PowerShell and SQL Server 2008 Whitepaper

MSDN SQL Server 2008 Community Articles - Understanding and Using PowerShell Support in SQL Server 2008

“In this paper we’ll walk through an introduction to Windows PowerShell and its key elements.  We’ll then look at the special PowerShell executable program provided with SQL Server 2008, sqlps.exe.  Sqlps.exe incorporated a set of cmdlets specific to using PowerShell with SQL Server, and adds a PowerShell drive (PSDrive) allowing us to navigate SQL Server as though it were a filesystem.  We’ll explore these features, then look at some scripts we can use to administer SQL Server as well as to extract data as needed.

Introduction to the PowerShell language

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The SQLSERVER: Drive

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SQL Server Cmdlets

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SQLPS.exe – The SQL Server Mini-Shell

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Using the .NET Framework with SQL Server

There are two perspectives for working with SQL Server, administration and data access.  SQL Server Management Objects (SMO) contains the objects we’ll use to manage SQL Server, and ADO.NET allows us access to the data.

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This is a great 18 page whitepaper for those who may not yet have taken the PowerShell plunge and/or have SQL Server 2008 in-house and want to lean about its PowerShell capabilities. If you’re on SQL Server 2008 and a Dev, IT, DBA and haven’t looked into this, then stop now and read this article. I mean it. Why are you still here? Read it!!!! Ah… AH… AHHhhhh!  lol ;)

(via Allen White - PowerShell Whitepaper Published)