Data professionals manage a wide range of responsibilities across many technologies and often across dozens to thousands of SQL Server instances. While most tasks can be done through GUIs, that approach is slow and inconsistent at scale. A vivid example is a DBA who spent 90 minutes each morning checking Agent jobs on more than 100 instances; after a missed monthly run caused disruption during his vacation, he automated the process with PowerShell, turning a tedious routine into a quick review of a consolidated, color‑coded report. This sets the stage for the chapter’s core message: automation is the key to reliability, speed, and consistency.
The chapter advocates automating tasks as early as possible because scripts enforce repeatability, reduce human error, and can run unattended on reliable schedules. PowerShell is highlighted as the right tool for cross‑technology automation, excelling at monotonous, multi‑system operations and serving as executable documentation when scripts are written clearly with comments. With its cross‑platform reach and broad ecosystem, PowerShell skills carry over to data center and cloud scenarios alike, helping practitioners become the automators rather than the automated.
dbatools is introduced as a community‑driven, open‑source PowerShell toolkit that simplifies common and complex SQL Server tasks—backups, restores, migrations, Availability Groups, configuration, diagnostics—and integrates hard‑won community practices, making reliable automation accessible without deep PowerShell expertise. The book is aimed at data professionals who want to accomplish real administrative work at scale using a small set of well‑designed commands. It proposes a paced, practice‑oriented learning plan—one chapter per day with hands‑on labs—progressing from estate discovery to advanced migrations, while encouraging ongoing exploration and engagement with the broader community.
Figure 1.1. Job Activity Monitor
Figure 1.2. Color coded Excel output from PowerShell
Figure 1.3. Sample dbatools command, Start-DbaMigration
Figure 1.4. Learning PowerShell
Being immediately effective with dbatools
The great thing about dbatools is that most of the development work has been done for you. A bunch of community members collectively invested thousands of hours to build a standardized toolset that help us manage our daily tasks. This also means you can manage these same tasks by just executing a few commands.
Like the authors of PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, Don Jones and Jeff Hicks, our primary goal in this book is for you to be "immediately effective". This means that a section may be initially light on the details so that you can jump right in and accomplish some tasks. If necessary, we will provide additional depth, theory and nuances later in the chapter, in online articles or highlight it in a livestream.
Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches ebook for free
