@AmrEldib

PowerShell Study Notes

Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................... 3
UI...................................................................................................................... 3
Aliases.............................................................................................................. 3
Basic Commands.............................................................................................. 4
Get-Command............................................................................................... 4
Get-Help........................................................................................................ 4
Get-ChildItems.............................................................................................. 4
Set-Location.................................................................................................. 4
Clear-Host..................................................................................................... 4
Piping Commands............................................................................................ 5
Providers.......................................................................................................... 5
Variables.......................................................................................................... 6
Variable Types............................................................................................... 6
Comparisons................................................................................................. 7
Implicit Type Conversion...............................................................................7
Strings.............................................................................................................. 8
String Interpolation....................................................................................... 8
String Formatting.......................................................................................... 8
Wildcards...................................................................................................... 8
Arrays............................................................................................................... 9
Hash Tables...................................................................................................... 9
Common Built-in Variables............................................................................. 10
Branching....................................................................................................... 10
If Statement................................................................................................ 10
Switch Statement........................................................................................ 11
Looping.......................................................................................................... 11
Script Blocks................................................................................................... 12
Functions........................................................................................................ 13
Comments...................................................................................................... 13
Adding Help to Functions................................................................................ 13
Error Handling................................................................................................ 14
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Working with Files.......................................................................................... 14

PowerShell Study Notes

Introduction
DOS was a command-line based operating system. CMD lived on when
Windows replaced DOS. CMD was long overdue for replacement and
PowerShell does exactly that.
PowerShell is based .NET and everything is a .NET object.
Commands in PowerShell are named Cmdlets (Command-lets).
PowerShell commands have a Verb-Noun syntax.
Verbs like: Get, Set, Out, Start, Stop, Restart, Add.
Nouns like: Help, Command, Service, Computer, Location, ChildItems.

UI
Use can access PowerShell through:

PowerShell Window: just like CMD but for PowerShell.

PowerShell ISE (Integrated Scripting Environment): helps with writing
and executing scripts along with typing regular commands. Better
alternative to the PowerShell Window.
Console2: if youre a fan of Console2 you can use it for PowerShell.
Heres how you can do that.

Aliases
DOS and Linux commands work in PowerShell through Aliases.
PowerShell can accept aliases to its commands. For example these three
commands are the same:

Dir (DOS)
LS (Linux)
Get-ChildItems (PowerShell)

To find list of aliases use: Get-Alias

To create an alias use: Set-Alias <Alias> <PowerShell-Command>
Example: Set-Alias List Get-ChildItems
Aliases live as long as the PowerShell window is open.

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To export the aliases list to a file (CSV is the export format) use the
command:
Export-Alias <Path-To-CSV-File> <Command-Filter>
The command filter is optional.
To import the file back to PowerShell use: Import-Alias <Path-To-CSV-File>

Basic Commands
Get-Command
Gets all the PowerShell commands.
Example:

Get-Command
Get-Command verb get
Get-Command noun service

Get-Help
Gets basic information about Cmdlets and other elements of PowerShell
commands.
Format: Get-Help <Command> -<Optional-Parameter>
Example:

Get-Help
Get-Help
Get-Help
Get-Help

Get-Command
Get-Command examples
Get-Command detailed
Get-Command full

Get-ChildItems
Lists sub items under the current location.
Example: Get-ChildItems

Set-Location
Changes the current path whether its a directory or tree of objects.
Format: Set-Location <New-Location>
Example:

Set-Location C:\Windows
Set-Location C:\Program Files
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Clear-Host
Clears the screen.

Piping Commands
In PowerShell, Piping is the process of chaining commands so that the
output of the first command can be channeled as an input to the second
command whose output will be the input of the third command and so forth.
The name comes from the pipe symbol | (usually Shift + the key above the
left Enter) used to separate commands.
Example:

Get-ChildItems | where-object { $_.Length gt 100kb }

The pipe takes the output of the Get-ChildItems and passes it to the
Where-Object command which prints out the result of files that have length
greater than 100 KB.
When writing piped commands on multiple lines you have to end each line
with the pipe symbol (except the last line which ends with the last command).

