What is PowerShell?

Windows PowerShell is a Microsoft Task Automation Framework. It consists of a command shell and associated scripting language built on top of .Net Framework.
The command script is termed as Cmdlets.
SharePoint provides set of PowerShell Cmdlets that helps in Task Automation.
Following are some of the SharePoint PowerShell usage:

1. Create Performance Reports
   
2. Update SharePoint objects
   
3. Create Auditing Report
   

PowerShell comes as a handy tool in case the servers are not having Visual Studio installed. Above that PowerShell scripting requires less programming skills to be employed.

Starting PowerShell

You can start PowerShell from start menu. Choose the item SharePoint 2013 Management Shell as shown below:


On clicking the item following command window is launched.

The above command window is launched with pre-loading the SharePoint Cmdlets.

Cmdlets

For getting help on the Cmdlets, use the Get-Help cmdlet.


For getting the list of available Cmdlets, use the command Get-Command.

For getting farm information, use the command Get-SPFarm.


We can also use the commands like CLS, MORE, EXIT to co-ordinate with PowerShell Cmdlets.
For example: Get-Command | MORE

References

PowerShell http://bit.ly/DJ6R

Summary

In this article we have explored about PowerShell.