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Catalog / PowerShell Cheatsheet

PowerShell Cheatsheet

A concise reference for PowerShell commands, syntax, and best practices, designed to help both beginners and experienced users quickly find the information they need.

Core Cmdlets & Syntax

Basic Cmdlets

Get-Command

Retrieves all available cmdlets, functions, and aliases.

Example: Get-Command -Name Get-Process

Get-Help

Displays help information about cmdlets, functions, and scripts.

Example: Get-Help Get-Process -Examples

Get-Member

Inspects the properties and methods of an object.

Example: Get-Process | Get-Member

Set-Variable

Creates and sets the value of a variable.

Example: Set-Variable -Name MyVar -Value "Hello"

Write-Host

Displays output in the console.

Example: Write-Host "Hello, World!"

Write-Output

Sends output as objects to the pipeline.

Example: Write-Output "Object data"

Basic Syntax

$ - Variable declaration ($var = 'value')
| - Pipeline (passes output of one command to another)
; - Command separator (allows multiple commands on one line)
() - Grouping commands for execution order or output capture
{} - Script block (used in loops, conditional statements, etc.)

Operators:
-eq (equals), -ne (not equals), -gt (greater than), -lt (less than), -ge (greater than or equals), -le (less than or equals), -and (logical AND), -or (logical OR), -not (logical NOT)

Redirection:
> (Output to file, overwrites), >> (Output to file, appends), 2> (Error output), 2>&1 (Merge error and standard output)

Data Manipulation & Scripting

Working with Data

ConvertFrom-Json

Converts a JSON string to a PowerShell object.

Example: $json = '{"name":"John", "age":30}'; $obj = $json | ConvertFrom-Json

ConvertTo-Json

Converts a PowerShell object to a JSON string.

Example: $obj | ConvertTo-Json

Import-Csv

Imports data from a CSV file.

Example: $data = Import-Csv -Path 'data.csv'

Export-Csv

Exports data to a CSV file.

Example: $data | Export-Csv -Path 'output.csv' -NoTypeInformation

ForEach-Object

Iterates through a collection of objects.

Example: 1,2,3 | ForEach-Object { $_ * 2 }

Conditional Statements

If/Else:

if ($condition) {
 # Code to execute if condition is true
} elseif ($anotherCondition) {
 # Code to execute if another condition is true
} else {
 # Code to execute if all conditions are false
}

Looping

For Loop:

for ($i = 0; $i -lt 10; $i++) {
 # Code to execute
}

While Loop:

while ($condition) {
 # Code to execute while condition is true
}

Do-While Loop:

do {
 # Code to execute at least once
} while ($condition)

Functions and Modules

Functions

Defining a Function:

 
function Get-MyInfo {
  param (
    [string]$Name,
    [int]$Age
  )

  Write-Host "Name: $Name"
  Write-Host "Age: $Age"
}

Calling a Function:

 
Get-MyInfo -Name "Alice" -Age 30

return

Used to exit a function and optionally return a value. If no value is provided, nothing is returned.

Example:

function Get-Value { return 10 }
$result = Get-Value # $result will contain 10

Modules

Import-Module

Imports a module into the current session.

Example: Import-Module -Name 'MyModule'

Get-Module

Lists the modules that are imported in the current session.

Example: Get-Module -ListAvailable

Export-ModuleMember

Specifies which module members (cmdlets, functions, variables, aliases) are exported from a script module.

Example: Export-ModuleMember -Function 'My-Function'

Error Handling & Advanced Features

Error Handling

Try/Catch/Finally:

try {
  # Code that might throw an exception
  # Example:  $result = Get-Content -Path 'nonexistent_file.txt'  
} catch {
  # Code to handle the exception
  Write-Host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)"
} finally {
  # Code that always executes, regardless of whether an exception occurred
  Write-Host "Finally block executed."
}

$ErrorActionPreference

Sets the default behavior when an error occurs. Common values: ‘Stop’, ‘Continue’, ‘SilentlyContinue’, ‘Inquire’.

Example: $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

Throw

Throws a custom exception.

Example: Throw "Custom error message"

Background Jobs

Start-Job

Starts a background job.

Example: Start-Job -ScriptBlock { Get-Process }

Get-Job

Retrieves background jobs.

Example: Get-Job

Receive-Job

Receives the output of a background job.

Example: Receive-Job -Id 1

Stop-Job

Stops a running background job.

Example: Stop-Job -Id 1

Wait-Job

Waits for a background job to complete.

Example: Wait-Job -Id 1

Remove-Job

Removes a background job.

Example: Remove-Job -Id 1

Remoting

Enter-PSSession

Starts an interactive session with a remote computer.

Example: Enter-PSSession -ComputerName 'RemoteServer'

Invoke-Command

Runs commands on a remote computer.

Example: Invoke-Command -ComputerName 'RemoteServer' -ScriptBlock { Get-Process }
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