The Most Comprehensive PowerShell Book for Microsoft 365

The Office 365 for IT Pros team is delighted to announce the availability of monthly update #8 for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook. The book is included with the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook and is also available separately, including in a paperback edition published on a print on demand basis by Amazon.

Updates for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook are published monthly, just like the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook. However, we try to make the PowerShell update available a few days ahead of the main book because it allows us to clear the deck to work on chapter updates for the main book at the end of each month.

The Office 365 for IT Pros eBook contains many PowerShell examples. Originally, it also included a PowerShell chapter. Because the book is already quite large and we wanted to give more coverage to the important topic of the Microsoft Graph and how it can be used to process Microsoft 365, the decision was made to create the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook and to update its content on an ongoing basis, just like we do with Office 365 for IT Pros. The net result is that the book now spans five chapters and 280 pages of practical and useful information about how to use PowerShell with Microsoft 365.

Mastering the Graph

In particular, we’ve spent a lot of time working out how to exploit the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. This is an incredibly important component that not only replaces the AzureAD and Microsoft Online Services modules (due for imminent retirement) but also opens up the possibilities of accessing data such as Exchange Online mailboxes, SharePoint Online sites, pages, and lists, Planner plans and tasks, and so on. The book also covers how to access Microsoft 365 data with Azure Automation.

The nice thing about mastering the maze of Microsoft Graph APIs, permissions, and SDK cmdlets is that once you understand how things work, the same techniques can be applied to all sorts of data.

If you’re still struggling to convert scripts from using the AzureAD and MSOL modules, you’ll find a lot of value in Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell. We can’t convert scripts for you, but we can give you the knowledge needed to smoothen and quicken the process.

The Print Edition

Due to the 1,200-page (plus) size of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook, we’ve never been able to provide a print edition. Printing a book that’s updated monthly sounds like a bit of fool’s errand, but we have received many requests because some people like consulting print books for technical topics. Some even went so far as to print the PDF issued for each monthly update.

There are many print on demand services available for books. We decided to try Amazon, and people can now buy a paperback edition of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell. It’s impossible to update a print copy, so if you buy a printed book, it contains whatever content is current at the time of purchase. Two major differences exist between the print and electronic versions (PDF and EPUB). The print version obviously can’t support hyperlinks, so these become footnotes. The second difference is that we provide an index for the print version to replace the search capabilities that the electronic versions have.

The paperback has proven to be more popular than anticipated, so we’ll keep it going for those who want this option.

On to Update #9

In line with our regular cadence, monthly update #116 for the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook will be available for download on February 1, 2025. Subscribers can download the update #8 files for Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell now. We hope that you find the books useful. Let us know if we should cover other topics by adding a comment for this article.