Google Releases 'Cloud Tools for PowerShell'

Just weeks after Microsoft announced that PowerShell was open source and available on Linux, Google said this week that its new “Cloud Tools for PowerShell” is available in beta.

A command-line shell and scripting language, PowerShell utilizes the .NET framework and is widely used by managed services providers (MSPs) and other IT professionals to control and automate administration of operating systems and applications.

Until last month, PowerShell was only available on Windows and not adaptable to work with other vendors’ technologies.

“Cloud Tools for PowerShell lets you script, automate, and manage your Windows workloads running on (Google Cloud Platform),” according to Google’s website for the new product. “Using PowerShell’s powerful scripting environment, customize your cloud workflows using the Windows tools you’re already familiar with.”

In making the announcement last month, Microsoft described the move as part of its increasingly customer-centric philosophy, which calls for allowing the same tools and staff to seamlessly manage the growing number of diverse cloud and hybrid environments.

Ultimately, Microsoft is aiming for interoperability that enables users to mange any platform from anywhere, on any device.

Microsoft also said it would be working with third-party companies, including Chef, Amazon Web Services, VMware and Google to ensure a seamless experience across popular platforms.

“Microsoft wants to earn customers’ preference as the platform for running all their workloads – Linux as well as Windows,” said a blog post by Jeffrey Snover, a technical fellow with Microsoft Enterprise Cloud Group.

Google’s Cloud Tools for PowerShell relies on an assortment of commands known as cmdlets, which are used to create automation scripts in the Windows environment.

“Control your Cloud Platform resources directly from the command line,” the Google product site says.

“Manage existing cloud resources or create brand new ones, all from PowerShell directly,” it continues. “Cloud Tools for PowerShell gives developers and admins a familiar alternative to manual configuration via the Google Cloud Console UI.”

The new product allows access to Google Compute Engine, Google Cloud Storage, Google Cloud SQL and Google Cloud DNS, according to a blog post by Mete Atamel, developer advocate for Google Cloud Platform.

“We’re ramping up our efforts for Windows developers,” Atamel’s post states, “and would love to hear from you about the direction you want us to take.”

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