Ultimate πŸ”΅πŸ’»πŸ“œPowerShell Scripting Guide: 20 Must-Know Commands for Efficient Automation

Shams RazaShams Raza
3 min read

PowerShell scripting is a versatile and powerful tool for automating tasks and managing systems. It combines the speed of the command line, the flexibility of scripting, and the power of a full programming language. Here’s a detailed insight into PowerShell scripting, including at least 20 essential commands, with a touch of emoji to make it more engaging:

  1. Get-Help πŸ“š: Provides detailed help about PowerShell cmdlets and concepts. Use Get-Help <cmdlet-name> to learn more about a specific command.

  2. Get-Command πŸ”: Lists all available cmdlets, functions, workflows, and aliases installed on your system. Use Get-Command <cmdlet-name> to find specific commands.

  3. Get-Process πŸ–₯️: Retrieves a list of all processes running on your system. Use Get-Process to monitor system performance.

  4. Stop-Process ❌: Stops one or more running processes. Use Stop-Process -Name <process-name> to terminate a process.

  5. Get-Service πŸ”§: Lists all services on your system. Use Get-Service to check the status of services.

  6. Start-Service ▢️: Starts a stopped service. Use Start-Service -Name <service-name> to start a service.

  7. Stop-Service ⏹️: Stops a running service. Use Stop-Service -Name <service-name> to stop a service.

  8. Set-ExecutionPolicy πŸ”’: Changes the user preference for the PowerShell script execution policy. Use Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned to allow local scripts to run.

  9. Get-Content πŸ“„: Reads the content of a file. Use Get-Content <file-path> to display file contents.

  10. Set-Content ✍️: Writes or replaces the content in a file. Use Set-Content <file-path> -Value <text> to write text to a file.

  11. Add-Content βž•: Appends content to a file. Use Add-Content <file-path> -Value <text> to add text to a file.

  12. Get-Item πŸ“‚: Retrieves an item from a specified location. Use Get-Item <path> to get details about a file or directory.

  13. Copy-Item πŸ“‹: Copies an item from one location to another. Use Copy-Item <source> -Destination <destination> to copy files or directories.

  14. Move-Item 🚚: Moves an item from one location to another. Use Move-Item <source> -Destination <destination> to move files or directories.

  15. Remove-Item πŸ—‘οΈ: Deletes an item. Use Remove-Item <path> to delete files or directories.

  16. Get-ChildItem πŸ“: Retrieves the items and child items in a specified location. Use Get-ChildItem <path> to list files and directories.

  17. New-Item πŸ†•: Creates a new item. Use New-Item -Path <path> -ItemType <type> to create files or directories.

  18. Invoke-Command πŸ–‡οΈ: Runs commands on local or remote computers. Use Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { <commands> } to execute commands.

  19. Get-EventLog πŸ“œ: Retrieves the events from event logs on local or remote computers. Use Get-EventLog -LogName <log-name> to view event logs.

  20. Export-Csv πŸ“Š: Converts objects into a series of CSV strings and saves them in a file. Use Export-Csv -Path <file-path> -NoTypeInformation to export data to a CSV file.

PowerShell scripting is highly versatile and can be used for a wide range of tasks, from simple file manipulations to complex system administration tasks. By mastering these commands, you can automate repetitive tasks, manage system configurations, and improve your productivity.

Happy scripting! 😊

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Written by

Shams Raza
Shams Raza

πŸ”Ή Azure Hybrid Cloud Engineer | DevOps Designing, automating, and scaling secure infrastructure across on-prem and Azure and AWS cloud infra. β˜οΈπŸ”§ Skilled in IaC (Terraform), CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps), scripting (PowerShell, Bash), and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) πŸ³βš™οΈ Passionate about bridging the gap between legacy systems and modern cloud-native solutions πŸ’‘πŸš€ On a mission to automate everything and simplify the complex.