- Run Update-Help and ensure that it completes without errors, so that you have a copy of the help on your local computer. You need an internet connection, and the shell needs to run under elevated privileges (which means Administrator must appear in the shell window’s title bar).
update-help- Windows-only: can you find any cmdlets capable of converting other cmdlets’ output into HTML?
get-help *html*output:
NAME
ConvertTo-Html
SYNOPSIS
Converts Microsoft .NET Framework objects into HTML that can be displayed in a Web browser.
- Partially Windows-only: are there any cmdlets that can redirect output into a file, or to a printer?
get-help *output*output:
Name Category Module Synopsis
---- -------- ------ --------
Write-Output Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Sends the specified objects to the next command in the pipeline. If the command is the last command in the pipeline, the objects are...
about_Functions_OutputTypeAttr... HelpFile Describes an attribute that reports the type of object that the function
about_Remote_Output HelpFile Describes how to interpret and format the output of remote commands.
NAME
Write-Output
SYNOPSIS
Sends the specified objects to the next command in the pipeline. If the command is the last
command in the pipeline, the objects are displayed in the console.
- How many cmdlets are available for working with processes? (Hint: remember that cmdlets all use a singular noun.)
get-help *process*output:
Name Category Module Synopsis
---- -------- ------ --------
Debug-Process Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Debugs one or more processes running on the local computer.
Get-Process Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Gets the processes that are running on the local computer or a remote computer.
Start-Process Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Starts one or more processes on the local computer.
Stop-Process Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Stops one or more running processes.
Wait-Process Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Waits for the processes to be stopped before accepting more input.
- What cmdlet might you use to write to an event log? (This one’s possible on non-Windows operating systems, but you’ll get a different answer.)
get-help *eventlog*output:
Name Category Module Synopsis
---- -------- ------ --------
Clear-EventLog Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Deletes all entries from specified event logs on the local or remote computers.
Get-EventLog Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Gets the events in an event log, or a list of the event logs, on the local or remote computers.
Limit-EventLog Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Sets the event log properties that limit the size of the event log and the age of its entries.
New-EventLog Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Creates a new event log and a new event source on a local or remote computer.
Remove-EventLog Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Deletes an event log or unregisters an event source.
Show-EventLog Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Displays the event logs of the local or a remote computer in Event Viewer.
Write-EventLog Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Writes an event to an event log.
about_Eventlogs HelpFile Windows PowerShell creates a Windows event log that is
get-help Write-EventLogoutput:
NAME
Write-EventLog
SYNOPSIS
Writes an event to an event log.
- You’ve learned that aliases are nicknames for cmdlets; what cmdlets are available to create, modify, export, or import aliases?
get-help *alias*output:
Name Category Module Synopsis
---- -------- ------ --------
Export-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Exports information about currently defined aliases to a file.
Get-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Gets the aliases for the current session.
Import-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Imports an alias list from a file.
New-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Creates a new alias.
Set-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Creates or changes an alias (alternate name) for a cmdlet or other command element in the current Windows PowerShell session.
Alias Provider Microsoft.PowerShell.Core Provides access to the Windows PowerShell aliases and the values that they represent.
about_Aliases HelpFile Describes how to use alternate names for cmdlets and commands in Windows
- Is there a way to keep a transcript of everything you type in the shell, and save that transcript to a text file?
get-help *transcript*output:
Name Category Module Synopsis
---- -------- ------ --------
Start-Transcript Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.Host Start-Transcript...
Stop-Transcript Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.Host Stop-Transcript...
get-help Start-Transcript -detailedoutput:
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
PS C:\>start-transcript -path c:\transcripts\transcript0.txt -noclobber
This command starts a transcript in the Transcript0.txt file in C:\transcripts. The NoClobber parameter prevents any existing files from being overwritten. If the Transcript0.txt file already exists,
the command fails.
- Windows-only: it can take a long time to retrieve all of the entries from the Security event log. How can you get only the 100 most recent entries?
get-help Get-EventLog -Detailedoutput:
NAME
Get-EventLog
SYNOPSIS
Gets the events in an event log, or a list of the event logs, on the local or remote computers.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
PS C:\>get-eventlog -newest 5 -logname application
This command gets the five most recent entries from the Application event log.
**Change newest to 100 and logname to security**
- Windows-only: is there a way to retrieve a list of the services that are installed on a remote computer?
Get-Help *service*output:
Name Category Module Synopsis
---- -------- ------ --------
Get-Service Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Gets the services on a local or remote computer.
New-Service Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Creates a new Windows service.
New-WebServiceProxy Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Creates a Web service proxy object that lets you use and manage the Web service in Windows PowerShell.
Restart-Service Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Stops and then starts one or more services.
Resume-Service Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Resumes one or more suspended (paused) services.
Set-Service Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Starts, stops, and suspends a service, and changes its properties.
Start-Service Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Starts one or more stopped services.
