"Command-Prompt" Ninjitsu

Not since the olden DOS days have I been fascinated with the command line interface (CLI) as with the advent of the CLI-only Windows Server 2008 Server Core.

Back then, I used to dabble in scripting batch files to automate a lot of routine tasks. For example, I would run a script to format a floppy diskette, prompt the user to insert a source diskette to be copied, runs diskcopy and labels the diskette. It was considered l33t to be able to come up with complex scripts, passing parameters and arguments, catching errorlevels and other stuff. Even the prompt itself was not spared; intricate designs were the norm back then.

This interest in CLI carried on when I worked on Solaris stuff some years back. Around this period, I also ventured in the world of different Linux distros and *nix; working on bash, sh, ksh and the other sh were part and parcel of my weekend projects mostly on perl snippets.

When Powershell was introduced two years ago, I was one of the early adopters from my team. I thought integrating a full-pledged OOP platform through scripting was heaven-sent; running cmdlets from the shell, piping results to other cmdlets was rather nifty. And the script-debugging feature available in version 2.0 is, to the syntax-challenged me, a huge huge plus.

I had my fair share of ups and downs with the different CLIs I have had the chance to play around with. But still, the good-ol' cmd.exe is my main choice, hands down. It is THE CLI for me; the one CLI to rule 'em all. In fact, at any given time, I will have a minimum of two elevated cmd.exe windows on my desktop. Be it querying the registry of a remote machine, modifying the properties of an AD account, copying files to multiple target hosts, to name a few, this is the CLI for me.

And while I'm on a CLI-induced stupor, I would like to share this  Windows Command Reference from Microsoft. Again, every administrator worth his skin should be adept at using command-line tools to perform routine administrative tasks; in fact, in my case, I have an elevated command prompt (where I run all admin-related checks, scripts, tools, etc.) on my desktop as part and parcel of my day-to-day work. There seems to be a command-line tool for every admin task, be it fiddling with DNS management (dnscmd), managing AD trusts (netdom), parsing event trace logs (tracerpt), directory copying on steroids (robocopy), backing-up (wbadmin), and so on. Incorporating these tools in scripts is likewise key in automating a lot of tasks thereby allowing an administrator to do more work in a more efficient manner and in lesser amount of time. Mastery of these tools is essential for an administrator; mastering the CLI is godly.