When pursuing the Microsoft Azure Certification for becoming a Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator, you need to appear for the AZ-104 certification exam and one of the prerequisites to be eligible for this Microsoft online certification is familiarity and experience with one very important Microsoft tool – PowerShell.
PowerShell is a powerful and versatile tool by Microsoft that acts as both a command-line shell and as a scripting language. Consider it to be something like a Swiss Army knife, the little pocket knife with multiple tools in it – from a screwdriver to a corkscrew and a tiny scissor to even a chisel, but for IT professionals, with tools for their use. PowerShell offers means and ways to automate tasks, manage systems, and interact with Windows as well as other platforms.
The unique thing about PowerShell which sets it apart from other command-line shells is that it is built on .Net and is object-oriented in nature. PowerShell is the language of choice for many when it comes to developing tooling for end users.
As a command-line shell, PowerShell can:
- Access and control system resources like files, services, and processes
- Run commands and utilities built for Windows and other platforms
- Work with familiar commands like dir, copy, and move, but with enhanced features and flexibility
As a scripting language, PowerShell can:
- Automate repetitive tasks
- Create complex workflows combining multiple commands and actions
- Build customized tools and solutions
- Engage in advanced scripting by deploying object-oriented programming concepts
How to develop a tool?
When it comes to developing a tool, the first step would be to assess the requirement at hand. This step essentially involves digging deeper into understanding what problem you aim to solve with the tool you plan to develop. It could go further to understanding if there is even a problem to solve or not. Understanding this need would help you gather your thoughts around where would the data for the tool come from, how it would be collected, as well as what different systems would be interacting to make the tool you develop functional.
Naming the Tool
Once the need for the tool is understood, the next step would be to assign it an appropriate name, representative of what the tool would help accomplish or what it would be doing. Names in PowerShell are a combination of a noun and a verb, with the verbs being from a list of approved functions. The key would be to be as specific as possible with the name so anybody who would use the tool in the future would get a super clear idea of what the particular tool would help them with or why they should be using the tool you are developing.
Identifying and Designing the Parameters for the Tool
This is a time-consuming step in the process of building the tool. It might even require some trial and error on your part. Flexibility is usually a desired attribute in a tool but it should not come at the cost of specificity. Either way, spend a good amount of time and thorough effort in designing the parameters for your tool. You can also use “ParameterSets” to help you in this process as doing this could enable your end users to use the tool in different ways if required currently or in the future.
Based on the parameters you design, you would also need to apply guardrails to these parameters. Guardrails, as the name suggests, would be restrictions for the parameters. It acts as a level of security to prevent end users from entering incorrect inputs to the tool. Since the platform the entire PowerShell is built on is .Net, flexibility is be default there and there is also a consequent strength of the guardrails that would be available to deploy, for example, ValidateSet, ValidateRange, ValidateScript, etc.
Do I need experience with PowerShell for the AZ-104 Microsoft Certification exam?
While not explicitly required, having experience working with PowerShell is highly recommended for the AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam.
The AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator certification exam assesses your ability to implement, manage, and monitor an organization’s Microsoft Azure environment. This includes tasks like managing identities, storage, compute resources, virtual networks, and security. While knowledge of Azure portal and CLI (command-line interface) are also needed, PowerShell is a powerful and prevalent tool for Azure administration and many tasks on the exam outline can be accomplished more efficiently and effectively using PowerShell. Microsoft’s official AZ-104 learning path includes an emphasis on PowerShell. It features modules like “Use Azure PowerShell” and “Create Resources using scripts in Azure PowerShell”. Moreover, numerous practice tests and study guides for the exam also include PowerShell concepts and commands.
In the real-world role of an Azure administrator, one would encounter many day-to-day tasks like automating deployments, managing permissions, and troubleshooting resources are significantly easier with PowerShell scripting. Companies often prefer Azure administrators with strong PowerShell skills.
While technically not mandatory, having a good working knowledge of PowerShell significantly improves your chances of success on the AZ-104 exam and equips you for a more efficient and effective career as an Azure administrator. This is where Cognixia could help you significantly.
Prepare for AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam with Cognixia
Cognixia’s Microsoft Azure training is designed to help professionals prepare for the AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator certification examination. With the AZ-104 training, professionals will get an upper hand in the field of a highly competitive IT job marketplace.
Enroll in Cognixia’s AZ-104: Microsoft Azure training and upgrade your skills. Shape your career and future with our hands-on, live, interactive, instructor-led course. In this competitive world, we are here to provide you with an extraordinarily intuitive online learning experience, help you enhance your knowledge with engaging training sessions, and add value to your skill set. Cognixia caters to both the individuals and corporate workforce with our online interactive instructor-led courses.
This Azure training teaches IT Professionals how to manage their Azure subscriptions, administer the infrastructure, secure identities, configure virtual networking, manage network traffic, connect Azure and on-premises sites, implement storage solutions, implement web apps & containers, create and scale virtual machines, back up & share data, as well as monitor the solution.
