PowerShell is now open source and available on Linux

PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework that comes in a form of a command line. It is an important tool for network administrators, allowing them to simplify the system management tasks.

Microsoft has recently open sourced PowerShell, making it available on Linux and iOS as well. Although the Redmond giant is not a big fan of open source software, it realized that management tools should be compatible with any platform.  After all, Microsoft’s customers live in a multi-platform world, and they need tools that allows them to manage any systems.

Nearly one in three VMs on Azure are Linux-operated, and almost 60% of third-party IaaS offers in the Azure Marketplace are open source software. Living in such an open-source friendly world, Microsoft had but one choice: to adapt, and this means embracing the open-source environment.

Microsoft wants to earn customers’ preference as the platform for running all their workloads – Linux as well as Windows. This new thinking empowered the .NET team to port .NET Core to Linux and that in turn, enabled PowerShell to port to Linux as well. PowerShell on Linux is now designed to enable customers to use the same tools, and the same people, to manage everything from anywhere.

The open source PowerShell project is still in its beginning stages. Microsoft has already open sourced small portions of PowerShell to a number of its experienced partners to sample the best possible feedback.

The initial release is an “alpha” version and is community supported. Microsoft is planning to deliver an official Microsoft version of PowerShell based on open source to anyone running a supported version of Windows or *nix.  The tech giant hasn’t revealed the exact time of this release, explaining that everything depends on the community input and business needs.

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