This article applies to Powershell version 6 or later (formerly also known as Powershell Core).
Start-Process
Here are some handy cmds (Application Run Examples),
Start is an alias of Start-Process
Start Code --diff, a.md, b.md
Start Signal
Syntax for AppEx/ MS Store Apps,
Start Microsoft-Edge:https://google.com
Start MS-Paint:
For passing arguments to an application we can either add it right after the app name with a seperating space,
Start Notepad++ file_path
Or, specify it in ArgumentList,
Start Notepad++ -ArgumentList file_path
However, it's tricky if passed argument for example, file_path above contains a space character.
To make it work, we need to double quote them ref, SO - pwsh opening file path with spaces,
Start Notepad++ -ArgumentList "`"D:\Cool Soft\my awesome file.txt`""
Process Management
A simple run gives a technical summary of the process
$ Get-Process pwsh
NPM(K) PM(M) WS(M) CPU(s) Id SI ProcessName
------ ----- ----- ------ -- -- -----------
80 117.16 170.47 25.61 21628 1 pwsh
- annoying what the powershell team chose by default on the implementation
To get number of instances of a process
function GetProcessInstanceNumber([string] $process) {
@(Get-Process $process -ErrorAction 0).Count
}
Get top 30 processes sorted by CPU usage,
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select -First 30 -Property ID,ProcessName,CPU,WorkingSet64 | Format-table -autosize
Same thing with default columns,
Get-Process | Sort-Object -Property cpu -Descending | Select -First 30
Service Management
Get list of services currently running,
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"}
Start a service,
Start-Service -Name VPNAgent
Stop one,
Stop-Service -Name VPNAgent
Useful for bluetooth service,
Start-Service bthserv
Stop-Service -Force bthserv
Network Administration
To view information on the currently connect WiFi network
$ Get-NetConnectionProfile
Name : @Coffeebar Guest WiFi
InterfaceAlias : Wi-Fi
InterfaceIndex : 16
NetworkCategory : Public
DomainAuthenticationKind : None
IPv4Connectivity : Internet
IPv6Connectivity : NoTraffic
Show Network Interfaces Information Using powershell cmdlet, we can view information on all network interfaces in the system,
$ Get-NetAdapter
Name InterfaceDescription ifIndex Status MacAddress LinkSpeed
---- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------- ---------
Ethernet 2 Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Clien… 14 Not Present 00-05-9A-3C-7A-00 0 bps
Wi-Fi Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz 10 Up 04-ED-33-4C-9E-1F 400 Mbps
vEthernet (Default Switc… Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter 23 Up 00-15-5D-5F-1A-CB 10 Gbps
To view information on the WiFi network interface,
$ Get-NetAdapter -Name Wi-Fi
Name InterfaceDescription ifIndex Status MacAddress LinkSpeed
---- -------------------- ------- ------ ---------- ---------
Wi-Fi Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz 10 Up 04-ED-33-4C-9E-1F 400 Mbps
Show cmdlets related to net adapter,
$ gcm -Noun netadapter | select name, modulename
Name ModuleName
---- ----------
Disable-NetAdapter NetAdapter
Enable-NetAdapter NetAdapter
Get-NetAdapter NetAdapter
Rename-NetAdapter NetAdapter
Restart-NetAdapter NetAdapter
Set-NetAdapter NetAdapter
Additionally, now, we have cmdlet to show IP Address info without sing netsh,
$ Get-NetIPAddress
IPAddress : fe80::f384:25fc:f7ba:30b%7
InterfaceIndex : 7
InterfaceAlias : Bluetooth Network Connection
AddressFamily : IPv6
Type : Unicast
PrefixLength : 64
PrefixOrigin : WellKnown
SuffixOrigin : Link
AddressState : Deprecated
ValidLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
PreferredLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
SkipAsSource : False
PolicyStore : ActiveStore
IPAddress : fe80::99c3:e3a9:7b86:99fe%11
InterfaceIndex : 11
InterfaceAlias : Local Area Connection* 10
AddressFamily : IPv6
Type : Unicast
PrefixLength : 64
PrefixOrigin : WellKnown
SuffixOrigin : Link
AddressState : Deprecated
ValidLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
PreferredLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
SkipAsSource : False
PolicyStore : ActiveStore
IPAddress : fe80::604:e257:2351:2768%17
InterfaceIndex : 17
InterfaceAlias : Local Area Connection* 9
AddressFamily : IPv6
Type : Unicast
PrefixLength : 64
PrefixOrigin : WellKnown
SuffixOrigin : Link
AddressState : Deprecated
ValidLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
PreferredLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
SkipAsSource : False
PolicyStore : ActiveStore
... ...
... ...
IPAddress : 10.55.200.98
InterfaceIndex : 16
InterfaceAlias : Wi-Fi
AddressFamily : IPv4
Type : Unicast
PrefixLength : 8
PrefixOrigin : Dhcp
SuffixOrigin : Dhcp
AddressState : Preferred
ValidLifetime : 20:23:37
PreferredLifetime : 20:23:37
SkipAsSource : False
PolicyStore : ActiveStore
IPAddress : 127.0.0.1
InterfaceIndex : 1
InterfaceAlias : Loopback Pseudo-Interface 1
AddressFamily : IPv4
Type : Unicast
PrefixLength : 8
PrefixOrigin : WellKnown
SuffixOrigin : WellKnown
AddressState : Preferred
ValidLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
PreferredLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
SkipAsSource : False
PolicyStore : ActiveStore