Docteur L - François Lessard

Overtime, I’ve learned to use PowerShell extensively. Of course, my primary goal is to administrate SharePoint 2010. But PowerShell is much more than that. There’s snap-in module for every Microsoft Server Products. And if these snap-ins aren’t enough, PowerShell can team up with the .Net Framework and open up even more powerful possibilities.

In this post, I’ve tried to regroup useful resources to learn and expand your knowledge of PowerShell.

Tutorials

Books

Videos

Introduction to PowerShell (YouTube)

One day, I will create a CodePlex Project to fix all the annoying things in SharePoint. You know these things that don’t affect the functionality but can make you life easier.

When I’m using the UI to install SharePoint 2010, I always wonder why at some point, I don’t have the possibility to add the database name myself. Like for the SharePoint Admin Content Database or the Search Services Databases, or the WSS Usage Database. On the other hand, some services offers the require fields to enter a database name. Of course, PowerShell come to the rescue. Great. But why I’ve need to do it that way when only a simple Database Name field would do the job… That my friend, it’s the mystory of life… Why do simple things when complicated one can be afford… I love my job by the way.

In the following table, I’ve put some link to great articles that help it to achieve this task. New links will come.

Excerpt from this TechNet Article

Methods available for pointing to renamed or moved service application databases

Service application or database	Delete and re-create service application	Use Windows PowerShell	Use Central Administration
Usage and Health Data Collection	Possible	Possible	Preferred
Search: Property	Possible	Possible	Preferred
Search: Crawl	Possible	Possible	Preferred
Search: Administration	Possible	Preferred	Not available
Web Analytics: Staging	Possible	Possible	Preferred
Web Analytics: Reporting	Possible	Possible	Preferred
Business Data Connectivity	Preferred	Not available	Not available1
Application Registry2	Not available	Not available	Not available
State Service	Not available	Preferred	Not available
User Profile: Profile	Preferred	Not available	Not available
User Profile: Social Tagging	Preferred	Not available	Not available
User Profile: Synchronization	Preferred	Not available	Not available
Metadata Management	Possible	Possible	Preferred
Word Automation service	Possible	Possible	Preferred
Secure Store	Possible	Not available3	Preferred
PerformancePoint	Not available	Preferred	Not available
Subscription settings	Possible	Preferred	Not available

Docteur L – François Lessard

SharePoint Architect, IT Manager and IT Specialist

The Power of PowerShell

SharePoint 2010 – The annoying Database GUID Name

Methods available for pointing to renamed or moved service application databases