PowerShell eBook
PowerShell eBook
by Tobias Weltner
Index
by Tobias Weltner
03 The Power
Console
19 Interactive
PowerShell
48 Variables
74 Arrays and
Hashtables
94 The PowerShell
Pipeline
112 Working
with Objects
Chapter 1. The PowerShell Console
Welcome to PowerShell! This chapter will introduce you to the PowerShell console and show you how to configure it, including font colors and sizes, editing and display options.
Topics Covered:
? Starting PowerShell ? First Steps with the Console
? Incomplete and Multi-Line Entries ? Important Keyboard Shortcuts ? Deleting Incorrect Entries ? Overtype Mode ? Command History: Reusing Entered Commands ? Automatically Completing Input ? Scrolling Console Contents ? Selecting and Inserting Text ? QuickEdit Mode ? Standard Mode ? Customizing the Console ? Opening Console Properties ? Defining Options ? Specifying Fonts and Font Sizes ? Setting Window and Buffer Size ? Selecting Colors ? Directly Assigning Modifications in PowerShell ? Saving Changes ? Piping and Routing ? Piping: Outputting Information Page by Page ? Redirecting: Storing Information in Files ? Summary
Starting PowerShell
On Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, Windows PowerShell is installed by default. To use PowerShell on older systems, you need to download and install it. The update is free. The simplest way to find the appropriate download is to visit an Internet search engine and search for "KB968930 Windows XP" (replace the operating system with the one you use). Make sure you pick the correct update. It needs to match your operating system language and architecture (32-bit vs. 64-bit). After you installed PowerShell, you'll find PowerShell in the Accessories program group. Open this program group, click on Windows PowerShell and then launch the PowerShell executable. On 64-bit systems, you will also find a version marked as (x86) so you can run PowerShell both in the default 64-bit environment and in an extra 32-bit environment for backwards compatibility. You can also start PowerShell directly. Just press (Windows)+(R) to open the Run window and then enter powershell (Enter). If you use PowerShell often, you should open the program folder for Windows PowerShell and right-click on Windows PowerShell. That will give you several options: ? Add to the start menu: On the context menu, click on Pin to Start Menu so that PowerShell will be displayed directly on your start menu from now on and you won't need to open its program folder first. ? Quick Launch toolbar: Click Add to Quick Launch toolbar if you use Windows Vista and would like to see PowerShell right on the Quick Launch toolbar inside your taskbar. Windows XP lacks this command so XP users will have to add PowerShell to the Quick Launch toolbar manually. ? Jump List: On Windows 7, after launching PowerShell, you can right-click the PowerShell icon in your taskbar and choose Pin to Taskbar. This will not only keep the PowerShell icon in your taskbar so you can later easily launch PowerShell. It also gives access to its new "Jump List": right-click the icon (or pull it upwards with your mouse). The jump list contains a number of useful PowerShell functions: you can launch PowerShell with full administrator privileges, run the PowerShell ISE, or open the PowerShell help file. By the way: drag the pinned icon all to the left in your taskbar. Now, pressing WIN+1 will always launch PowerShell. And here are two more tips: hold SHIFT while clicking the PowerShell icon in your taskbar will open a new instance, so you can open more than one PowerShell console. Holding SHIFT+CTRL while clicking the PowerShell icon opens the PowerShell console with full Administrator privileges (provided User Account Control is enabled on your system). ? Keyboard shortcuts: Administrators particularly prefer using a keyboard instead of a mouse. If you select Properties on the context menu, you can specify a key combination in the hot-key field. Just click on this field and press the key combination intended to start PowerShell, such as (Alt)+(P). In the properties window, you also ha ve the option of setting the default window size to start PowerShell in a normal, minimized, or maximized window.
Figure 1.1: How to always open PowerShell with administrator rights (Run without administrative privileges whenever possible) 04
First Steps with the Console
After PowerShell starts, its console window opens, and you see a blinking text prompt, asking for your input with no icons or menus. PowerShell is a command console and almost entirely operated via keyboard input. The prompt begins with "PS" and after it is the path name of the directory where you are located. Start by trying out a few commands. For example, type:
hello (Enter) As soon as you press (Enter), your entry will be sent to PowerShell. Because PowerShell has never heard of the command "hello" you will be confronted with an error message highlighted in red.
Figure 1.2: First commands in the PowerShell console For example, if you'd like to see which files and folders are in your current directory, then type dir (Enter). You'll get a text listing of all the files in the directory. PowerShell's communication with you is always text-based. PowerShell can do much more than display simple directory lists. You can just as easily list all running processes or all installed hotfixes: Just pick a different command as the next one provides a list of all running processes:
Get-Process (Enter) Get-Hotfix (Enter) PowerShell's advantage is its tremendous flexibility since it allows you to control and display nearly all the information and operations on your computer. The command cls deletes the contents of the console window and the exit command ends PowerShell.
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