Providers
PowerShell uses providers which provide access to data and components that
would not otherwise be easily accessible at the command line. The data
is presented in a consistent format that resembles a file system drive
(Source).
To list PowerShell providers use: Get-PSProvider
We connect to PowerShell Providers by mounting the Providers PowerShell
Drive (PSDrive). Most Providers have only one PSDrive, the exceptions are the
FileSystem Provider (depends on the number of drives on the system) and the
Registry Provider (HKLM and HKCU) (Source).
To list PowerShell drives use: Get-PSDrive
To move/switch to a certain drive use: Set-Location <PSDrive>:
Example: Set-Location Env:
To get a list of currently loaded Snap-ins use: Get-PSSnapIn
To get a list of Snap-ins that are registered but not currently loaded use: GetPSSnapIn -Registered
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To add a snap-in use: Add-PSSnapin <Snap-In-Name>
Adding a snap-in will add a new drive that you can navigate to. For example,
adding the SqlServerCmdletSnapin100 snap-in will add the SQL drive.
To remove a snap-in use: Remove-PSSnapIn <Snap-In-Name>

Variables
To create a variable just put a dollar sign ($) before the name of the variable
and assign a value to it.
Example: $hi = Hello World
This is a shortcut for using the New-Variable cmdlet. You can use the long
form.
Example: New-Variable Name hi Value Hello World
To assign a value to an existing variable, use the Set-Variable cmdlet.
Example: Set-Variable Name hi Value 5
To print out a variables value, just write the name of the variable after a
dollar sign.
Example: $hi
To clear the content of a variable (like setting it to Null), use the ClearVariable cmdlet.
Example: Clear-Variable Name hi
This is a shortcut for using the Write-Host cmdlet. You can use the long
form.
Example: Write-Host $hi
Its also a shortcut for using the Get-Variable cmdlet. You can use the long
form.
Example: Get-Variable hi valueonly
The cmdlet Get-Variable (without any parameters) will list all the variables
in PowerShell.
To remove a variable from memory, use the Remove-Variable cmdlet.
Example: Remove-Variable Name hi
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Variable Types
To Get type of a variable use: <Variable-Name>.GetType()
Example: $hi.GetType()
PowerShell types are mutable. Assigning an integer value to a variable
holding a string will change the type of the variable from string to integer.
You can declare a variable and assign a specific type to it. This will cause
PowerShell to throw an error if you assign a wrong type of value to it.
To declare the type of a variable, write the .NET full name of the type before
the variable name in square brackets.
Example: [System.Int32]$myint = 42

Comparisons
PowerShell doesnt use symbols for comparisons. Instead it uses short
acronyms following a dash.
Greater Than
Less Than
Equal To
Not Equal To
Greater Than or Equal
Less Than or Equal
Like
Not Like
Match based on regular expressions
Non-match
based
on
regular
expresions
Calculations are like any other language. You

-gt
-lt
-eq
-ne
-ge
-le
-like
-NotLike
-Match
-NonMatch
can use +, -, ++, -- and /

Implicit Type Conversion

PowerShell converts types implicitly which can be very helpful. However, it
can cause confusion when applied to comparisons.
When performing a comparison between two different types, PowerShell will
convert the variable on the right side to the type of the variable on the left
side to be able to perform the comparison. In this comparison:
42 eq 42
The 42 on the right is an integer but the one on the left is a string. To
compare the two, PowerShell will convert the integer to string, resulting in
42 which matches the value on the left. This comparison will result into
True.
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However, this comparison:
042 eq 42
The 42 on the right will be converted to the string 42 which is NOT equal to
the string 042. This will result into False. But if you switch the sides like
this:
42 eq 042
The string 042 will be converted to the integer 42 which will match the left
side. This will result into True.
Implicit type conversion makes comparison in PowerShell a bit tricky, so
watch out.

