Skip to main content

PowerShell Transcript

Have you ever worked on trying to figure out how to get a specific chuck of data out from deep within an object, only to forget how you did it once you found it. Or maybe you need to back track you steps but the screens veritcle buffer is full so you cannot see what you are doing? Try using PowerShell’s transcript capability. It is very easy to use. Just type Start-Transcript in the shell. It will save the transcript file to your Documents folder. When you are finished, or want to start a new log, just type Stop-Transcript. Below is a quick example. You will not see the Start-Transcript command in the log file because the log file is opened after the command is typed.

The ISE does not have the Start-Transcript cmdlet. Here is an article from the Scripting Guy to help you get the same capability in the ISE.

**********************

Windows PowerShell transcript start

Start time: 20120810103917

Username : Jason-PC\Jason

Machine : JASON-PC (Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1)

**********************

Transcript started, output file is C:\Users\Jason\Documents\PowerShell_transcript.20120810103917.txt

PS C:\Users\Jason> cls

PS C:\Users\Jason> get-service

Status Name DisplayName

------ ---- -----------

Stopped AdobeFlashPlaye... Adobe Flash Player Update Service

Stopped AeLookupSvc Application Experience

Running ALG Application Layer Gateway Service

Stopped AppIDSvc Application Identity

Running Appinfo Application Information

…. Section removed for brevity ….

Running WSearch Windows Search

Running wuauserv Windows Update

Running wudfsvc Windows Driver Foundation - User-mo...

Stopped WwanSvc WWAN AutoConfig

PS C:\Users\Jason> Stop-Transcript

**********************

Windows PowerShell transcript end

End time: 20120810104259

**********************

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Adding a Comment to a GPO with PowerShell

As I'm writing this article, I'm also writing a customization for a PowerShell course I'm teaching next week in Phoenix.  This customization deals with Group Policy and PowerShell.  For those of you who attend my classes may already know this, but I sit their and try to ask the questions to myself that others may ask as I present the material.  I finished up my customization a few hours ago and then I realized that I did not add in how to put a comment on a GPO.  This is a feature that many Group Policy Administrators may not be aware of. This past summer I attended a presentation at TechEd on Group Policy.  One organization in the crowd had over 5,000 Group Policies.  In an environment like that, the comment section can be priceless.  I always like to write in the comment section why I created the policy so I know its purpose next week after I've completed 50 other tasks and can't remember what I did 5 minutes ago. In the Group Policy module for PowerShell V3, th

Return duplicate values from a collection with PowerShell

If you have a collection of objects and you want to remove any duplicate items, it is fairly simple. # Create a collection with duplicate values $Set1 = 1 , 1 , 2 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 1 , 2   # Remove the duplicate values. $Set1 | Select-Object -Unique 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 What if you want only the duplicate values and nothing else? # Create a collection with duplicate values $Set1 = 1 , 1 , 2 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 1 , 2   #Create a second collection with duplicate values removed. $Set2 = $Set1 | Select-Object -Unique   # Return only the duplicate values. ( Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $Set2 -DifferenceObject $Set1 ) . InputObject | Select-Object – Unique 1 2 This works with objects as well as numbers.  The first command creates a collection with 2 duplicates of both 1 and 2.   The second command creates another collection with the duplicates filtered out.  The Compare-Object cmdlet will first find items that are diffe

How to list all the AD LDS instances on a server

AD LDS allows you to provide directory services to applications that are free of the confines of Active Directory.  To list all the AD LDS instances on a server, follow this procedure: Log into the server in question Open a command prompt. Type dsdbutil and press Enter Type List Instances and press Enter . You will receive a list of the instance name, both the LDAP and SSL port numbers, the location of the database, and its status.