PowerShell Core 6.1 of .NET with Artificial Intelligence and IoT Influences

Nishtha SinghPreSales Manager
Published:
The PowerShell Core 6.0 of .NET release is just the beginning. The upcoming PowerShell Core 6.1 would have artificial intelligence and internet of things capabilities. So many things to look forward to in the upcoming release.

Microsoft is reading PowerShell Core 6.1 with both AI and IoT influences. With PowerShell Core 6.0 out, it’s time to look ahead of what is in store for the command line as well as task automation tool. Aside from new security improvements, the next major update would also include some IoT and AI capabilities.


.NET as a framework of Microsoft has paved the way for many systems and technologies that meet specific organizations requirements, in various industry verticals.


THE BIG TURNING POINT FOR POWERSHELL


The general availability of PowerShell Core 6.0 on January 10 marked a huge turning point for PowerShell. While the tech is synonymous with the Windows operating system, now it embodies the recent effort of Microsoft to supply developers as well as IT professionals with the tools they require to manage the growing cloud-based workloads, whatever the operating system may be that greets them when they log in. Thus, open-source PowerShell Core 6.0 is available now on Windows, Linux and Mac.


Microsoft is looking ahead to the 6.1 release for late June or early July of this year. The engineers of Microsoft plans a ‘servicing release’, which brings features that add to .NET Core 2.0.5 compatibility. One of the aims of Microsoft for PowerShell version 6.1 is to attain security parity with PowerShell’s Windows version. 


The original port of PowerShell stubbed out support for AppLocker/Device Guard since the APIs weren’t available on the Nano Server, a container-friendly, lightweight version of Windows Server OS. Device Guard and AppLocker are security-boosting features, which administrators could use to put restrictions on software that are allowed to run on their systems. Also, in the works is the ability of running signed scripts remotely, which are accompanied by a trusted certificate.


AI-ENABLED HELPERS AND IOT DEVELOPMENT


Reflecting the heavy investments of Microsoft in machine learning, the company is taking tentative steps in adding some AI-enabled helpers. A new area to explore is to leverage the cloud and machine learning to give inline suggestions at an interactive command-line.


Building on the experimental support in the 6.0 version for ARM devices, which run on Windows 10 Internet of Things or Raspbian, the Debian-based OS used on Raspberry Pi devices, the company works on a module, which enables PowerShell to interact with an Internet of Things device sensors. Once a module is on solid footing, Microsoft plans to work with the developer community to extend the capabilities.


TRULY CROSS-PLATFORM


Now, PowerShell is named Windows PowerShell since it’s built on .NET, which is available only on Windows. The PowerShell Core builds on the .NET strategy, with the use of .NET Core 2.0 runtime as well as the .NET Standard 2.0 common libraries and APIs. PowerShell Core now handles common Linux filename characters, such as commas and colons, which Windows does not support, and paths with a backslash or forward separators.


Logging support was added but uses a different group policy objects set than the Windows PowerShell settings. On MacOS, PowerShell uses native os_log APIs for logging to the unified logging system of Apple. On Linux, it utilizes Syslog. PowerShell Core for emoting uses SSH as a native transport protocol.


For users of Windows PowerShell, the implications of PowerShell Core are a bit different, since they already have a tool they are used to and invested effort in learning and this new tool has slightly varying features, which are not automatically installed.


.NET PROS FOR BUSINESS APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT


The failure or success of any project or product in the market depend on the return on investment. Both quantum of profits and time are significant aspects of calculating the return on investment. The .NET features facilitate lowering of operational as well as development cost for an effective IT organization. 


Software development with Microsoft technologies continues to be very relevant. The giant tech company has billions of cash as well as millions of clients, which need technologies to develop software solutions. The technologies of Microsoft offer a comprehensive suite of series from the ground up as well as maintenance to train on that enable a business to take advantage of the latest technologies.


With so much happening in the PowerShell world, it should be pretty fun to determine things to learn and talk about in the upcoming PowerShell 6.1 release by late June or early July this year. Developers can look forward to doing some amazing things with the new version release.


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