Strings and Arrays in PowerShell Core for Linux

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Strings and Arrays in PowerShell Core for Linux

The string data type is probably the most used data type in PowerShell. From displaying messages, prompting for input, or sending data to files, it is almost impossible to write scripts without strings being involved. An array is a data structure designed to store a collection of items. The items can be the same type or different types. This hands-on lab will demonstrate the use of both strings and arrays in PowerShell for Linux.

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Lab Info

Level

Intermediate

Last updated

Jun 15, 2025

Duration

45m

Challenge

Perform a System Update, Register the MS RedHat Repository, and Install PowerShell
1. Use the yum command to sync the package index files from their sources via the Internet.
```
sudo yum check-update
```
1. Use the yum command to install the newest versions of all installed packages on CentOS.
```
sudo yum update
```
1. Register the Microsoft RedHat repository.
```
curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/7/prod.repo | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/microsoft.repo
```
1. Install PowerShell.
```
sudo yum install -y powershell
```
1. Start PowerShell.
```
pwsh
```
Challenge

Work with Strings in PowerShell
1. Create a single quote string 'Hello PowerShell - Today is $(Get-Date)'.
```
'Hello PowerShell - Today is $(Get-Date)'
```
1. Create a double quote string "Hello PowerShell - Today is $(Get-Date)".
```
"Hello PowerShell - Today is $(Get-Date)"
```
1. Show the properties of the double quote string using Get-Member and a pipeline.
```
"Hello PowerShell - Today is $(Get-Date)" | Get-Member
```
1. Create four variables (domain, firstname, lastname, and department) using the following information:
  
  Domain - scriptingguru.com
  
  First name - John
  
  Last name - Smith
  
  Department - History
```
$domain = 'scriptingguru.com'
$firstname = 'John'
$lastname = 'Smith'
$department = 'History'
```
1. Using the previously entered variables, derive the following values using the string concatenation operator (+):
  
  Name = firstname lastname
  
  DisplayName = firstname lastname (department)
  
  SamAccountName = firstname.lastname
  
  EmailAddress = [email protected]
```
$firstname + ' ' + $lastname
$firstname + ' ' + $lastname + ' (' + $department + ')'
$firstname + '.' + $lastname
$firstname + '.' + $lastname + '@' + $domain
```
1. Once again using the previously entered variables, obtain the same values using PowerShell string expansion.
```
"$firstname $lastname"
"$firstname $lastname ($department)"
"$firstname.$lastname"
"$firstname.$lastname@$domain"
```
Challenge

Work with Arrays in PowerShell
1. Create an array named A that contains the seven numeric (int) values of 29, 51, 6, 8, 19, 39, and 180.
```
$A = 29,51,6,8,19,39,180
```
1. Create an array named B using the range operator (..) containing the values 1 through 8.
```
$B = 1..8
```
1. Create a strongly-typed 32-bit integer array named ia containing four integers (1148, 2195, 3376, and 9000).
```
[int32[]]$ia = 1148,2195,3376,9000
```
1. Display all the elements in the array $A.
```
$A
```
1. Display the first element in the array $A.
```
$A[0]
```
1. Dispay the third element in the array $A.
```
$A[2]
```
1. Recreate the array $A to contain the numbers 0 through 9 using the range operator (..).
```
$A = 0 .. 9
```
1. Display the last three elements of the array, using negative indexes.
```
$A[-1..-3]
```
1. Exit PowerShell.
```
exit
```

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