Matching, Replacement, Collection, and Type OperatorsPublished lesson
Open 05
Expressions, Subexpressions, Script Blocks, and Evaluation OrderPublished lesson
Open
05

Chapter 5

Arrays, Hashtables, PSCustomObject, and Structured State

5 lessons
01
Arrays and Lists: Preserve One Value per ElementPublished lesson
Open 02
Hashtables, Ordered Dictionaries, Lookup Tables, and EnumerationPublished lesson
Open 03
PSCustomObject and Designing Useful Pipeline ObjectsPublished lesson
Open 04
Splatting, Calculated Properties, and Readable Command ConstructionPublished lesson
Open 05
Nested Data, Copy Semantics, Equality, and Choosing a Data StructurePublished lesson
Open
06

Chapter 6

Conditions, Loops, Switch, and Script Blocks

5 lessons
01
if, elseif, else, Truthiness, and Defensive ConditionsPublished lesson
Open 02
switch: Values, Wildcards, Regex, Files, and Multiple MatchesPublished lesson
Open 03
foreach, ForEach-Object, and Pipeline EnumerationPublished lesson
Open 04
for, while, do/while, do/until, break, and continuePublished lesson
Open 05
Script Blocks, Closures, Delayed Execution, and Reusable BehaviorPublished lesson
Open
07

Chapter 7

Providers, Paths, Files, Content, and Permissions

5 lessons
01
Providers, PSDrives, Locations, and the Unified Item ModelPublished lesson
Open 02
Paths, Literal Paths, Wildcards, Test-Path, and Robust Path ConstructionPublished lesson
Open 03
Create, Copy, Move, Remove, and Inspect Files and Directories SafelyPublished lesson
Open 04
File Content, Streams, Encoding, Redirection, and Atomic UpdatesPublished lesson
Open 05
Permissions, ACLs, Hashes, Certificates, and Safe File Integrity WorkflowsPublished lesson
Open
08

Chapter 8

Scripts, Parameters, Scope, Profiles, and Reusable Entry Points

5 lessons
01
From Interactive Commands to .ps1 ScriptsPublished lesson
Open 02
Script Parameters: param(), Mandatory Input, Defaults, and SwitchesPublished lesson
Open 03
ValidateSet, ValidatePattern, ValidateRange, ValidateScript, and Safer InputPublished lesson
Open 04
Scopes, Scope Modifiers, Session State, and Avoiding Global VariablesPublished lesson
Open 05
Profiles, Configuration, Environment Overrides, and CLI DesignPublished lesson
Open
09

Chapter 9

Functions, Advanced Functions, and Cmdlet-Like Tooling

5 lessons
01
Functions, Naming, Parameters, Output, and Return SemanticsPublished lesson
Open 02
Advanced Functions, CmdletBinding, and Common ParametersPublished lesson
Open 03
Pipeline Input with begin, process, end, and cleanPublished lesson
Open 04
SupportsShouldProcess, -WhatIf, -Confirm, and Safe MutationPublished lesson
Open 05
Comment-Based Help, Output Contracts, and Function Design for TeamsPublished lesson
Open
10

Chapter 10

Streams, Errors, Exceptions, Debugging, and Diagnostics

5 lessons
01
PowerShell Output Streams and Why They Are Not Just stdout/stderrPublished lesson
Open 02
Terminating and Non-Terminating Errors, ErrorAction, and PreferencesPublished lesson
Open 03
try, catch, finally, throw, and Designing Explicit Failure PathsPublished lesson
Open 04
Native Exit Codes, $?, $LASTEXITCODE, and Cross-Tool Failure HandlingPublished lesson
Open 05
Debugging, Breakpoints, Trace-Command, Transcripts, and Diagnostic LoggingPublished lesson
Open
11

Chapter 11

CSV, JSON, XML, CLIXML, YAML, and Configuration Data

5 lessons
01
CSV and Tabular Data with Import-Csv and Export-CsvPublished lesson
Open 02
JSON and REST-Friendly ObjectsPublished lesson
Open 03
XML, XPath-Like Navigation, and Legacy Enterprise DataPublished lesson
Open 04
CLIXML, Serialization, Deserialized Objects, and Type FidelityPublished lesson
Open 05
YAML and Other Configuration Formats in DevOpsPublished lesson
Open
12

Chapter 12

Processes, Services, Events, CIM, and System Administration

5 lessons
01
Processes, Child Processes, Start-Process, and Process AutomationPublished lesson
Open 02
Services and Long-Running WorkloadsPublished lesson
Open 03
CIM, WMI History, and Structured Windows ManagementPublished lesson
Open 04
Event Logs, System Information, and Operational EvidencePublished lesson
Open 05
Scheduled Tasks, Local Administration, and Platform BoundariesPublished lesson
Open
13

