Instant Windows PowerShell: Manage and automate your Windows Server Environment efficiently using PowerShell

A computer or server with a Windows 7 SP1 / 2008 SP2 / 2008R2 SP1 operating system

Access to the Internet

To use the latest version of PowerShell ISE, you would need to download, install, and configure Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 Full from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=212547

To install the latest version of Windows PowerShell ISE for Windows PowerShell 3.0 on workstations running Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1, before installing Windows Management Framework 3.0 RC, use Server Manager to add the Windows PowerShell ISE feature to Windows PowerShell.

Install the latest Windows updates before installing WMF 3.0 RC.

For Windows 7 Service Pack 1, download and install the following packages:

For Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, download and install the following package:

For Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2, download and install the following packages:

Copy-Item: The Copy-Item cmdlet copies an item from one location to another in a namespace. Copy-Item does not delete the items being copied. When the cmdlet is used with filesystems, it can be used to copy files and directories, and when used with Windows Registry, it can be used to copy registry keys and entries.

The following command will copy the file cmdout.log.txt to the C:\Presentation directory. The command does not delete the original file.

PS C:\> copy-item C:\vins\Logfiles\cmdout.log.txt -destination C:\Presentation

The following command copies the entire content of the Log directory into the Backup directory. If the source directory contains files in subdirectories, those subdirectories will be copied with their file trees intact. The Container parameter is set to true by default. This preserves the directory structure.

PS C:\> copy-item C:\Log -destination C:\Backup -recurse

The default alias for the Copy-Item cmdlet is copy; you can use the cmdlet alias as follows:

PS C:\> copy C:\Log -destination C:\Backup -recurse

Get-Item: The Get-Item cmdlet gets the item at the specified location. It does not get the contents of the item at the location unless you use a wildcard character (*) to request all the contents of the item. In the filesystem, the Get-Item cmdlet gets files and folders:

PS C:\> Get-Item

This command gets the current directory. The dot character (.) represents the item at the current location (not its contents):

The following command gets the current directory of C:\:

PS C:\> Get-Item *

The object that is retrieved represents only the directory, not its contents:

The following command gets the items in C:\:

PS C:\> Get-Item C:\

The wildcard character (*) represents all the items in the container, not just the container. You should see the following screenshot now:

The following command gets the LastAccessTime property of the C:\Windows directory. LastAccessTime, as shown in the following command, is just one property of the file system object:

PS C:\> (Get-Item C:\Windows).LastAccessTime

You should now see the following screenshot:

The following command gets items in the Windows directory with names that include a dot (.), but do not begin with w*. This command works only when the path includes a wildcard character (*) to specify the contents of the item:

PS C:\> Get-Item C:\Windows\*.* -Exclude w*

You should now get the following screenshot:

The default alias for the Get-Item cmdlet is gi; you can use the cmdlet alias as follows:

PS C:\> gi C:\Windows\*.* -Exclude w*

Get-ItemProperty: The Get-ItemProperty cmdlet gets the properties of the specified items. For example, you can use Get-ItemProperty to get the value of the LastAccessTime property of a file or folder object. You can also use Get-ItemProperty to view registry entries and their values:

PS C:\> Get-ItemProperty C:\Windows

The previous command gets information about the C:\Windows directory:

The following command gets the properties of the C:\Windows\bfsvc.exe file:

PS C:\> Get-ItemProperty C:\Windows\bfsvc.exe | Format-List

The result is piped to the Format-List cmdlet to display the output as a list:

The default alias for the Get-Item cmdlet is gi; you can use the cmdlet alias as follows:

PS C:\> gp C:\Windows\bfsvc.exe | Format-List

Invoke-Item: The Invoke-Item cmdlet performs the default action on the specified item. For example, it runs an executable file or opens a document file in the application associated with the document file type. The default action depends on the type of item and is determined by the Windows PowerShell provider that provides access to the data.

