 PowerShell FAQ =================================================== <details><summary>What is PowerShell?</summary> **PowerShell is a cross-platform task automation solution made up of a command-line shell, a scripting language, and a configuration management framework. PowerShell runs on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows.** </details> <details><summary>Why use PowerShell?</summary> * **It's powerful** - fully control your computer. * **It's easy to learn** - see the tutorial at: https://www.guru99.com/powershell-tutorial.html. * **It's cross-platform** - available for Linux, Mac OS and Windows. * **It's open-source and free** - see the Github repository at: https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell. * **It's fully documented** - see the official documentation at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell. </details> <details><summary>How to learn PowerShell?</summary> * **Please find tutorials at:** https://www.guru99.com/powershell-tutorial.html * **See a cheat sheet at:** [PowerShell/Docs/cheat-sheet.md](cheat-sheet.md) * **Visit the official PowerShell documentation at:** https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/ </details> <details><summary>How to install PowerShell on Linux?</summary> 1. **Your Linux supports Snap packages? Then execute:** ``` $ sudo snap install PowerShell $ sudo ln -s /snap/bin/pwsh /usr/bin/pwsh ``` 2. **Otherwise, visit:** https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell **and scroll down to: *Get PowerShell*.** 3. **Want to set PowerShell as your default shell?** * Make sure the file **/etc/shells** (contains valid login shells) has a **/usr/bin/pwsh** line, otherwise add it. * Now execute: `chsh -s /usr/bin/pwsh <USERNAME>` (replace <USERNAME> by your user name). 4. **SSH login is too verbose?** * Just execute: `echo > ~/.hushlogin` </details> <details><summary>How to install PowerShell on MacOS?</summary> **Please visit:** https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell **and scroll down to: 'Get PowerShell'.** </details> <details><summary>How to install PowerShell on Windows?</summary> **It's already preinstalled, but** the script execution policy is *restricted* (forbidden) by default! **Open the *Windows PowerShell (Admin)* console and enter:** ``` > Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser ``` **NOTE:** the group policy object (GPO) settings of your organization might disallow changes. In that case contact your system administrator for help. </details> <details><summary>How to get the 500+ PowerShell sample scripts?</summary> 1. **When using Git, execute in a terminal window:** `git clone https://github.com/fleschutz/PowerShell` 2. **Otherwise, download and unzip it from:** https://github.com/fleschutz/PowerShell/archive/master.zip </details> <details><summary>How to execute PowerShell scripts on Windows?</summary> 1. **In the Windows desktop:** right-click the script and select: *Execute with PowerShell* 2. **On the command-line:** launch a terminal application (e.g. *Windows Terminal*), then type: `cd <PATH>`, then: `./<SCRIPT>.ps1`. 3. **By remote login:** use *SSH* to login to the Windows machine, then type: `cd <PATH>`, then: `./<SCRIPT>.ps1`. 4. **By context menu:** see below. 5. **By voice control:** see repo [talk2windows](https://github.com/fleschutz/talk2windows) for more information. 6. **By automation software:** see [Jenkins.io](https://www.jenkins.io) or [AutoHotKey.com](https://www.autohotkey.com/) for more information. 7. **Automatically on login:** see below. </details> <details><summary>How to execute PowerShell scripts in Windows context menus?</summary> * To enable "right-click > New > Windows PowerShell Script" execute `Add_ps1_to_New_context_menu.reg` in subfolder [Data/](../Data) * To disable this execute `Remove_ps1_from_New_context_menu.reg` in subfolder [Data/](../Data) </details> <details><summary>How to execute PowerShell scripts automatically on login in Windows?</summary> 1. **Open the *File Explorer* with your Autostart folder** (usually at: `C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup`). 2. **Copy the script (or a link to it) into this folder.** </details> <details><summary>How to execute PowerShell scripts in Jenkins?</summary> 1. **Install the Jenkins plugin** *"PowerShell plugin"* from https://plugins.jenkins.io/ (the plugin uses PowerShell.exe on Windows and pwsh on Linux). 2. **Add or reference your PowerShell scripts in the Jenkins jobs or in your Jenkinsfiles.** </details> <details><summary>What about PowerShell security?</summary> 1. **Do NOT execute scripts from untrusted sources!** 2. **Check the script content for strange things (that's impossible for executables).** 3. **Prefer SSH Remoting instead of PowerShell Remoting** 4. **More recommendations by NSA and cyber security centers in the U.S. (CISA), New Zealand (NZ NCSC), and the U.K. (NCSC-UK) can be found here:** https://media.defense.gov/2022/Jun/22/2003021689/-1/-1/1/CSI_KEEPING_POWERSHELL_SECURITY_MEASURES_TO_USE_AND_EMBRACE_20220622.PDF </details> <details><summary>How to get the ultimate PowerShell experience?