Chapter 13

Networking, HTTP, REST APIs, and Resilient Integrations

5 lessons
01
DNS, Connectivity, Ports, and Network DiagnosticsPublished lesson
Open 02
HTTP Fundamentals and Invoke-WebRequestPublished lesson
Open 03
REST APIs with Invoke-RestMethodPublished lesson
Open 04
Authentication, Tokens, Headers, Pagination, and Rate LimitsPublished lesson
Open 05
Build a Production-Style API ClientPublished lesson
Open
14

Chapter 14

PowerShell Remoting, Sessions, SSH, and Fleet Automation

5 lessons
01
Remoting Mental Model: PSRP, Transports, Sessions, and SerializationPublished lesson
Open 02
WinRM/WSMan Remoting on Windows: Configuration and TrustPublished lesson
Open 03
PSSession and Invoke-Command for Repeatable Remote WorkPublished lesson
Open 04
PowerShell Remoting over SSH Across PlatformsPublished lesson
Open 05
Fleet Automation, Throttling, Partial Failure, and When to Use Another ToolPublished lesson
Open
15

Chapter 15

Modules, Classes, .NET Interop, and Package Management

5 lessons
01
Module Discovery, Import, Autoloading, and PSModulePathPublished lesson
Open 02
Build a Script Module with .psm1 and Explicit ExportsPublished lesson
Open 03
Module Manifests, Versions, Dependencies, and Compatibility MetadataPublished lesson
Open 04
PowerShell Classes, Enums, using Statements, and .NET InteroperabilityPublished lesson
Open 05
PSResourceGet, PowerShell Gallery, Private Repositories, and Supply-Chain SafetyPublished lesson
Open
16

Chapter 16

Security, Credentials, Secrets, Signing, and Least Privilege

5 lessons
01
Execution Policy, Script Signing, and What Execution Policy Does Not DoPublished lesson
Open 02
PSCredential, SecureString, SecretManagement, and Secret StoragePublished lesson
Open 03
Injection, Invoke-Expression, Native Arguments, and Untrusted InputPublished lesson
Open 04
Logging, Transcription, AMSI, Script Block Logging, and AuditabilityPublished lesson
Open 05
JEA, Constrained Language, Application Control, and Least-Privilege AutomationPublished lesson
Open
17

Chapter 17

Jobs, Parallelism, Runspaces, and Performance

5 lessons
01
Background Jobs and Job LifecyclePublished lesson
Open 02
Thread Jobs and ForEach-Object -ParallelPublished lesson
Open 03
Runspaces and Runspace Pools: The Mental ModelPublished lesson
Open 04
Cancellation, Timeouts, Ordering, Synchronization, and Partial FailurePublished lesson
Open 05
Measure Performance Before OptimizingPublished lesson
Open
18

Chapter 18

Testing, Pester, Static Analysis, and Maintainable Automation

5 lessons
01
Pester Fundamentals: Describe, Context, It, and AssertionsPublished lesson
Open 02
Mocks, TestDrive, Fixtures, and Testing Side EffectsPublished lesson
Open 03
PSScriptAnalyzer, Rules, Style, and Static DiagnosticsPublished lesson
Open 04
Code Coverage, CI Test Reports, and Quality GatesPublished lesson
Open 05
Design for Testability: Pure Logic, Side-Effect Boundaries, and Dependency InjectionPublished lesson
Open
19

Chapter 19

PowerShell in CI/CD, Git, Containers, Kubernetes, and Cloud Toolchains

5 lessons
01
Git and Repository Automation from PowerShellPublished lesson
Open 02
PowerShell in CI/CD RunnersPublished lesson
Open 03
Docker, kubectl, Helm, and Other DevOps CLIs from PowerShellPublished lesson
Open 04
Azure, AWS, Microsoft Graph, and Cloud PowerShell ModulesPublished lesson
Open 05
Release Orchestration, Artifacts, Machine Output, and Cross-Tool ContractsPublished lesson
Open
20

Chapter 20

Production Automation, DSC, Observability, and Capstone

5 lessons
01
Idempotency, Convergence, Retries, Checkpoints, and RecoveryPublished lesson
Open 02
Desired State Configuration: Modern DSC and PowerShell DSC ContextPublished lesson
Open 03
Production Logging, Metrics, Events, and Operational RunbooksPublished lesson
Open 04
Production Script Architecture, Versioning, Configuration, and DeploymentPublished lesson
Open 05
Capstone: Build a Production-Grade Cross-Platform DevOps Automation ToolkitPublished lesson
Open

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