Guy’s Scripting Ezine 108 – Mission Monad (PowerShell)

Guy’s Scripting Ezine 108 – Mission Monad (PowerShell)

This week I have a simple mission, to persuade you to download a free copy of Microsoft’s Monad.  Note that in May 2006 Microsoft revealed that the code name Monad would now become PowerShell, indeed they have now released a later version RC 1.

My killer reason for introducing you to the Monad scripting shell is that you will need a passing knowledge of this new language to configure Exchange 12 (E12).  (E12 will be the replacement for Exchange 2003).  Putting aside Exchange, Monad will one day become the standard Microsoft command line shell this is why I exhort you to at least have a look.  I say again Monad is free, so all you need is a spare half hour to try out the powerful new commands in the MSH shell. 

Unlike virtually any other program that I know, Monad is truly easy to get started.  If you know DOS or cmd.exe, then you can simply type commands such as cd, dir or even ipconfig.  Those familiar with COM, WMI, ADSI .NET XML or even UNIX experience the same phenomenon, many of their old commands work in Monad.

Guy’s Initial Reaction to Monad

As you may know, I have no scripting pedigree, I am just a minor expert at configuring VBScript on Windows systems.  Here are my initial reactions.  Monad really is straightforward to get started.

Principle 1:  The heart of Monad is always a verb-noun pair, linked with a hyphen.  For example, set-location is the equivalent to cd in DOS.  Incidentally, the reason cd works in Monad is because it has a built in Alias called cd which maps to set-location.  Moreover, good news, you can create your own aliases.

Examples of Monad

I know these are non-exchange examples but I want to get you up and running:
Preamble, Start, Run MSH.  In the black shell type:

get-process
or
get-Win32_NetworkAdapter

Principle 2:  Create cmdlets.  Save your text commands in a text file with an .msh extension.  Then execute these cmdlets from within the Monad shell.  The only trick in executing the cmdlet is to type plain: dot slash filename. Example:   .\guy do not to add the .msh extension.  This is wrong .\guy.msh. 

I will give more detailed instructions in future ezines or on the website, the above is merely an example of a cmdlet to give you the method.   For example, see more about PowerShell in Exchange 2010.

Guy Recommends: The Free IP Address Tracker (IPAT)

Calculating IP Address ranges is a black art, which many network managers solve by creating custom Excel spreadsheets.  IPAT cracks this problem of allocating IP addresses in networks in two ways:

For Mr Organized there is a nifty subnet calculator, you enter the network address and the subnet mask, then IPAT works out the usable addresses and their ranges. 

For Mr Lazy IPAT discovers and then displays the IP addresses of existing computers. Download the Free IP Address Tracker

How did I get started?

I read the help files!  There were about 6 files which came with the Monad download, I printed and read the 85 page ‘Getting Started’ document.  Next I copied and pasted the examples into cmdlets, figured out how to execute them by manoeuvring to the script directory and typing dot slash filename (no extension).  For example: .\procmem

As soon as I installed the .Net Framework and the Monad executable, I was able to start and stop services. Then I issued commands to interrogate the Event Logs for a specific ID, I was also able to get a filtered list of processes.  All I did was type the ‘get’ verb linked by a hyphen to the appropriate noun: service, processor or eventlog application, for example, get-service.   With eventlog it was best to filter e.g.
get-eventlog application | where {$_.eventid -eq 1704}

There has to be more to Monad than this?

Yes, there is masses more that Monad can do!  So far I have only scraped the surface and only mentioned the simplest of instructions.  Earlier I gave a few hints that Monad has the power to rival C#, COM, perl.  Another hint that Monad will be powerful is that you have to install .Net Framework before you install Monad.

If I could revert to Exchange 12 for a minute.  While Exchange 12 will have a GUI for all the basic tasks, for repetitive tasks or clever configurations, Microsoft is saying that you need to learn Monad.  For example, at the E12 Ignite show I saw a smart Monad script, which not only created users and their mailboxes, but also load balanced their mailboxes between storage groups.  My ultimate mission is that you will be able to copy, understand and then modify such Monad cmdlets.

Here is the reason that I started with the basics.

After I got Monad installed and mastered a few simple commands, I listened to two 90 minute Microsoft Webcasts of Monad.  If I had listened to the presentation first, I would not have gone any further, I would have thought, ‘Monad is too difficult for non-programmers like you Guy’.

However, there was a very important hidden message, the presentation was saying to me, ‘This is a seriously powerful scripting language’.  The speaker explained how Monad could do stuff that people now do in UNIX, perl, C++ or Visual Basic.  One day I will return that presentation there is so much for me to learn about scripting principles in general and objects in particular.

Guy Recommends: Tools4ever’s UMRA

Tired of writing scripts? The User Management Resource Administrator solution by Tools4ever offers an alternative to time-consuming manual processes.

It features 100% auto provisioning, Helpdesk Delegation, Connectors to more than 130 systems/applications, Workflow Management, Self Service and many other benefits. Click on the link for more information onUMRA.

Summary of Monad Mission

Well, have I sold you a free Monad download?  If I see that enough people give Monad a try, then after Easter I will devote a handful of ezines to Monad, if not I will revert to VBScript.  Either way, I will be creating a new Monad section on my website.

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