The following command opens the file alias counter.csv in Microsoft Excel:

PS C :\> invoke-item C:\Counter.csv

In this case, opening in Excel is the default action for .csv files. You should now see the following screenshot:

The following command opens all of the Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheets in the C:\Documents and Settings\sample\My Documents folder:

PS C:\> invoke-item "C:\Documents and Settings\sample\My Documents\*.xls"

Each spreadsheet is opened in a new instance of Excel. In this case, opening in Excel is the default action for the .xls files. You should now see the following screenshot:

The default alias for the Invoke-Item cmdlet is ii; you can use the cmdlet alias as follows:

PS C:\> ii C:\Counter.csv | Format-List

Move-Item: The Move-Item cmdlet moves an item, including its properties, contents, and child items, from one location to another. The locations must be supported by the same provider. For example, it can move a file or subdirectory from one directory to another, or move a registry subkey from one key to another. When you move an item, it is added to the new location and deleted from its original location.

PS C:\> move-item -path C:\test.txt -destination E:\Temp\tst.txt

The previous command moves the Test.txt file from the C:\ drive to the E:\Temp directory and renames it from test.txt to tst.txt, as shown in the following screenshot:

The following command moves all of the text files (*.txt) in the current directory (represented by a dot (.)) to the C:\Logs directory:

PS C:\> move-item -path .\*.txt -destination C:\Logs

You should now see the following screenshot:

The following command moves all of the text files from the current directory and all subdirectories, recursively, to the C:\TextFiles directory:

PS C:\> Get-ChildItem -Path .\*.txt -Recurse | Move-Item -Destination C:\TextFiles

You should now see the following screenshot:

The default alias for the Move-Item cmdlet is move, mi, or mv; you can use the cmdlet alias as follows:

PS C:\> move .\*.txt -destination C:\Logs
PS C:\> mi .\*.txt -destination C:\Logs
PS C:\> mv .\*.txt -destination C:\Logs

New-Item: The New-Item cmdlet creates a new item and sets its value. The types of items that can be created depend upon the location of the item. For example, in the filesystem, New-Item is used to create files and folders. In the registry, New-Item creates registry keys and entries.

PS C:\> new-item -path c:\vinith testfile12.txt -itemtype "file" -value "This is a text string."

The previous command creates a text file named testfile1.txt in the c:\vinith directory. The dot (.) in the value of the Path parameter indicates the current directory. The quoted text that follows the Value parameter is added to the file as content:

The following command creates a directory named Logfiles in the C:\ directory:

PS C:\> new-item -path c:\ -name logfiles -itemtype directory

The ItemType parameter specifies that the new item is a directory, not a file or some other filesystem object, as shown in the following screenshot:

The following command uses the New-Item cmdlet to create files in two different directories:

PS C:\> new-item -itemtype file -path "c:\ps-test\test12.txt", "c:\ps-test\Logs\test12.log"

Because the Path parameter takes multiple strings, you can use it to create multiple items. You can now see the following screenshot:

The default alias for the New-Item cmdlet is ni. You can use the cmdlet alias as follows:

PS C:\> ni -path c:\ -name logfiles -itemtype directory

Remove-Item: The Remove-Item cmdlet deletes one or more items. Because it is supported by many providers, it can delete many different types of items, including files, directories, registry keys, variables, aliases, and functions. In filesystem drives, the Remove-Item cmdlet deletes files and folders.

C:\PS>Remove-Item C:\Test\*.*

This command deletes all the files with names that include a dot (.) from the C:\Test directory. Because the command specifies a dot, the command does not delete directories or files with no file name extension. You should now see the following screenshot:

The following command deletes a file that is both hidden and read-only:

C:\PS>Remove-Item -Path C:\Test\Invisible-ROnly-file.txt -Force

It uses the Path parameter to specify the file. It uses the Force parameter to give permission to delete it. Without Force, you cannot delete read-only or hidden files.

The default alias for the Remove-Item cmdlet is del, erase, rd, ri, rm, and rmdir. You can use the cmdlet alias as follows:

C:\PS> del -Path C:\Test\Invisible-ROnly-file.txt -Force
C:\PS> erase -Path C:\Test\Invisible-ROnly-file.txt -Force

C:\PS> rd -Path C:\Test\Invisible-ROnly-file.txt -Force

C:\PS> ri -Path C:\Test\Invisible-ROnly-file.txt -Force

C:\PS> rm -Path C:\Test\Invisible-ROnly-file.txt -Force

Get-Acl: The Get-Acl cmdlet gets objects that represent the security descriptor of a file or resource. The security descriptor contains the access control lists (ACLs) of the resource in an array. The ACL specifies the permissions that users and user groups have to access the resource.

