Powershell

Before the advent of PowerShell 5 (and Get-FileHash), to calculate hashes for strings and files, you’d need to resort to pure .NET methods....

A hash is a way to uniquely identify a text without exposing the actual text. Hashes are used to identify texts, find duplicate file content, and...

When you pipe objects to Out-GridView, the cmdlet shows the default properties, so when you use a grid view window as a selection dialog, you have...

When you output data in PowerShell, it gets silently piped to Out-Default and ends up as text in the console. By overriding Out-Default, you can...

Did you ever want to compare the properties of ADUsers? Provided you have installed the RSAT tools, you can read individual AD users with...

In the previous tip we explained how you can create self-signed code-signing certificates in Windows 10 and Server 2016 (and better). Today,...

Windows 10 and Server 2016 (and better) ship with an enhanced New-SelfSignedCert cmdlet that finally can create code-signing certificates. With...

If you’d like to make sure a folder content stays untouched, you can use catalog files. A catalog file lists all folder content plus creates...

Each PowerShell host running PowerShell 5 or better opens a “named pipe” that you can detect. The code below identifies these named...

PowerShell 6 is open-source and maintained in a public repository on GitHub. There are frequent releases. Here is a way how you can find out the...

PowerShell 6 is open-source and maintained in a public repository on GitHub. There are frequent releases. If you don’t want to dig your way...

PowerShell 6 is open-source, and there are frequently new releases available. You can always visit https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases...

If you are using the built-in PowerShell ISE, you might find the “Module Browser Add-on” useful. It is fairly old and was published in...

Sometimes it can make sense to convert a SecureString back to a regular string, for example because you have used the shielded input provided by...

In the previous tip we looked at queues and how they can search the entire file system: # create a new queue $dirs =...

Rather than calling functions recursively, you may at times want to use a Queue object that you can load with fresh tasks while you are unloading...

Get-Service can provide basic information about Windows services but won’t list the required privileges. Here is a small PowerShell function...

In the previous tip we examined Set-PSBreakpoint to create dynamic variable breakpoints in PowerShell. We showed how a breakpoint can trigger when a...

For debugging, variable breakpoints can be of invaluable help. They break into the debugger once a variable changes. If you know that a variable...

By default, PowerShell shrink-fits most objects and shows only the most important properties by default: PS C:\> Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_BIOS...

PowerShell can access low-level API functions by using C#-style signatures. This way, API functions are compiled in-memory and added as new types....

When you enter a command in PowerShell, the engine triggers three events to actually discover the command you want to execute. This gives you a...

Whenever you enter a command in PowerShell, a series of events takes place to figure out where the command is located. This starts with a...

In the previous tip we illustrated a number of ways how to safely add variables to string content. Adding variables to double-quoted text can expose...

Double-quoted strings can easily expand variables, however this concept is not foolproof: $id = 123 # this is the desired output: # Number is 123: #...

In the previous tip we have used Get-PSCallStack to determine the “nest level” of code. Let’s today take a look at how this cmdlet...

Get-PSCallStack returns a so-called “Call Stack” which – in its simplest form – tells you the nesting depth of your code:...

Here is a super simple approach to create random passwords. The approach makes sure no ambiguous characters are used but does not care about other...

When you are connected both to a LAN and a WLAN, and would like to prefer one network over the other, you can adjust the network metric. The lower...

You can add personal context menu commands for file types like PowerShell files. These context menu commands appear when you right-click a .ps1...