</summary> 1. **Install *PowerShell* (free) on all your Linux/Mac OS/Windows machines and configure it as your default shell.** 2. **Install an *SSH client & server* (free) on all your Linux/Mac OS/Windows machines for remote control via SSH.** 3. **Install *Windows Terminal* (free) on Windows with 50% transparency, font 'Fira Code' and no PowerShell banner message.** 4. **Install *Visual Studio Code* (free) with plugin 'PowerShell' to edit PowerShell scripts.** 5. **Install this *Mega Collection of PowerShell scripts* and set the PATH environment variable to it.** 6. **Use an own PowerShell profile, e.g. execute: './update-powershell-profile.ps1'** </details> <details><summary>Why do some scripts show gibberish characters?</summary> **Your current terminal application doesn't support Unicode characters used by those PowerShell scripts.** **Use a modern one such as *Windows Terminal*, please.** </details> <details><summary>How to set a custom PowerShell profile?</summary> **Execute: `./update-powershell-profile.ps1` in the *Scripts* subfolder, this will install **my-profile.ps1** as your PowerShell profile. It's a nice looking basic profile and can easily be adapted to your needs.** </details> <details><summary>How to add the scripts to the search path?</summary> Want to use the PowerShell scripts everywhere on the command-line? Then you need to add the Scripts/ subfolder to the search path: * **On Linux using Bash:** edit .profile in your home directory and add the line: PATH="$PATH:/path/to/PowerShell/scripts (replace '/path/to/)." * **On Windows:** open Settings > System > About > Advanced system settings > Environment Variables, edit the user's variable "Path", and add the full path to the Scripts/ directory. </details> <details><summary>Which editor to use for PowerShell scripts?</summary> * **Visual Studio Code** - it supports syntax highlighting, on-the-fly problem checking and an integrated PowerShell Console (available for free on Linux, Mac OS and Windows, now recommended by Microsoft). * **PowerShell ISE** (Integrated Scripting Environment) - the former official PowerShell development environment included with Microsoft Windows. * **PowerShell Studio** - a powerful PowerShell IDE with module, help, and user interface development tools, high DPI support and regular updates. * **PowerShell Plus** - an all in one IDE. * **Atom package** - an add-on with PowerShell language support for Atom. * **SublimeText package** - an add-on with PowerShell language support for Sublime Text. * or simply your **favorite text editor** as an alternative. </details> <details><summary>How to remove the banner message in PowerShell?</summary> * **In general:** start powershell.exe with option '-nologo'. * **For Windows Terminal:** open Settings > Profiles > Windows PowerShell > Command line and add " -nologo". </details> <details><summary>How to write good PowerShell scripts?</summary> **Good PowerShell scripts are both user-friendly and platform-independent. As a starting point I recommend the following:** * Use the `<verb>-<noun>.ps1` scheme for filenames (e.g. *new-symlink.ps1*). Official approved verbs can be found here: [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/developer/cmdlet/approved-verbs-for-windows-powershell-commands](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/developer/cmdlet/approved-verbs-for-windows-powershell-commands) * Use **UTF-8 BOM** encoding to support Unicode characters in the script. * Add a **comment-based help** at the beginning with: `.SYNOPSIS`, `.DESCRIPTION`, `.PARAMETER`, `.EXAMPLE`, `.LINK`, and `.NOTES`. * Check the **requirements** for the script, e.g. `#Requires -RunAsAdministrator`, or `#Requires -Version 3` * Prefer **command-line options**, else ask the user for help * Recommended is **Set-StrictMode -Version Latest** to enable additional error checking. * For readibility use **lowerCamelCase** to name variables, functions, etc. * Set execute file permissions for Linux: **chmod a+rx <filename>** * On success exit with error code 0 (**exit 0**), otherwise print the error with keyword **ERROR:** (to support log parsers) and exit the error code (mostly 1) </details> <details><summary>Where's the Star History of this repository?</summary> [](https://star-history.com/#fleschutz/PowerShell&Date) </details> <details><summary>How to contribute or how to report a bug?</summary> **If you find something bad (like a bug, error, or any issue), please report it here by opening an Issue.** **Or even better: Fork the repository, add or fix the script and submit a pull request, so others can participate too.** </details> <details><summary>How to donate to this project?</summary> **Thanks a lot! Just follow this link:** [https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/Fleschutz](https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/Fleschutz) </details> <details><summary>What if my question is not answered here?</summary> **Just send your question by e-mail to:** `markus.fleschutz [at] gmail.com` </details>