The following command gets the security descriptor of the C:\Windows directory:

PS C:\> Get-Acl C:\Windows

You should now see the following screenshot:

Set-Acl: The Set-Acl cmdlet changes the security descriptor of a specified item, such as a file or a registry key, to match the values in a security descriptor that you supply. To use Set-Acl, use the Path parameter to identify the item whose security descriptor you want to change. Then, use the AclObject parameters to supply a security descriptor that has the values you want to apply.

The following commands copy the values from the security descriptor of the 123.csv file to the security descriptor of the 123.html file:

PS C:\> $ACL = Get-Acl C:\vinith\123.csv
PS C:\> Set-Acl -Path  C:\vinith\123.html -AclObject $ACL

When the execution of the commands is complete, the security descriptors of the 123.csv and 123.html files are identical. The following screenshot shows the usage of the commands:

The following command is almost the same as the command in the previous example, except that it uses a pipeline operator to send the security descriptor from a Get-Acl command to a Set-Acl command:

PS C:\> Get-Acl C:\vinith\123.csv | Set-Acl -Path C:\vinith\123.html

The following commands apply the security descriptors in the 123.csv file to all text files in the C:\Temp directory and all of its subdirectories:

PS C:\> $NewAcl = Get-Acl C:\vinith\123.csv
PS C:\> Get-ChildItem c:\temp -Recurse -Include *.txt -Force | Set-Acl -AclObject $NewAcl

You should now see the following screenshot:

Get-AuthenticodeSignature: The Get-AuthenticodeSignature cmdlet gets information about the Authenticode signature in a file. If the file is not signed, the information is retrieved, but the fields are blank.

PS C:\> Get-AuthenticodeSignature C:\Vinith\Export-NaEfficiencyXls.ps1

After running the previous command, you should see the following screen:

This command gets information about the Authenticode signature in the Export-NaEfficiencyXls.ps1 file. It uses the FilePath parameter to specify the file.

Set-AuthenticodeSignature: The Set-AuthenticodeSignature cmdlet adds an Authenticode signature to any file that supports Subject Interface Package (SIP). In a Windows PowerShell script file, the signature takes the form of a block of text that indicates the end of the instructions that are executed in the script. If there is a signature in the file when this cmdlet runs, that signature is removed.

Here are some examples on how you can use these cmdlets:

ConvertFrom-SecureString: The ConvertFrom-SecureString cmdlet converts a secure string (System.Security.SecureString) into an encrypted standard string (System.String). Unlike a secure string, an encrypted standard string can be saved in a file for later use. The encrypted standard string can be converted back to its secure string format by using the ConvertTo-SecureString cmdlet.

The following command reads a set of characters from a user and stores it as a secure string in the $securestring variable:

PS C:\> $SecureString = Read-Host -AsSecureString

The following command converts the secure string in the $SecureString variable to an encrypted standard string:

PS C:\> $StandardString = ConvertFrom-SecureString  $SecureString

The resulting encrypted standard string is stored in the $StandardString variable. You should see the output screen as follows:

ConvertTo-SecureString: The ConvertTo-SecureString cmdlet converts encrypted standard strings into secure strings. It can additionally convert plain text to secure strings. The secure string can be converted back to an encrypted, standard string utilizing the ConvertFrom-SecureString cmdlet. This enables it to be stored in a file for later use.

If the standard string being converted was encrypted with ConvertFrom-SecureString utilizing a specified key, that same key must be provided as the value of the Key or SecureKey parameter of the ConvertTo-SecureString cmdlet.

The following command converts the plain text string P@ssW0rD! into a secure string and stores the result in the $secure_string_pwd variable:

PS C:\> $secure_string_pwd = convertto-securestring "P@ssW0rD!" -asplaintext –force

To utilize the AsPlainText parameter, the Force parameter must additionally be included in the command. You should now see the output screen as follows:

Export-Certificate: The Export-Certificate cmdlet exports a certificate from a certificate store to a file. The private key is not included in the export if more than one certificate is being exported.

