PowerShell Cheatsheet

PowerShell commands cheatsheet for server and network administration

94 commands

Get-ChildItem

List files and folders

Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Recurse -Filter *.log

Copy-Item

Copy files or folders

Copy-Item -Path .\src -Destination .\backup -Recurse

Move-Item

Move or rename files/folders

Move-Item -Path .\old.txt -Destination .\new.txt

Remove-Item

Remove files or folders

Remove-Item -Path .\temp -Recurse -Force

New-Item

Create a new file or folder

New-Item -Path .\logs -ItemType Directory

Get-Content

Read file contents

Get-Content -Path .\app.log -Tail 50

Set-Content

Write content to a file (overwrite)

Set-Content -Path .\config.txt -Value 'setting=true'

Add-Content

Append content to a file

Add-Content -Path .\log.txt -Value 'New entry'

Test-Path

Check if a path exists

Test-Path -Path C:\Windows\System32

Get-ItemProperty

Get properties of a file or registry key

Get-ItemProperty -Path .\file.txt | Select-Object LastWriteTime

Compress-Archive

Compress files into a ZIP archive

Compress-Archive -Path .\logs -DestinationPath .\logs.zip

Expand-Archive

Extract a ZIP archive

Expand-Archive -Path .\logs.zip -DestinationPath .\logs

Test-NetConnection

Test network connectivity and ports

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName google.com -Port 443

Get-NetIPAddress

Display IP address configuration

Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4

Get-NetAdapter

List network adapters

Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object Status -eq 'Up'

Resolve-DnsName

Perform DNS name resolution

Resolve-DnsName -Name example.com -Type MX

Get-NetTCPConnection

List TCP connections

Get-NetTCPConnection -State Established

Get-NetRoute

Display routing table

Get-NetRoute -AddressFamily IPv4

New-NetIPAddress

Set a new IP address

New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceIndex 12 -IPAddress 192.168.1.100 -PrefixLength 24

Set-DnsClientServerAddress

Set DNS server address

Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceIndex 12 -ServerAddresses 8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4

Test-Connection

Send ICMP ping requests

Test-Connection -ComputerName server01 -Count 4

Invoke-WebRequest

Send an HTTP request

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://api.example.com -Method GET

Invoke-RestMethod

Send a request to a REST API

Invoke-RestMethod -Uri https://api.example.com/data -Method POST -Body $json

Get-Process

List running processes

Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 10

Stop-Process

Stop a process

Stop-Process -Name notepad -Force

Start-Process

Start a new process

Start-Process -FilePath notepad.exe -ArgumentList .\file.txt

Get-Service

List services and their status

Get-Service | Where-Object Status -eq 'Running'

Start-Service

Start a service

Start-Service -Name W3SVC

Stop-Service

Stop a service

Stop-Service -Name W3SVC -Force

Restart-Service

Restart a service

Restart-Service -Name Spooler

Set-Service

Change service properties

Set-Service -Name W3SVC -StartupType Automatic

Get-Job

List background jobs

Get-Job | Where-Object State -eq 'Running'

Start-Job

Start a background job

Start-Job -ScriptBlock { Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 100 }

Get-ComputerInfo

Get detailed computer information

Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object OsName, OsVersion, CsTotalPhysicalMemory

Get-EventLog

Get event log entries

Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 20 -EntryType Error

Get-WinEvent

Get Windows event log entries

Get-WinEvent -LogName Application -MaxEvents 50

Get-HotFix

List installed hotfixes/updates

Get-HotFix | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending

Get-WmiObject

Get WMI object information

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_OperatingSystem | Select-Object Caption, Version

Get-CimInstance

Get CIM instance (WMI successor)

Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Processor | Select-Object Name, NumberOfCores

Get-Counter

Get performance counter data

Get-Counter '\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time' -SampleInterval 2 -MaxSamples 5

Get-Date

Get and format current date/time

Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss'

Get-Uptime

Display system uptime

Get-Uptime

Get-WindowsFeature

List Windows features and roles

Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object Installed

Install-WindowsFeature

Install a Windows feature

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server -IncludeManagementTools

Get-LocalUser

List local users

Get-LocalUser | Where-Object Enabled

New-LocalUser

Create a local user

New-LocalUser -Name 'newuser' -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString 'P@ss' -AsPlainText -Force)

Remove-LocalUser

Remove a local user

Remove-LocalUser -Name 'olduser'

Set-LocalUser

Modify local user properties

Set-LocalUser -Name 'user1' -PasswordNeverExpires $true

Get-LocalGroup

List local groups

Get-LocalGroup

Add-LocalGroupMember

Add a member to a local group

Add-LocalGroupMember -Group 'Administrators' -Member 'user1'

Remove-LocalGroupMember

Remove a member from a local group

Remove-LocalGroupMember -Group 'Administrators' -Member 'user1'

