As many of you know, BizTalk Server has a fairly extensive WMI object model you can use to manage and run your BizTalk servers. As even more of you know, WMI is a pain in the neck to work with from pretty much anywhere, particularly C#.

However, PowerShell does make it a lot easier and actually even fun, since you can interactively execute and test any WMI query you need to perfection! Given that, it will make a nifty complement to working with BizTalk Server's WMI model. Here's something to open your appettite: List your BizTalk Hosts on the local server:

$hosts = get-wmiobject MSBTS_HostInstance -namespace 'root\MicrosoftBizTalkServer'
$hosts | sort HostName | ft HostName, HostType

I'll demonstrate some more interesting options in later posts!