Here is an example of the Export-Certificate cmdlet in action:

PS C:\> $cert = (Get-ChildItem -Path Cert:\CurrentUser\My\C33B8174F1487B2DE2778D7BB7441F89A6709D3B)

Utilize the Type parameter to transmute the file format:

PS C:\> Export-Certificate -Cert $cert -FilePath c:\certs\user.sst -Type SST 

This example exports a certificate to the filesystem as a Microsoft serialized certificate store without its private key:

PS C:\> $cert = (Get-ChildItem -Path Cert:\CurrentUser\My\C33B8174F1487B2DE2778D7BB7441F89A6709D3B)
PS C:\> Export-Certificate -Cert $cert -FilePath c:\certs\user.cer

This example exports a certificate to the file system as a DER-encoded .cer file without its private key.

This following commands export all certificates under the CurrentUser\my store into a Microsoft serialized certificate store allcerts.sst:

PS C:\> $cert = (Get-ChildItem -Path cert:\CurrentUser\My\EEDEF61D4FF6EDBAAD538BB08CCAADDC3EE28FF)

PS C:\> Get-ChildItem -Path cert:\CurrentUser\my | Export-Certificate –FilePath c:\certs\allcerts.sst -Type SST

You should get the output as shown in the following screenshot:

Get-Certificate : The Get-Certificate cmdlet can be acclimated to submit a certificate request and install the resulting certificate, install a certificate from a pending certificate request, and enroll for ldap. If the request is issued, the returned certificate is installed in the store resolute by the CertStoreLocation parameter and returns the certificate in the EnrollmentResult structure with status Issued.

Delegation may be required when utilizing this cmdlet with Windows PowerShell remoting and transmuting utilizer configuration.

The following commands submit a certificate request for the SslWebServer template to the specific URL using the username and password credentials:

PS C:\> $up = Get-Credential

PS C:\> Get-Certificate -Template SslWebServer -DnsName www.virtualcloud.com –Url `
https://www.virtualcloud.com/Policy/service.svc -Credential $up -CertStoreLocation ` cert:\LocalMachine\My

You should see the output as shown in the following screenshot:

In the previous example, the request will have two DNS names in it. This is for a certificate in the machine store. If the request is issued, the returned certificate is installed in the machine's MY store and the certificate in the EnrollmentResult structure is returned with the status Issued.

If the request is pending, it is installed in the machine's REQUEST store. The request in the EnrollmentResult structure is returned with the status Pending.

Get-BpaModel: The Get-BpaModel cmdlet retrieves and displays the list of models that are supported by Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) and installed on the computer:

Get-BpaResult: The Get-BpaResult cmdlet retrieves and displays the results of the latest BPA scan for a specific model that is installed on a computer. To use this cmdlet, add the ModelId parameter, and specify the model identifier (ID) for which to view the most recent BPA scan results.

The following is an example when im is extracting the results of the Hyper-V model ID:

PS C:\> Get-BpaResult -ModelId Microsoft/Windows/Hyper-V | select title,compliance | fl *

You should see the output as shown in the following screenshot:

Invoke-BpaModel: The Invoke-BpaModel cmdlet starts a BPA scan for a specific model that is installed on a Windows-based computer. The model is specified either by using the ModelId parameter, or by piping the results of the Get-BpaModel cmdlet into this cmdlet:

PS C:\> Invoke-BpaModel -Id Microsoft/Windows/Hyper-V

You should see the output as shown in the following screenshot:

Homepage: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd835506(v=vs.85).aspx

Manual and documentation: http://technet.microsoft.com/library/bb978526.aspx

Wiki: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/183.windows-powershell-survival-guide.aspx

Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/powershell/

A video playlist from the "PowerShell Guru" Don Jones displaying all cool features of PowerShell is available at http://www.youtube.com/user/powershelldon. A must watch!

Refer to the PowerShell—Working With Regular Expressions (regex) article at http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/4310.powershell-working-with-regular-expressions-regex.aspx

Refer to the PowerShell—Advanced Function Parameter Attributes article at http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/15994.powershell-advanced-function-parameter-attributes.aspx

The blog by PowerShell MVP's PowerShell magazine at http://www.powershellmagazine.com/

POWERSHELL PRO!: http://www.powershellpro.com/powershell-tutorial-introduction/

PowerShell.com: http://powershell.com/cs/

PowerShellbooks.com :http://www.powershellbooks.com/

PowerShell.org: http://powershell.org/wp/

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