Introduction
The Sitecore PowerShell Extensions (SPE) module is a Sitecore development accelerator which can drastically increase your productivity and curtail the amount of time it takes to deliver a Sitecore solution.
The module provides a command line (CLI) and scripting environment (ISE) for automating tasks. SPE works with the Sitecore process, capable of making native calls to the Sitecore API and manipulating files. Running commands and writing scripts follow the standard and well-known Windows PowerShell syntax. Windows PowerShell is a common tool used in IT for desktop and server management, so we decided to stick with that as a framework to build upon.
Support for Sitecore 7 has discontinued with SPE 5.0.
The following are some helpful modules distributed with SPE.
Core
Platform
X-UnitTests
Maintenance
Index On Demand
Media Library Maintenance
System Maintenance
Task Management
User Management
User Session Management
Reporting
Authorable Reports - reports based on the Sitecore Rules Engine.
Content Reports - variety of reports to help audit the Sitecore solution.
Samples
Automatically show quick info section
Enforce user password expiration
Example Event Handlers
Getting Started - includes the Kitchen Sink Demo for
Read-Variable.License Expiration
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Unlock user items on logout
Tools
Authoring Instrumentation
Copy Renderings
Data Management
Elevated Unlock
Package Generator
Publishing Status Gutter
The following are Sitecore modules that enhance the SPE experience.
"There is nothing you can not do with PowerShell Console, because you're inside the Sitecore application. You can call the Sitecore API" - Alistair Deneys - Sitecore Symposium 2012
Recommended by John West to use as a tool for maximizing Sitecore developer productivity.
"Get a job done with a one liner! Just provisioned a new language for the whole content tree with a one-liner. Whaaaat? Have to include it as a default install for all sandboxes now." - Alex Shyba's comment on Marketplace
"Thank you for the GitBook. Invaluable Reference." - Nick Wesselman's tweet
"The Sitecore powershell tools are absurdly good and helpful. I know they make a lot of people nervous, but they are incredibly well managed. Everybody should learn to sling some shell in Sitecore, you'll never look back." - Christopher Campbell tweet
The following book should provide you with enough information to use and be productive with SPE. Don't worry, you will be able to use it without having to write any code.
We have a video series available to help walk you through the module here.
We also maintain a comprehensive list of links to blogs and videos to help you on your journey to SPE awesomeness. Happy coding!
See the Troubleshooting section for some common fixes.
Questions, comments, and feature requests should be submitted on GitHub. You may also check out the SPE Slack channel for more interactive support. Not on Slack yet? Contact us on Twitter and we'll send you an invite.
Disclaimer: With great power comes great responsibility – this tool can do a lot of good but also bring harm to a lot of content in a very short time – backup your system before running a script that modifies your content and never run any untested scripts in a production environment! We will not be held responsible for any use of it. Test your scripts on your development server first! Test on an exact copy of production before running scripts on production content.