Stop-Service Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Stops one or more running services.
Suspend-Service Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Suspends (pauses) one or more running services.
Get-Help Get-Service -Detailed
NAME
Get-Service
SYNOPSIS
Gets the services on a local or remote computer.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 6 --------------------------
PS C:\>get-service -computername Server02
This command gets the services on the Server02 remote computer.
Because the ComputerName parameter of Get-Service does not use Windows PowerShell remoting, you can use this parameter even if the computer is not configured for remoting in Windows PowerShell.
- Is there a way to see what processes are running on a remote computer? (You can find the answer on non-Windows operating systems, but the command itself might not work for you.)
get-help Get-Process -Detailedoutput:
NAME
Get-Process
SYNOPSIS
Gets the processes that are running on the local computer or a remote computer.
PARAMETERS
-ComputerName <String[]>
Gets the processes running on the specified computers. The default is the local computer.
Type the NetBIOS name, an IP address, or a fully qualified domain name of one or more computers. To specify the local computer, type the computer name, a dot (.), or "localhost".
This parameter does not rely on Windows PowerShell remoting. You can use the ComputerName parameter of Get-Process even if your computer is not configured to run remote commands.
- Examine the help file for the Out-File cmdlet. The files created by this cmdlet default to a width of how many characters? Is there a parameter that would enable you to change that width?
Get-Help Out-File -Detailedoutput:
NAME
Out-File
SYNOPSIS
Sends output to a file.
-Width <Int32>
Specifies the number of characters in each line of output. Any additional characters are truncated, not wrapped. If you omit this parameter, the width is determined by the characteristics of the host. The default for the
Windows PowerShell console is 80 (characters).
- By default, Out-File overwrites any existing file that has the same filename as what you specify. Is there a parameter that would prevent the cmdlet from overwriting an existing file?
Get-Help Out-File -Detailedoutput:
NAME
Out-File
SYNOPSIS
Sends output to a file.
-NoClobber [<SwitchParameter>]
Will not overwrite (replace the contents) of an existing file. By default, if a file exists in the specified path, Out-File overwrites the file without warning. If both Append and NoClobber are used, the output is appended
to the existing file.
- How could you see a list of all aliases defined in PowerShell?
get-help *alias*output:
Name Category Module Synopsis
---- -------- ------ --------
Export-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Exports information about currently defined aliases to a file.
Get-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Gets the aliases for the current session.
Import-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Imports an alias list from a file.
New-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Creates a new alias.
Set-Alias Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Creates or changes an alias (alternate name) for a cmdlet or other command element in the current Windows PowerShell session.
Alias Provider Microsoft.PowerShell.Core Provides access to the Windows PowerShell aliases and the values that they represent.
about_Aliases HelpFile Describes how to use alternate names for cmdlets and commands in Windows
get-help Get-Aliasoutput:
NAME
Get-Alias
SYNOPSIS
Gets the aliases for the current session.
- Using both an alias and abbreviated parameter names, what is the shortest command line you could type to retrieve a list of running processes from a computer named Server1?
Get-Aliasoutput:
Alias ps -> Get-Process
Get-Help psoutput:
NAME
Get-Process
SYNOPSIS
Gets the processes that are running on the local computer or a remote computer.
SYNTAX
Get-Process [[-Name] <String[]>] [-ComputerName <String[]>] [-FileVersionInfo] [-Module] [<CommonParameters>]
ps -c Server1- How many cmdlets are available that can deal with generic objects? (Hint: remember to use a singular noun like object rather than a plural one like objects.)
get-help *object*output:
Name Category Module Synopsis
---- -------- ------ --------
ForEach-Object Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.Core Performs an operation against each item in a collection of input objects.
Where-Object Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.Core Selects objects from a collection based on their property values.
Get-WmiObject Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Gets instances of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes or information about the available classes.
Remove-WmiObject Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.M... Deletes an instance of an existing Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) class.
Compare-Object Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Compares two sets of objects.
Group-Object Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Groups objects that contain the same value for specified properties.
Measure-Object Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Calculates the numeric properties of objects, and the characters, words, and lines in string objects, such as files of text.
New-Object Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Creates an instance of a Microsoft .NET Framework or COM object.
Register-ObjectEvent Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Subscribes to the events that are generated by a Microsoft .NET Framework object.
Select-Object Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Selects objects or object properties.
Sort-Object Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Sorts objects by property values.
Tee-Object Cmdlet Microsoft.PowerShell.U... Saves command output in a file or variable and also sends it down the pipeline.
about_Objects HelpFile Provides essential information about objects in Windows PowerShell.
about_Object_Creation HelpFile Explains how to create objects in Windows PowerShell.
- This chapter briefly mentioned arrays. What help topic could tell you more about them?
get-help *array*output:
TOPIC
about_Arrays
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Describes arrays, which are data structures designed to store
collections of items.