Strings
You can single quotes or double quotes around strings.
The escape character in PowerShell is the backtick (left to the 1 key and
below the Esc key).
Some escape sequences:
Backspace
`b
New Line
`n
Carriage Return
`r
Carriage Return Line Feed
`r`n
Tab
`t
A Here String is a way of writing text on multiple lines. Use (@) before the
lines of text and (@) after the text. Make sure that each symbol is on its own
line and is not mixed with the text.
Correct
$heretext = @
Some text here
More text here

Incorrect
$heretext = @
Some text here
More text here

Blank line above

@

Blank line above@

String Interpolation
PowerShell can replace variables with their values when printing out strings.
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To display the name of the variable instead of its value, add a backtick before
the name of the variable.
Example: The value of `$hi is $hi will result in The value of $hi is Hello
World

String Formatting
You can format strings just like you do in .NET using the String.Format
method.
Example: [string]::Format(There are {0} items., $items)
Or using the PowerShell shortcut
Example: There are {0} items. f $items

Wildcards
Here are some wildcards to be used with the like and match string
comparisons:
*
?
*[a-z]
*[c-g]
*[1-9]
*[4-8]
[4-8]
{2}
[c-g]{3}

Any number of any character

Only one of any character
Any number of characters from
Any number of characters from
Any number of characters from
Any number of characters from
Only 2 characters from 4 to 8

a to z
c to g
1 to 9
4 to 8

Only 3 characters from c to g

Arrays
To assign an array, simple list all the values separated by a comma.
Example: $array = value1, value2
Arrays are zero-based. To access the first value, use the index zero.
Example: $array[0]
To create an empty array, use the following syntax:
$array = @()
This syntax can also be used to create an array:
$array = @(value1, value2)
You can create an array of numeric range with this shortcut:
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$array = 2..8
To check if an item exists in an array, use the Contains <Value-To-CheckFor>
Example: $array contains value3

Hash Tables
Hash tables are the PowerShell equivalent of .NET dictionaries.
To create a hash table, use this syntax:
$hashtable = @{Key1 = Value1; Key2 = Value2; key3 = value3}
To get a single value, use a syntax similar to getting a value from an array:
$hashtable[Key1]
Or you can use this: $hashtable.Key1
The value Key1 can be replaced by a variable or expression which will be
evaluated and replaced with the correct value before getting the key value
from the hash table.
To remove a key from table, use $<TableName>.Remove(<KeyName>)
Example: $hashtable.Remove(Key1)
You can search in keys or values:
Example:

$hashtable.keys contains key1 OR $ hashtable.Contains(key1)

$hashtable.values
contains
value1
OR
$
hashtable.ContainsValue(value1)

You can list all the keys using $<TableName>.Keys

You can list all the values using $<TableName>.Values

Common Built-in Variables

$true
$false
$pwd
$home
$host
$pid
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True value
False value
Current directory
Users home directory
Info about the users machine
Process ID

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$PSVersionTa
ble
$_

Info about the current version of PowerShell

Current object

Branching
If Statement
If statements are very similar to those in .NET (C# to be specific) except it
doesnt support Else if. Heres an example:
If ($hi eq Hello)
{
It equals Hello
}
Else
{
If ($hi eq Hi)
{
It equals Hi
}
Else
{
Its something else
}
}

Switch Statement
Also simple:
Switch ($hi)
{
Hello { Its Hello; break }
Hi { Its hi; break }
Default { Something else }
}
Make sure to break to skip matching the next values in the list, otherwise it
will continue down the list which is a waste of time.

