PowerShell Cheat Sheet
PowerShell is a command-line shell and scripting language built on .NET that is designed to automate system tasks and manage configurations. This cheat sheet provides a comprehensive list of common PowerShell commands and examples to help you streamline your workflows and automate tasks.
Basic PowerShell Commands
1. Get Help
To get help on any command or topic:
Get-Help
To get detailed help with examples:
Get-Help-Detailed
2. Listing Commands
To list all available PowerShell commands:
Get-Command
To find a command by name or partial name:
Get-Command *Service*
3. Get System Information
To retrieve basic system information:
Get-ComputerInfo
To get specific information about the operating system:
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_OperatingSystem
Working with Files and Directories
4. Get Current Directory
To show the current directory:
Get-Location
5. Change Directory
To change to a different directory:
Set-Location "C:\path\to\directory"
6. List Files and Folders
To list all files and folders in the current directory:
Get-ChildItem
To list files recursively (all files and folders in subdirectories):
Get-ChildItem -Recurse
7. Create a New File
To create an empty file:
New-Item -Path "C:\path\to\file.txt" -ItemType File
8. Create a New Directory
To create a new directory:
New-Item -Path "C:\path\to\newfolder" -ItemType Directory
Managing Processes and Services
9. List Running Processes
To get a list of currently running processes:
Get-Process
10. Stop a Process
To stop a specific process by name:
Stop-Process -Name "notepad"
To stop a process by its process ID:
Stop-Process -Id 1234
11. Start a Process
To start a process by name:
Start-Process "notepad.exe"
12. Get Service Status
To list the status of all services:
Get-Service
To get the status of a specific service:
Get-Service -Name "Spooler"
13. Start and Stop Services
To start a service:
Start-Service -Name "Spooler"
To stop a service:
Stop-Service -Name "Spooler"
Managing Users and Groups
14. Get User Information
To get information about the current user:
Get-Whoami
15. Create a New User
To create a new user account:
New-LocalUser -Name "username" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString "password" -AsPlainText -Force)
16. Add User to Group
To add a user to a local group:
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" -Member "username"
Working with PowerShell Scripts
17. Running a Script
To run a PowerShell script:
.\script.ps1
If execution policy blocks script execution, you may need to change it:
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
18. Execution Policy Levels
The four main execution policy levels are:
- Restricted: No scripts can run.
- AllSigned: Only scripts signed by a trusted publisher can be run.
- RemoteSigned: Scripts downloaded from the internet must be signed by a trusted publisher.
- Unrestricted: All scripts can run, but a warning appears for scripts downloaded from the internet.
Networking Commands
19. Get IP Configuration
To view the system's network configuration:
Get-NetIPAddress
20. Test Network Connection
To test network connectivity (similar to ping):
Test-Connection -ComputerName www.google.com
File Content and Data Management
21. Reading File Contents
To display the contents of a file:
Get-Content "C:\path\to\file.txt"
22. Write to a File
To write or append text to a file:
Add-Content "C:\path\to\file.txt" "This is a new line"
23. Search Inside a File
To search for text within a file:
Select-String -Path "C:\path\to\file.txt" -Pattern "searchText"
Active Directory Management
24. Get Active Directory User Information
To get information about a specific Active Directory user:
Get-ADUser -Identity "username"
25. Create a New AD User
To create a new Active Directory user:
New-ADUser -Name "John Doe" -SamAccountName "jdoe" -UserPrincipalName "jdoe@domain.com"
26. Add a User to an AD Group
To add a user to an Active Directory group:
Add-ADGroupMember -Identity "GroupName" -Members "username"
Security and Permissions
27. Set Permissions for a File or Folder
To set file or folder permissions:
icacls "C:\path\to\folder" /grant "UserName:(OI)(CI)F"
28. Check User Permissions
To check the permissions for a specific user on a file or folder:
icacls "C:\path\to\folder" /findsid "username"