Powershell to become open source!!!

To all you working tech geeks out there!!

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WZwv7TxqZ0

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https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell

I'm a bit conflicted. I have been investing some time learning Golang - but now that Powershell has been open sourced and .net core is cross-platform, I may move in that direction.

the_Grinch

Yay! One programming language that will allow a bad actor to own all the oses.

beads

the_Grinch wrote: »

Yay! One programming language that will allow a bad actor to own all the oses.

Never coded Java?

- b/eads

the_Grinch

Not saying it's the only one, but scripting languages typically are easier to pick up. Plus lots and lots of weakness when it comes to Powershell (not that it isn't the case for all languages).

YFZblu

Even if Powershell never went cross-platform, it has already been used to compromise Windows-based enterprises at scale. If that isn't enough to have enterprise security people generally concerned about it, then priorities weren't properly focused to begin with in my opinion.

beads

@the_Grinch;

Yeah, I know and it make some sense to go open source in some ways but also leaves me scratching my head as well. Does Microsoft feel they are loosing too much mindshare to Python, Java and a host of others I can't think of off hand or is this just one of those feel good "giving back to the community" Grimm's fairy tales someone trying to sell us, nonsense?

Until I hear a real explanation I am leaning towards the later else, I don't get it.

- b/eads

- b/eads

iBrokeIT

For those that don't want to watch 50+ minute video and would prefer to read: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/powershell-is-open-sourced-and-is-available-on-linux/

The short answer as to "why?": standardization and cloud management of VMs.

DoubleNNs

Yeah, seems more a tool to manage the cloud platform (Azure) as opposed to the underlying OSes. It doesn't seem like (at least in it's first iteration) that PoSH will be used to manage Linux systems, regardless of local or remote.

@YFZblu - I see more ROI in going w/ Go than w/ PoSH

the_Grinch

Since someone rep'd that I did not know what I am talking about figured I would back up my case.

"Right now, Snover said that Microsoft is still working on finalizing some of PowerShell’s remote access capabilities on Linux. But once that’s done, administrators will be able to use PowerShell on Windows to remotely manage a fleet of Linux systems, something that customers have been wanting for quite some time." (taken from the PC World article: Microsoft PowerShell goes open source, lands on Linux and Mac | PCWorld)

That right there tells me they are going to make it possible to administer linux systems with Powershell scripts. APT's have been using Powershell for years to maintain their persistence on machines once within a network. Now they can write a script in a common language and hop machine to machine regardless of the operating system. Simple enough to right a script to detect the OS and then load up the needed payload. Yes of course you could do this with any number of languages so it isn't something new, but at least previously your risk was lessened if you had a diverse environment.

It's really no different then Bash scripting. Sure you can write all types of programs in Bash that will accomplish any number of tasks. But, typically, it's been utilized to automate system administration related tasks.

dmoore44

DoubleNNs wrote: »

Yeah, seems more a tool to manage the cloud platform (Azure) as opposed to the underlying OSes. It doesn't seem like (at least in it's first iteration) that PoSH will be used to manage Linux systems, regardless of local or remote.

Not necessarily... The Enter-PSSession cmdlet is implemented, but there's an underlying library (libpsrpclient) that hasn't been released yet, so it doesn't work. Further, I believe that Jeff Snover has mentioned that they're modifying POSH remoting to utilize SSH as well as MSRPC, so that'll be nice.

Also, MS is open sourcing WMI as OMI, so there's going to be various bits of administrative capability enabled. If I remember correctly, the only functionality that's going to be lost in POSH on *nix is the Windows centric stuff (WPF, registry, etc...).

beads

@the_Grinch;

Unless someone jagged you in a PM or rep I don't see the post you referring. I was having one of those brief episodes of conspiracy theory joy that I haven't felt about Microsoft in many years. Just having some fun there, that's all.

I do see it as a market reaction for relevancy but not quite buying the company line on this one. Seems we will have many competing scripting languages competing for the same space and if there is anything MS has done successfully to the detriment of the industry as a whole is marketing.

Just being skeptical is all.

- b/eads

YFZblu

the_Grinch wrote: »

APT's have been using Powershell for years to maintain their persistence on machines once within a network. Now they can write a script in a common language and hop machine to machine regardless of the operating system. Simple enough to right a script to detect the OS and then load up the needed payload. Yes of course you could do this with any number of languages so it isn't something new, but at least previously your risk was lessened if you had a diverse environment.

Associating lesser risk with a diverse environment is moreso along the lines of 'security by obscurity', and is exactly the wrong position to take.

Organized groups have indeed leveraged Powershell to compromise Windows domains for some time now. This means one should be auditing Powershell in a comprehensive fashion and finding ways to monitor it where possible. The (eventual) introduction of remote, cross-platform Powershell administration capabilities doesn't change that. Asserting anything else is just perpetuating FUD.

DoubleNNs

Additionally, I doubt PoSH will be installed by default on a min install ISO. It's best practice to minimize the attack surface/footprint on production servers. Just like how every system doesn't need Java installed, not every system will need PoSH installed.

varelg

Just out of curiosity, what kind of problem is Powershell on Linux solving, and what is it that Powershell can do that Bash can't?

networker050184

I don't think it's so much about solving problems the other can't, more about familiar tool portability.

Chinook

It means you can now use your MacBook to admin Windows networks.

dmoore44

varelg wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, what kind of problem is Powershell on Linux solving, and what is it that Powershell can do that Bash can't?

One of my favorite features of POSH is how the output of a cmdlet is structured as a PS object rather than a string...

powerfool

I have a post discussing some of the considerations that must be made regarding cross-platform PowerShell, let me know your thoughts: Considerations for an Open Sourced PowerShell