Get-Help

get-help get-childitem

Everyday PowerShell stuff

Human-readable file size

Start-Process powershell -Verb runAs # su

PS C:\Users\Public\Documents> (Get-Item .\list.csv).Length
654466
PS C:\Users\Public\Documents> (Get-Item .\list.csv).Length / 1MB
0.624147415161133
PS C:\Users\Public\Documents> Get-Item .\list.csv | Select-Object Length

Length
------
654466

Disable ALT-Tab in browser multitasking option

$RegPath = "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced"
$Name = "MultiTaskingAltTabFilter"
$Value = 3
Set-ItemProperty -Path $RegPath -Name $Name -Value $Value

Hyper-V and PowerShell

Broken Hyper-V checkpoints

cd C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Virtual Hard Disks\
Test-VHD ".\New Virtual Machine.vhdx"
Test-VHD ".\New Virtual Machine_1337718A-1337-1337-1337-45D50BBE1337.avhdx"
Test-VHD: Failed to validate the disk information.
[...]
Set-VHD -Path '.\New Virtual Machine_1337718A-1337-1337-1337-45D50BBE1337.avhdx' -ParentPath '.\New Virtual Machine.vhdx'
Set-VHD: Failed to set new parent for the virtual disk.
There exists ID mismatch between the differencing virtual hard disk and the parent disk.
Set-VHD -Path <child.vhdx> -ParentPath  <parent.vhdx> -IgnoreIdMismatch

Hyper-V copy&paste

Copy&Paste (requires RDP group membership on guest system): Integration Services - Guest Services

Get-LocalUser
Get-LocalGroup | Format-List
Get-LocalGroup | Out-GridView # opens window for output
Get-LocalGroup | Select-String -Pattern "Remote"
Get-LocalGroupMember -Group 'Remote Desktop Users'
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Remote Desktop Users" -Member "hypervguestuser"

$rdsMembers = @(
'host\user',
'host\anotheruser'
)

Add-LocalGroupMember -Group 'Remote Desktop Users' -Member $rdsMembers

User and group management

Get-LocalGroupMember -Group "Hyper-V Administrators"
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Hyper-V Administrators" -Member "NT AUTHORITY\Local account"
Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Hyper-V Administrators" -Member "italy"
Get-LocalUser | Select-Object * | Out-GridView

ssh

Elevated shell to start ssh-agent: Get-Service ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic -PassThru | Start-Service $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\config must be UTF-8. Check using notepad++ (bottom right corner) and change via Encoding manu.

Git

Git config adjustments (yes, these are forward slashes):

winget install Git.Git
git config --global core.sshCommand C:/Windows/System32/OpenSSH/ssh.exe
git config --global user.email "[email protected]"
git config --global user.name "you"

Vim

Perhaps you wish to avoid weird Windows-isms: start notepad++ .\README.md Create C:\Users\YOUR_USER_NAME\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 and edit:

# NOTE: different locations for .ps1 profile files
$VIMPATH = $SCRIPTPATH + "C:\Program Files\Vim\vim91\vim.exe"
Set-Alias vim $VIMPATH
cd C:\Users\your_user\git_repos
ssh-add C:\Users\your_user\.ssh\id_ed25519

Don't forget to adjust execution policy and verify: Set-ExecutionPolicy -Executionpolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Currentuser, Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

Make your browser tell you how to use Invoke-WebRequest

In your browser: F12 - Network tab - open a website - right-click a line with a HTTP status code (usually 200) - there should be a copy as PowerShell option.

Setting and displaying environment variables

set for current console only, setx for all consoles. Show all environment variables using dir env:

> set MY_VAR var_value
> $Env:MY_VAR
var_value

Keyboard shortcut to open PowerShell as there's no easy CTRL+ALT+T

Win+X followed by i or A for elevated privileges.

Move on PowerShell command line

home (pos1) and end move the cursor. Additional SHIFT highlights, CTRL would delete.

(from here: notes from "PowerShell for Systems Engineers" book)

What is splatting in PowerShell?

Splatting allows you to pass a set of parameter values to a command as a single hashtable or dictionary.

$params = @{
    Name = "John Doe"
    DisplayName = "John Doe"
    EmailAddress = "[email protected]"
    Path = "OU=ExampleOrg,OU=ExampleEntityType,DC=exampledc,DC=org"
    AccountPassword = (ConvertTo-SecureString "password" -AsPlainText -force)
}

New-ADUser @params

Commands of interest in no specific order

Set-WinUILanguageOverride -Language en-US

Update-Help -Verbose -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -ErrorVariable UpdateErrors
Get-Help Get-ChildItem
Get-Help Get-ChildItem -Online # opens website

Write-Host "Hello" # cat equivalent

Get-Module 
Get-InstalledModule # will access %userprofile%\Documents\WindowsPowerShell

Install-Module ActiveDirectory # admin privileges; triggers NuGet requirement