Get-LocalGroupMember

List members of a local group

Get-LocalGroupMember -Group 'Administrators'

Get-Volume

Display volume information

Get-Volume | Where-Object DriveLetter

Get-Disk

List disks

Get-Disk | Select-Object Number, FriendlyName, Size, PartitionStyle

Get-Partition

Display partition information

Get-Partition -DiskNumber 0

Get-PSDrive

List PowerShell drives

Get-PSDrive -PSProvider FileSystem

New-Partition

Create a new partition

New-Partition -DiskNumber 1 -UseMaximumSize -AssignDriveLetter

Format-Volume

Format a volume

Format-Volume -DriveLetter D -FileSystem NTFS -Confirm:$false

Initialize-Disk

Initialize a disk

Initialize-Disk -Number 1 -PartitionStyle GPT

Get-PhysicalDisk

Get physical disk information

Get-PhysicalDisk | Select-Object FriendlyName, MediaType, Size, HealthStatus

Get-NetFirewallRule

List firewall rules

Get-NetFirewallRule -Enabled True -Direction Inbound

New-NetFirewallRule

Create a new firewall rule

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Allow HTTP' -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 80 -Action Allow

Remove-NetFirewallRule

Remove a firewall rule

Remove-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Allow HTTP'

Set-NetFirewallRule

Modify a firewall rule

Set-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Allow HTTP' -Enabled False

Enable-NetFirewallRule

Enable a firewall rule

Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Allow HTTP'

Disable-NetFirewallRule

Disable a firewall rule

Disable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Allow HTTP'

Get-NetFirewallProfile

Display firewall profile settings

Get-NetFirewallProfile | Select-Object Name, Enabled

Set-NetFirewallProfile

Configure firewall profile

Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain -Enabled True

Enter-PSSession

Start an interactive remote session

Enter-PSSession -ComputerName server01 -Credential (Get-Credential)

Exit-PSSession

End a remote session

Exit-PSSession

Invoke-Command

Run commands on remote computers

Invoke-Command -ComputerName server01,server02 -ScriptBlock { Get-Service W3SVC }

New-PSSession

Create a persistent remote session

New-PSSession -ComputerName server01 -Credential $cred

Get-PSSession

List remote sessions

Get-PSSession

Remove-PSSession

Remove a remote session

Get-PSSession | Remove-PSSession

Enable-PSRemoting

Enable PowerShell remoting

Enable-PSRemoting -Force

Copy-Item -ToSession

Copy files to a remote session

Copy-Item -Path .\script.ps1 -Destination C:\Scripts -ToSession $session

Get-IISSite

List IIS websites

Get-IISSite

Start-IISSite

Start an IIS website

Start-IISSite -Name 'Default Web Site'

Stop-IISSite

Stop an IIS website

Stop-IISSite -Name 'Default Web Site'

New-IISSite

Create a new IIS website

New-IISSite -Name 'MySite' -PhysicalPath C:\inetpub\mysite -BindingInformation '*:8080:'

Get-IISAppPool

List IIS application pools

Get-IISAppPool | Select-Object Name, State

Import-Module WebAdministration

Import the IIS management module

Import-Module WebAdministration

Get-WebBinding

Display website binding information

Get-WebBinding -Name 'Default Web Site'

New-WebBinding

Add a binding to a website

New-WebBinding -Name 'MySite' -Protocol https -Port 443 -HostHeader mysite.example.com

Get-ADUser

Search Active Directory users

Get-ADUser -Filter * -SearchBase 'OU=Users,DC=example,DC=com' -Properties EmailAddress

New-ADUser

Create an AD user

New-ADUser -Name 'John Smith' -SamAccountName jsmith -Enabled $true -AccountPassword (ConvertTo-SecureString 'P@ss' -AsPlainText -Force)

Set-ADUser

Modify AD user properties

Set-ADUser -Identity jsmith -Department 'IT' -Title 'Engineer'

Remove-ADUser

Remove an AD user

Remove-ADUser -Identity jsmith -Confirm:$false

Get-ADComputer

Search AD computer objects

Get-ADComputer -Filter * -Properties OperatingSystem | Select-Object Name, OperatingSystem

Get-ADGroup

Search AD groups

Get-ADGroup -Filter 'Name -like "IT*"'

Add-ADGroupMember

Add a member to an AD group

Add-ADGroupMember -Identity 'IT-Team' -Members jsmith

Get-ADGroupMember

List members of an AD group

Get-ADGroupMember -Identity 'Domain Admins' -Recursive

Get-ADOrganizationalUnit

List AD organizational units

Get-ADOrganizationalUnit -Filter * | Select-Object Name, DistinguishedName

Unlock-ADAccount

Unlock a locked AD account

Unlock-ADAccount -Identity jsmith