mirror of
https://github.com/fleschutz/PowerShell.git
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139 lines
7.5 KiB
Markdown
139 lines
7.5 KiB
Markdown
PowerShell FAQ
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==============
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<details><summary>What is PowerShell?</summary>
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**PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language.**
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</details>
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<details><summary>Why use PowerShell?</summary>
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✔️ **It's powerful** - fully control your computer
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✔️ **It's easy to learn** - see the tutorial at: https://www.guru99.com/powershell-tutorial.html
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✔️ **It's cross-platform** - available for Linux, Mac OS and Windows
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✔️ **It's open-source and free** - see the Github repository at: https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell
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✔️ **It's fully documented** - see the PowerShell documentation at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to install PowerShell?</summary>
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▶️ **On Windows** it's preinstalled, **but** the script execution policy is *restricted* (forbidden) by default! To change this: open the *Windows PowerShell (Administrator)* console and enter:
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```
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PS> Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope CurrentUser
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```
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NOTE: the group policy object (GPO) settings of your organization might disallow changes. In that case contact your system administrator for help.
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▶️ **On CentOS, Debian, Docker, Fedora, macOS, openSUSE, Red Hat, Ubuntu** visit https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell for installation.
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▶️ **On Linux supporting Snaps** execute:
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```
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$ snap install PowerShell
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$ ln -s /snap/bin/pwsh /usr/bin/pwsh
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```
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to get the PowerShell scripts?</summary>
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* When using **Git**, execute in a terminal window: `> git clone https://github.com/fleschutz/PowerShell`
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* **Otherwise,** download and unzip it from: https://github.com/fleschutz/PowerShell/archive/master.zip
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to execute PowerShell scripts in Windows?</summary>
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1. In the Windows desktop: right-click the script and select: *Execute with PowerShell*
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2. In a command-line interface (CLI, e.g. *Windows Terminal*, either local or remote via SSH) by typing: `./<FILENAME_OF_SCRIPT>`.
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3. By connecting a context menu item with a script.
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4. By voice control, e.g. see repo [talk2windows](https://github.com/fleschutz/talk2windows) for more information.
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5. By using automation software, e.g. [Jenkins](https://www.jenkins.io).
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6. Automatically on login (see AutoStart folder)/logoff/daily/etc.
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to execute PowerShell scripts in Windows context menus?</summary>
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* to enable "right-click > New > Windows PowerShell Script" execute `Add_ps1_to_New_context_menu.reg` in subfolder [Data/](../Data)
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* to disable this execute `Remove_ps1_from_New_context_menu.reg` in subfolder [Data/](../Data)
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to execute PowerShell scripts in Jenkins?</summary>
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**Install the 'PowerShell plugin', it allows Jenkins to invoke PowerShell as build scripts. It uses PowerShell.exe on Windows and pwsh on Linux.**
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</details>
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<details><summary>What about security?</summary>
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* Execute scripts only that you trust (and/or where you have checked the code before)!
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* Prefer SSH Remoting instead of PowerShell Remoting
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* 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
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</details>
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<details><summary>Why do some scripts show gibberish characters?</summary>
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**Your current terminal application doesn't support Unicode characters used by those PowerShell scripts. Use a modern one such as *Windows Terminal*, please.**
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to configure PowerShell as my default shell on Linux?</summary>
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**Make sure PowerShell is installed, then execute: `chsh -s /usr/bin/pwsh USERNAME`. In case you experience an "invalid shell" error, add "/usr/bin/pwsh" to /etc/shells.**
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to install a custom PowerShell profile?</summary>
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**Execute: `./set-profile.ps1` in the *Scripts* subfolder, this will install **my-profile.ps1** as your PowerShell profile. It's a nice looking base profile, but can easily be changed to your needs.**
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to add the scripts to the search path?</summary>
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Want to use the PowerShell scripts everywhere on the command-line? Then you need to add the Scripts/ subfolder to the search path:
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* **On Linux using Bash:** edit .profile in your home directory and add the line: PATH="$PATH:/path/to/PowerShell/Scripts"
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* **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.
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</details>
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<details><summary>Which editor to use for PowerShell scripts?</summary>
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* **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).
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* **PowerShell ISE** (Integrated Scripting Environment) - the former official PowerShell development environment included with Microsoft Windows.
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* **PowerShell Studio** - a powerful PowerShell IDE with module, help, and user interface development tools, high DPI support and regular updates.
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* **PowerShell Plus** - an all in one IDE.
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* **Atom package** - an add-on with PowerShell language support for Atom.
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* **SublimeText package** - an add-on with PowerShell language support for Sublime Text.
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* or your **favorite text editor** as an alternative.
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to write good PowerShell scripts?</summary>
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**Good PowerShell scripts are both user-friendly and platform-independent. As a starting point I recommend the following:**
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* As filename use the `<verb>-<object>.ps1` scheme. 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)
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* Use `UTF-8 BOM` encoding to support Unicode characters in the script.
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* Add a comment-based help at the beginning with: `.SYNOPSIS`, `.DESCRIPTION`, `.PARAMETER`, `.EXAMPLE`, `.LINK`, and `.NOTES`.
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* Check the requirements for the script, e.g. `#Requires -RunAsAdministrator`, or `#Requires -Version 3`
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* Prefer command-line options, else ask the user for help
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* Recommended is `Set-StrictMode -Version Latest` to enable additional error checking.
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* For readibility use UpperCamelCase for variables and functions, lowerCamelCase for everything else.
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* Set *execute* file permissions for Linux: `chmod a+rx <filename>`
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* 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)
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</details>
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<details><summary>Where's the Star History of this repo?</summary>
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[](https://star-history.com/#fleschutz/PowerShell&Date)
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</details>
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<details><summary>How to contribute or how to report a bug?</summary>
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**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.**
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</details>
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<details><summary>What if my question is not answered here?</summary>
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**Just send your question to: markus.fleschutz [at] gmail.com**
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</details>
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