Scripting: Automation with Bash, PowerShell, and Python

Rheinwerk Publishing, Inc · Michael Kofler

Jun 2025 · Packt Publishing Ltd

Ebook

473

Pages

Tools

About this ebook

Master automation with Bash, PowerShell, and Python in real-world scenarios. Learn to write scripts that solve everyday IT tasks in fewer lines of code.Key Features

A comparative guide to Bash, PowerShell, and Python for solving diverse IT automation tasks
Practical scripting scenarios that reflect real-world problems faced by IT professionals
Structured walkthroughs that move from language basics to advanced multi-tool integrations

Book DescriptionThis comprehensive scripting guide empowers system administrators, developers, and power users to automate repetitive IT tasks across platforms using three major scripting languages: Bash, PowerShell, and Python. The book opens with foundational scripting concepts and showcases what you can accomplish with just ten lines of code. It continues with in-depth chapters on each language, emphasizing syntax, control structures, error handling, and modularity. Readers will explore practical techniques for managing files, parsing text, utilizing regular expressions, and working with JSON, XML, and INI formats. The book dives into job automation with cron and Task Scheduler, secure communication via SSH, and scripting in professional environments with tools like Visual Studio Code and Git. The final section applies scripting to real-world cases, including system backups, image processing, web scraping, API consumption, database interactions, cloud integration, and virtual machine automation. With this book, readers build a strong scripting toolkit to efficiently manage modern IT workflows.What you will learn

Automate tasks using concise Bash, PowerShell, and Python
Create scripts for backups, logging, and web scraping
Manage files, loops, and errors across all three languages
Parse text and logs using filters, pipes, and regex tools
Integrate scripting with Git, APIs, SSH, and cloud services
Schedule jobs with cron and Windows Task Scheduler

Who this book is for

Ideal for system administrators, DevOps professionals, and developers seeking practical automation skills. Readers should have basic familiarity with command-line interfaces and general programming concepts to get the most out of this book.

Master automation with Bash, PowerShell, and Python in real-world scenarios. Learn to write scripts that solve everyday IT tasks in fewer lines of code.Key Features A comparative guide to Bash, PowerShell, and Python for solving diverse IT automation tasks Practical scripting scenarios that refle...

Discover more

About the author

The Rheinwerk Computing series offers new and established professional comprehensive guidance to enrich the readers' skillsets and enhance their career prospects. Their publications are written by leading experts in the fields of programming, administration, security, analytics, and more. Each book is detailed and hands-on to help readers develop essential, practical skills that they can apply to their daily work.

Dr. Michael Kofler is a programmer and Linux administrator. He studied electrical engineering/telematics at Graz University of Technology. He has been one of the most successful and versatile computing authors in the German-speaking world for many years. His current topics include Linux, Docker, Git, hacking and security, Raspberry Pi, and the programming languages Swift, Java, Python, and Kotlin. Michael Kofler also teaches at the Joanneum University of Applied Sciences in Kapfenberg, Austria.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Flag as inappropriate