Ultimate ๐ต๐ป๐PowerShell Scripting Guide: 20 Must-Know Commands for Efficient Automation
Get started with PowerShell to simplify automation, system management, and productivity improvements.

๐น Azure Hybrid Cloud Engineer | DevOps Designing, automating, and scaling secure infrastructure across on-prem and Azure and AWS cloud infra.
โ๏ธ๐ง Skilled in IaC (Terraform), CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps), scripting (PowerShell, Bash), and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
๐ณโ๏ธ Passionate about bridging the gap between legacy systems and modern cloud-native solutions
๐ก๐ On a mission to automate everything and simplify the complex.
PowerShell scripting is a versatile and powerful tool for automating tasks and managing systems. It combines the speed of the command line, the flexibility of scripting, and the power of a full programming language. Hereโs a detailed insight into PowerShell scripting, including at least 20 essential commands, with a touch of emoji to make it more engaging:
Get-Help ๐: Provides detailed help about PowerShell cmdlets and concepts. Use
Get-Help <cmdlet-name>to learn more about a specific command.Get-Command ๐: Lists all available cmdlets, functions, workflows, and aliases installed on your system. Use
Get-Command <cmdlet-name>to find specific commands.Get-Process ๐ฅ๏ธ: Retrieves a list of all processes running on your system. Use
Get-Processto monitor system performance.Stop-Process โ: Stops one or more running processes. Use
Stop-Process -Name <process-name>to terminate a process.Get-Service ๐ง: Lists all services on your system. Use
Get-Serviceto check the status of services.Start-Service โถ๏ธ: Starts a stopped service. Use
Start-Service -Name <service-name>to start a service.Stop-Service โน๏ธ: Stops a running service. Use
Stop-Service -Name <service-name>to stop a service.Set-ExecutionPolicy ๐: Changes the user preference for the PowerShell script execution policy. Use
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSignedto allow local scripts to run.Get-Content ๐: Reads the content of a file. Use
Get-Content <file-path>to display file contents.Set-Content โ๏ธ: Writes or replaces the content in a file. Use
Set-Content <file-path> -Value <text>to write text to a file.Add-Content โ: Appends content to a file. Use
Add-Content <file-path> -Value <text>to add text to a file.Get-Item ๐: Retrieves an item from a specified location. Use
Get-Item <path>to get details about a file or directory.Copy-Item ๐: Copies an item from one location to another. Use
Copy-Item <source> -Destination <destination>to copy files or directories.Move-Item ๐: Moves an item from one location to another. Use
Move-Item <source> -Destination <destination>to move files or directories.Remove-Item ๐๏ธ: Deletes an item. Use
Remove-Item <path>to delete files or directories.Get-ChildItem ๐: Retrieves the items and child items in a specified location. Use
Get-ChildItem <path>to list files and directories.New-Item ๐: Creates a new item. Use
New-Item -Path <path> -ItemType <type>to create files or directories.Invoke-Command ๐๏ธ: Runs commands on local or remote computers. Use
Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { <commands> }to execute commands.Get-EventLog ๐: Retrieves the events from event logs on local or remote computers. Use
Get-EventLog -LogName <log-name>to view event logs.Export-Csv ๐: Converts objects into a series of CSV strings and saves them in a file. Use
Export-Csv -Path <file-path> -NoTypeInformationto export data to a CSV file.
PowerShell scripting is highly versatile and can be used for a wide range of tasks, from simple file manipulations to complex system administration tasks. By mastering these commands, you can automate repetitive tasks, manage system configurations, and improve your productivity.
Happy scripting! ๐