There have been many book releases in the months since PowerShell V2 has been released, and there are several still in the works. It’s also neat to see all of the localized book projects—that really shows how important PowerShell is the entire world over. Here is a list of the books that I’ve heard about lately, in alpha order by title:

If you know of any that I have missed, please let me know in the comments.

This email arrived in my inbox today:

Just finished your book for the second time.  Man, have I learned a lot!  I am way ahead of the PowerShell curve for admins in general.  No one at my work can touch me!  SQl, AD, VMware, IIS, Group Policy, log extraction, etc…  I do it all with PowerShell.

A lot of people say, you can do all this stuff in the VMware client.  My reply is simply- no you can’t…  I have at least 30 automated PowerShell scripts that run throughout the week.  I don’t know how I lived without PowerShell. 

Again, your book rocked.  I actually paid for it!  I won’t let anyone borrow it either.  I need it way too much.  I tell them to BUY THEIR OWN!!!

G.B.

I really enjoyed reading it and wanted to share this with everyone. Very cool of him to take the time to send me the note.

I am very pleased to announce that my book, Managing VMware Infrastructure with Windows PowerShell: TFM is now available to pre-order for $41.99 at SAPIEN’s ScriptingOutput site. Estimated ship date is mid-April. [See update at end about availability at other e-tailers and shipping prices.]

Here’s what the book is about:

VMware is the king when it comes to virtualization. Windows PowerShell has gotten huge accolades as an extremely powerful tool for automation of IT tasks. These two technologies make a lot of sense together, and VMware is now making that happen with the release of their VI Toolkit for Windows.

In “Managing VMware Infrastructure with PowerShell”, you will learn how to perform everything from simple ad-hoc reporting at the command-line (“are any of my virtual machines powered off?”) to complex scripts to automate a massive deployment of hundreds of virtual machines. Simple, yet powerful; concise, yet robust; you will enjoy using this new language to solve your old problems using less code than you thought possible.

If you are a system administrator responsible for managing a VMware Virtual Infrastructure (version 2.0 or above), or a standalone ESX Server (version 3.0 or above), then you need this book. Aimed at scripters of every level, the book starts off with a PowerShell primer and continues well into the internals of virtualization on the VMware platform.

Table of Contents

• Introduction – Why You Need This Book

1. Windows PowerShell Crash Course
2. Getting Started
3. Scripting with Virtual Infrastructure
4. Inventory and Reporting
5. Deployment and Configuration
6. Maintenance and Operations
7. Troubleshooting and Problem Resolution
8. Managing VMWare with PowerGUI

I have two pieces of cool news on my book, Managing VMware Infrastructure with PowerShell: TFM. First, it should be going to print around April 15th! I think it’ll be available on pre-order before then, but I don’t know precisely when that will happen. Second, VMware has partnered with my publisher to make a 10% off coupon available to ISVs and IHVs. If you are currently on VMware’s TAP mailing list, look for that coupon to arrive in the March newsletter which should be in your inbox now.

You can be one of the first to receive a copy of my book when it comes out (not long, I swear!), for free!  Be sure to listen to Episode 57 for details.

And let me give you a tip.  Last time I looked, we had around 1,800 subscribers who listen to the recorded show.  We typically have between 15 and 40 people show up to the live show on our Ustream channel. We’ll give away a book or two live, and save some for the “regular podcast”.  Odds are a bit better if you show up tonight for the live show. 

I hate to write three posts in a row about the book but I’m pretty excited about the early response I’m seeing from others in the community about my book.

• Eric Sloof is going to mention my book at an upcoming talk he’s giving at a VMware user group meeting.  There’s supposed to be 300 attendees.
• Another fellow asked about pre-ordering 10 copies. I had no idea anyone would be so interested. 

Here’s what the cover of my book will look like.  I’m sure that I’ll get tired of seeing it at some point, but that time is several months away, I’m afraid. 

Here’s an update on my book which is in progress.  The title is “Managing VMware Infrastructure with PowerShell: TFM”, to be published by SAPIEN Press.

I’ve sent my last chapter in for tech review and the replies have started to roll in. This month, I’ll be working on the changes based on those reviews (thanks guys!). The publisher will work on their part in January, and I could have this baby on shelves in February!

Virtu-Al had some nice things to say about it; really appreciate that.