Ultimate π΅π»πPowerShell Scripting Guide: 20 Must-Know Commands for Efficient Automation


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. Hereβs a detailed insight into PowerShell scripting, including at least 20 essential commands, with a touch of emoji to make it more engaging:
Get-Help π: Provides detailed help about PowerShell cmdlets and concepts. Use
Get-Help <cmdlet-name>
to learn more about a specific command.Get-Command π: Lists all available cmdlets, functions, workflows, and aliases installed on your system. Use
Get-Command <cmdlet-name>
to find specific commands.Get-Process π₯οΈ: Retrieves a list of all processes running on your system. Use
Get-Process
to monitor system performance.Stop-Process β: Stops one or more running processes. Use
Stop-Process -Name <process-name>
to terminate a process.Get-Service π§: Lists all services on your system. Use
Get-Service
to check the status of services.Start-Service βΆοΈ: Starts a stopped service. Use
Start-Service -Name <service-name>
to start a service.Stop-Service βΉοΈ: Stops a running service. Use
Stop-Service -Name <service-name>
to stop a service.Set-ExecutionPolicy π: Changes the user preference for the PowerShell script execution policy. Use
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
to allow local scripts to run.Get-Content π: Reads the content of a file. Use
Get-Content <file-path>
to display file contents.Set-Content βοΈ: Writes or replaces the content in a file. Use
Set-Content <file-path> -Value <text>
to write text to a file.Add-Content β: Appends content to a file. Use
Add-Content <file-path> -Value <text>
to add text to a file.Get-Item π: Retrieves an item from a specified location. Use
Get-Item <path>
to get details about a file or directory.Copy-Item π: Copies an item from one location to another. Use
Copy-Item <source> -Destination <destination>
to copy files or directories.Move-Item π: Moves an item from one location to another. Use
Move-Item <source> -Destination <destination>
to move files or directories.Remove-Item ποΈ: Deletes an item. Use
Remove-Item <path>
to delete files or directories.Get-ChildItem π: Retrieves the items and child items in a specified location. Use
Get-ChildItem <path>
to list files and directories.New-Item π: Creates a new item. Use
New-Item -Path <path> -ItemType <type>
to create files or directories.Invoke-Command ποΈ: Runs commands on local or remote computers. Use
Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { <commands> }
to execute commands.Get-EventLog π: Retrieves the events from event logs on local or remote computers. Use
Get-EventLog -LogName <log-name>
to view event logs.Export-Csv π: 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! π
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Written by

Shams Raza
Shams Raza
πΉ Azure Hybrid Cloud Engineer | DevOps Designing, automating, and scaling secure infrastructure across on-prem and Azure and AWS cloud infra. βοΈπ§ Skilled in IaC (Terraform), CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps), scripting (PowerShell, Bash), and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) π³βοΈ Passionate about bridging the gap between legacy systems and modern cloud-native solutions π‘π On a mission to automate everything and simplify the complex.