Overview

PowerShell is an object-oriented programming language and interactive command line shell for Microsoft Windows. It was designed to automate system tasks, such as batch processing, and create systems management tools for commonly implemented processes. PowerShell includes more than 130 standard command line tools for functions that formerly required users to create scripts in VB, VBScript or C#.

PowerShell offers a variety of ways to automate tasks which include:

Cmdlets: Very small .NET classes that appear as system commands

Scripts: Combinations of cmdlets and associated logic

Executables:  Standalone tools

Instantiation of standard .NET classes: PowerShell integrates with the .NET environment and can also be embedded in other applications. Over one hundred cmdlets are included and can be used separately or combined with others to automate more complex tasks. Users can also create and share cmdlets.

PowerShell is built into Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 and included as an optionally installed feature. In addition, Task Scheduler can be used to automate PowerShell script execution.