Starting with Powershell Scripts: Examples Explained

Learn to use a PowerShell script to collect last-five event logs, disk space, IPv4 configuration, and top two CPU-consuming services from servers, then generate HTML report on the C drive.

Explore PowerShell scripting essentials: multi-line commands, variables, arrays, pipelines, loops. Define servers and output path, then format data to html with convert to html and query disk space via get-wmiobject.

Initialize an empty array to hold HTML fragments, loop over servers to fetch the five most recent system event logs, and assemble a final HTML report.

Discover how to use Get-WmiObject in PowerShell to query Win32 classes like logical disks, operating system, processor, and network adapters, and to start or stop services such as Windows Update.

Explore how to use invoke-command with script blocks to query remote servers for local hard disks and the top CPU consuming processes, including filtering, sorting, and formatting results for reporting.

Learn how the PowerShell pipeline streams output between commands, enabling efficient, readable data processing with examples like Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.CPU -gt 10 } | Select-Object Name, CPU.

Install Windows Server 2022 in a Hyper-V setup, complete post-install steps like activation and remoting, and prepare a base image with sysprep for domain controllers and PowerShell tasks.

Activate Windows Server 2022 after installation by performing post-installation checks, activating via internet or phone, and managing product keys with slmgr.vbs and DSM commands.

Continue post-installation tasks by renaming the server, joining a domain, and enabling remote desktop. Configure DNS, workgroup settings, boot options, and registry and group policy tweaks for remote access.

Continue post-installation tasks by renaming the server, joining the domain, enabling remote desktop, and configuring network and DNS settings, with future Sysprep and Git deployment.

Create a base image with sysprep after configuring firewall, time and language settings, updating and installing apps like git, then save a VHD for deploying new Hyper-V VMs.

Deploy domain controllers in a lab using PowerShell to automate creating a new forest, configure DNS integration, and promote a server to a domain controller with Active Directory.

Learn to join a Windows client to a domain, install RSAT tools and Windows Admin Center, and promote Active Directory Domain Services for centralized domain management.

Add a core server to the virtual lab domain, install Active Directory Domain Services with Windows Admin Center, and create a new child domain using a PowerShell oneliner.

Add a child domain to the lab using PowerShell, configuring domain services and DNS delegation for Lab1. Explore managing domain controllers with Windows Admin Center and hands-on PowerShell one-liners.

Recap builds a Windows Server lab using PowerShell, creating three servers and a client from a base image, configuring networks, installing Active Directory Domain Services with DNS, and creating checkpoints.

Explore Active Directory administration tools, including the Windows PowerShell–based Active Directory Administrative Center and the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, to manage domains, users, groups, and policies.

Explore how Windows PowerShell uses familiar file and folder commands, distinguishes aliases from native commands, and uses redirection and external commands with examples like get-childitem and mkdir.

Learn to access Windows PowerShell command help with Get-Help, help, and man, view examples for Get-ChildItem, and display help in a separate window using showwindow and the -recurse parameter.

Explore how to view PowerShell command help using help, Get-Help, and online help. Read command parameters and examples for dir and get-childitem, and use the floating window with show window.

Explore how Windows PowerShell helps you discover and use commands through built-in help and Get-Command, with module auto-loading and examples for setting an IP address and Active Directory tasks.

Discover PowerShell command discovery techniques using help and wildcards. Identify HTML conversion commands, create items, restart machines, work with IPv4 addresses, and read remote event logs.

Learn to interpret PowerShell help files to quickly discover command capabilities, parameter sets, and how full parameter names and full help clarify mandatory and positional usage.

Master PowerShell's help system with get-help, update-help, and save-help to update and share command guidance, manage culture with get-culture and get-ui-culture, and organize centralized updates via group policy.

Configure a network share to save and update PowerShell help, demonstrate saving help files via a local share, and apply a group policy to update PowerShell help from that share.

Learn to use Windows PowerShell about help topics, perform wildcard full-text searches, and view manuals for topics such as about Dash Lsis and about underscore event logs.

Explore the full formal syntax of Windows PowerShell commands, including command names or aliases, dash parameters, case insensitivity, space-delimited arguments, and practical tab-completion tips.

Learn how to specify multiple parameter values in PowerShell scripts using double square bracket notation, comma separated lists, and file or variable inputs for commands like Get-EventLog.

Explore shortened command syntax in PowerShell through aliases, positional parameters, and truncated parameter names. Rely on tab completion and use full command names and full parameter names for readability.