Looping
You can loop using multiple commands including the While command:
$i = 1
While ($i le 5)
{
`$i = $i
$i = $i + 1
}
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The Do While Command:
Do
{
`$i = $i
$i++
} While ($i le 5)
The Do Until Command:
Do
{
`$i = $i
$i++
} Until ($i le 5)
The Do While command works (goes through another loop) if the command
is true. The Do Until command works (goes through another loop) if the
command is false.
The For command works for a specific number of times:
For ($f =0; $f le 5; $f++)
{
`$i = $i
}
The For Each command loops over the items in an array:
Foreach ($item in $array)
{
`item = $item
}

Script Blocks
A script block is the code inside curly brackets.
To put multiple commands on a single line user the semi-colon to separate
them.
Writing a script block on its own will not execute it, but will just print it out.
{Clear-Host; Hello World}
To execute a script block, you need to add & before the script block.
& {Clear-Host; Hello World}
You can store a script block in a variable
$script = {Clear-Host; Hello World}
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Within a script block, you can use the Return command to stop the execution
and exit the script block. Nothing after the Return command will be
executed.
Script blocks can accept parameters using the $args array.
Script blocks can accept parameters using the param command to make a
list of input parameters.
$script = {
Param ($my1param, $my2param)
Here are the two input parameters: $my1param and $my2param
}
When calling (executing) the script block, you can pass the parameters by
order or by name:
& $script my1param Parameter1 my2param Parameter2
Or you can just pass enough characters of the name to make it unique
& $script my1 Parameter1 my2 Parameter2
A script block can use the Process, Being, and End commands.
The Process command forces the execution of a script block within the script
block.
The Begin command executes a script block before any other Process
commands.
The End command executes a script block after any other Process
commands.
Begin, Process, and End commands are usually used with PowerShell
Pipeline.

Functions
A function is a script block with a name.
Function Get-Total ($n1, $n2)
{
Write-Host ($n1 + $n2)
}
Variables are passed to functions by value (ByVal in .NET). You can pass
variables by reference using this syntax:
Function Get-Total([ref] $n1, [ref] $n2)

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When calling this function, you must also use [ref] in the call.
Get-Total([ref] $myN1, [ref] $myN2)
Functions can have switches to control additional functionality. To enable
switches, use the keyword [switch] before the function parameter just like
you would use the [ref].
To enable a switch when calling a function, add the name of the switch after a
dash like <FunctionName> -<SwitchName>

Comments
To add a comments block in PowerShell, start with <# and end with #>.

Adding Help to Functions

To add help to PowerShell functions, start a comments block and add special
words for the different help sections you want to support. Here are some of
them:
.SYNOPSIS
A brief description of the command
.DESCRIPTION
Detailed description
.PARAMETER
Description of each parameter
name
.EXAMPLE
Detailed example of how to use the command
.INPUTS
What pipeline inputs are supported
.OUTPUTS
What this function outputs
.NOTES
Any extra notes
.LINK
A URL for more info
You can use the command Get-Help About_Comment_Based_Help for help
on how to add help to functions.

Error Handling
To catch errors in a function, use the keyword Trap at the end of the function
and execute a script block that handles the error.
Example:
Function FuncWithError()
{
<# Do something here that might throw an error #>
Trap
{
Write-Host An error occurred
Write-Host $_.ErrorID
Write-Host $_.Exception.Message
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Continue
}
}
Continue will to move the line after the line that caused the error.
Break will exit the function in case an error occurred after executing the error
handling script block. Break will also throw the exception to the parent script
block.
You can build Trap script blocks in the same way you build Catch statements
in .NET where you can specify a certain exception you want to catch.
Trap [System.StackOverflowException]

Working with Files

To get the content of a file, use the Get-Content command.
The content of a file can be stored in a variable. This variable would be of
type Array where each line of the file is an element in the array.
To change the content of a file, use the Set-Content command.
Set-Content Value $ContentArray Path FileName.txt
To add content to an already existing file, use the Add-Content command.
Add-Content Value $ContentArray Path FileName.txt

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