From Zero to Hero: Mastering PowerShell for Windows Administrators

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Powershell for Administrator needed Permission

15 of the most commonly used PowerShell functions

1. Get-Help: Provides detailed information about PowerShell cmdlets, including syntax and examples. It’s essential for learning how to use other cmdlets.

2. Get-Command: Lists all available cmdlets, functions, workflows, aliases installed on your system. It’s useful for discovering new commands.

3. Get-ChildItem: Retrieves the items and child items in one or more specified locations. It’s commonly used for directory and file listings.

4. Set-Location: Changes the current directory to a specified path. It’s similar to the cd command in other shells.

5. Get-Process: Displays a list of processes running on your local or a remote computer. It’s useful for monitoring system activity.

6. Stop-Process: Stops one or more running processes. It’s handy for terminating unresponsive applications.

7. Get-Service: Retrieves the status of services on a local or remote machine. It’s useful for managing Windows services.

8. Start-Service: Starts a stopped service. It’s often used in scripts to ensure necessary services are running.

9. Stop-Service: Stops a running service. It’s useful for stopping services that are no longer needed.

10. Get-EventLog: Retrieves the events from event logs on the local or remote computers. It’s essential for system diagnostics and troubleshooting.

11. Export-Csv: Converts objects into a series of comma-separated values (CSV) and saves them in a file. It’s useful for exporting data for analysis.

12. Import-Csv: Reads a CSV file and converts it into objects. It’s commonly used for importing data into PowerShell.

13. New-Item: Creates a new item, such as a file or directory. It’s useful for setting up new files and folders.

14. Copy-Item: Copies an item from one location to another. It’s used for file and directory duplication.

15. Remove-Item: Deletes an item, such as a file or directory. It’s essential for cleaning up files and directories.

Syntax

1. Get-Help

   Get-Help Get-Process
   

2. Get-Command

   Get-Command -Name Get-*
   

3. Get-ChildItem

   Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users
   

4. Set-Location

   Set-Location -Path C:\Users
   

5. Get-Process

   Get-Process -Name notepad
   

6. Stop-Process

   Stop-Process -Name notepad
   

7. Get-Service

   Get-Service -Name wuauserv
   

8. Start-Service

   Start-Service -Name wuauserv
   

9. Stop-Service

   Stop-Service -Name wuauserv
   

10. Get-EventLog

    Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 10
    

11. Export-Csv

    Get-Process | Export-Csv -Path C:\Temp\processes.csv
    

12. Import-Csv

    Import-Csv -Path C:\Temp\processes.csv
    

13. New-Item

    New-Item -Path C:\Temp\NewFolder -ItemType Directory
    

14. Copy-Item

    Copy-Item -Path C:\Temp\file.txt -Destination C:\Backup
    

15. Remove-Item

    Remove-Item -Path C:\Temp\file.txt

More Syntax You Can Use

Installing a Package (e.g., from NuGet)

PowerShell

Install-Package <Package Name> -Scope CurrentUser

Use code with caution.

Creating a Hidden Folder

PowerShell

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:\HiddenFolder" -Force -Attributes Hidden

Use code with caution.

Creating a Directory

PowerShell

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:\NewDirectory"

Use code with caution.

Requesting Administrator Permission

PowerShell

Start-Process PowerShell -Verb RunAs

Use code with caution.

Viewing Users

PowerShell

Get-ADUser -Filter *

Use code with caution.

Preventing Access to a Folder

Using File System Permissions:

PowerShell

icacls "C:\RestrictedFolder" /deny Everyone:(F)

Use code with caution.

Using Windows Security:

PowerShell

# This requires administrative privileges
icacls "C:\RestrictedFolder" /inheritance:disable
icacls "C:\RestrictedFolder" /deny Everyone:(F)