2 Setting up Your Scripting Environment
I know you are ready to jump feet first into the deep end of the scripting pool. We need to take some time to make sure you have an adequate environment set up to use throughout this book. This chapter may be a lunch and a half, but you must follow along with each step in this chapter to make sure you have an environment where you can safely complete the hands-on labs that will appear at the end of most chapters.
2.1 The Operating System
While PowerShell is cross-platform for the duration of this book, we will be primarily focusing on the Windows operating system, since PowerShell is still prominently being used on Windows devices. The first thing you’re going to need is a computer running Windows 10 or 11. You could use a Windows 7 computer but that is out of support by now so you should probably upgrade if you can. If you don’t own a computer running Windows (maybe you are a Mac or Linux person), that’s fine. You can spin up a Windows 11 VM in your favorite cloud provider. Power it on when you need it and turn it off when you are done with lunch for the day. You can also follow along with a Windows Server (2019 or Higher) if that is what you have available.