Show-Command is a Windows PowerShell command that displays a graphical dialog for a given command, with parameter sets on separate tabs and exposes Windows PowerShell command parameters, including common parameters.

Explore how Windows PowerShell commands modify system state, use what-if to preview changes, and confirm to prompt for each item; adjust confirm and what-if preferences and override with -Confirm:$false.

Show-Command helps you build a Get-Service command by displaying available parameters and letting you select parameter sets, fill values, and copy the command to the clipboard.

Demonstrates using what-if and confirm parameters and the confirm preference variable to safely manage services and processes in PowerShell, with stop/start commands and help guidance.

Discover and run basic Windows PowerShell commands using help and get-command. Explore about files to answer practical PowerShell questions and learn new shell concepts.

Explore finding and running basic Windows PowerShell commands to perform administrative tasks, using help topics to learn DNS name resolution, net adapter basics, and firewall rules.

Master module review best practices by reading each command's help to discover new features and troubleshooting tips, and use update-help or save-help to access help content.

PowerShell runs commands in a pipeline, with each command separated by a vertical line. Commands execute left to right, and output passes to the next, with the last result shown.

Learn to combine commands in a pipeline, using out-file and the greater-than redirect to capture output in files like service list.txt, while understanding that pipelines may produce no screen output.

Learn how Windows PowerShell treats output as objects rather than text, enabling easy access to properties like name and status via pipelines and object-based commands such as Get-Service.

Explore object members in PowerShell by examining properties, methods, and events; use Get-Member to reveal all members and the object's type name, including the Get-Member alias.

Learn the PowerShell pipeline with Get-Service and Get-Process, piping output to Out-File or Out-GridView, and inspect objects with Get-Member alongside Get-NetAdapter and Get-EventLog.

Learn how PowerShell pipelines handle multiple object kinds, such as file info and directory info, and why length applies only to files, guiding robust filtering with get-childitem and get-member.

Learn to sort, measure, and select PowerShell objects with ascending and descending options using Sort-Object, Measure-Object, and Select-Object across Get-Process, Get-Service, and Get-EventLog.

Learn to create calculated properties with select-object using hash tables and keys label, name, and expression, and format memory values and execution time with dash f operator and sort-object.

Learn to use the PowerShell pipeline to display the current date, inspect installed hotfixes, list and filter firewall rules, enumerate network neighbors, and query the DNS client cache.

Explore the PowerShell pipeline by solving lab tasks that use Get-Date, Get-Member, and Select-Object to display the day of year, hotfix details, firewall rules, network neighbors, and DNS cache.

Learn how Windows PowerShell converts pipeline objects to HTML, CSV, and XML using convert to and export, then write results with out-file for external storage.

Master how PowerShell pipelines import data from external storage, convert CSV and XML to objects, and manipulate service and process data with sort and select commands.

Explore PowerShell scripting pipelines by converting management data into multiple formats, including HTML reports of running processes, CSV and XML exports, and pipe-delimited files.

Explore the PowerShell pipeline by converting process lists to HTML, exporting logs and services to CSV and XML, and importing pipe-delimited data with Get-Process, Get-EventLog, and Get-Service.

Filter objects in the Windows PowerShell pipeline by using comparison operators to keep or remove items, with case-insensitive string comparisons by default and basic syntax limited to one comparison.

Explore advanced PowerShell filtering in pipelines, using where with PS item, dollar underscore, and boolean operators to filter objects efficiently, with practical examples and optimization tips.

Explore enumeration with for-each-object to act on each piped object, using basic and advanced syntax, methods like encrypt, and range-based loops for automation.

This lab teaches enumerating objects in a PowerShell pipeline, listing directory items, retrieving certificate key algorithms and issuers, generating random numbers, and restarting the computer via WMI.

Explore how Windows PowerShell pipes objects through commands via pipeline parameter binding, using by value first and by property name when needed, with examples like Get-Service, Sort-Object, and Select-Object.

Learn how manually typed parameters override pipeline input in PowerShell, and explore pipeline binding, parasitical commands, and parenthetical commands to control input with Get-Content, Get-Service, and Get-Process.

Explain how PowerShell binds pipeline input by value and switches to by property name. Show how CSV data maps to parameters using by property name to create users by name.

Expand property values to provide string inputs for commands by extracting computer names from domain objects and selecting the name property.

Master PowerShell pipelines by building and debugging domain-wide commands using Get-ADComputer, Get-Service, Get-Content, Restart-Computer, Test-Connection, Set-Service, and Get-EventLog to manage services and connectivity.

