Time to Look at PowerShell

One of the things that became clear after the preview of the next version of Windows Server (code named Windows Server 8) and the direction that Microsoft announced at its recent BUILD 2011 conference is the fact that Microsoft is seriously moving toward using PowerShell as its preferred management tool. While the GUI isn’t going away Microsoft has added almost 2000 PowerShell cmdlets to Windows Server 8 – radically expanding the areas that can be managed with PowerShell.

While not everyone knows it SQL Server can already be managed using PowerShell. SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 both provide PowerShell cmdlets that let you navigate the database, create database objects, and run queries. You can start SQL Server’s PowerShell cmdlet by entering sqlps on the command prompt or by opening SSMS and right clicking on an object.

While most DBAs don’t use PowerShell yet now would be great time to get started learning it. There is a learning curve for PowerShell but once you get the hang of it it’s reasonably straightforward. There’s no doubt that PowerShell will be an important management tool going forward and it’s more capable than you might think.

For a more complete introduction to using PowerShell with SQL Server you might want to check out:: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc281954.aspx

In addition, you might want to read Accessing SQL Server Data from PowerShell by Robert Sheldon.