Explore PowerShell scripts through two lab tasks, enumerating objects in the pipeline and verifying command input behavior with Get-Service, Get-WmiObject, Get-Content, and Restart-Computer.

Explore the role of WPS providers, the adapters that connect Windows PowerShell to data stores, and learn to explain their purpose, display provider help files, and compare provider capabilities.

PowerShell providers act as dynamic adapters that expose external data stores as hierarchical, disk-like views, enabling navigation and manipulation of items and properties with familiar commands.

Display available providers with get provider, load modules like Active Directory, and view provider help with help registry. Learn that capabilities vary by provider, including filter, credentials, and transactions.

Explore PowerShell drives and understand how PS providers connect storage to the shell, then manage a file system, navigate a PS drive, and create or modify items and item properties.

Master using PSDrives and PSProviders to create folders and items, map drives, configure registry keys, modify run lists, and adjust AWS management settings through the WPS drive.

Explore lab one solutions for using PowerShell drives and providers, creating items, drives, and registry keys, and configuring registry settings with help commands and example paths.

Review PowerShell providers and PS drives, including alternative credentials, using Get-PSProvider. Map a file system location or AWS as a PS drive and persist a single-letter drive in Windows Explorer.

Learn the three basic formatting commands in Windows PowerShell, describe the default formatting process, and display output in wide lists, lists, and tables.

Explore how PowerShell's default formatting selects views and properties, and learn to display output as wide lists, lists, or tables with format-wide, format-list, and format-table through demonstration examples.

PowerShell formatting and selection techniques, including select-object and format commands. Learn to create calculated properties, group and sort tables, and tailor output presentation.

Learn how PowerShell format commands emit specialized objects that few commands can consume, and avoid mistakes like piping to HTML or outfile, with examples using Get-Process, Get-Member, and Export-Csv.

Learn to redirect formatted PowerShell output with out-host, out-file, and out-printer, and explore using out-gridview to display and interact with processes, including sorting and filtering.

Explore PowerShell scripting basics for formatting command output, including creating formatted displays and tables for system info, process data, routes, and reproducing exact outputs for reports.

Learn to format PowerShell command output for management reports by displaying system info with Win32_ComputerSystem, tabulating processes and routes, and extracting recent event log data.

Review key PowerShell practices, including using Out-GridView for end-user output, attaching files with Send-MailMessage, and formatting and reporting with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services or Microsoft SQL Server Express.

Explore querying management information with PowerShell using WMI and CIM, accessing local and remote data from the operating system, computer hardware, and installed software.

Explore the architecture of WMI and CIM, compare their differences, and learn to select the appropriate technology for a given scenario; describe the architectures and locate documentation for repository classes.

Compare WMI and CIM and their shared repository, and see how PowerShell uses DCOM or WinRM for local and remote management. Prefer CIM cmdlets and note firewall considerations.

Navigate the repository structure of namespaces and classes, examine instances with properties and methods, and learn to locate online documentation for Win32_OperatingSystem and Win32_BIOS.

Learn to query data using WMI and CIM, list available namespaces, retrieve classes from a namespace, query instances of a class, and connect to remote computers to manage CIM sessions.

Use Windows PowerShell to list namespaces and classes with WMI and CIM, focusing on the root\cimv2 namespace, with local and remote queries.

Learn how Windows PowerShell retrieves Win32 logical disk instances using Get WMI object or CIM methods, and refine results with drive type filters and the WMI query language.

Learn to query remote computers with WMI and CIM commands, using credentials and remote computer names, and optimize data retrieval through ad hoc and persistent CIM sessions.

Make changes by using WMI and CIM to execute methods, discover repository object methods, find online method documentation, and invoke those methods.

Explore how to discover and use class methods in PowerShell with WMI and CIM objects, using Get-Member, locating documentation on method arguments, and demonstrating the Win32_service change method.

Explore three ways to invoke methods in PowerShell, including WMI method, invoke method, and invoke SIM method, with examples using Win32 classes, remote computers, and dictionary-argument lists.

Query management information across local and remote computers with WMI and CIM, covering IP addresses, OS version, hardware, services, bias information, network adapters, user accounts, and groups.

Learn PowerShell scripting to query WMI and CIM across multiple computers, retrieving IP addresses, operating system details, computer system hardware, services, user accounts, and network adapter configuration.

Review the differences between WMI and CIM and why CIM commands offer better performance. Explore common remote connectivity issues, including RPC errors, mutual authentication, and access denied.