Skip to main content

How to Read Help Files (Part 4 of 7)

By
Today we are continuing to look at the PowerShell help files and how to read them.  We are going to explore the detailed help files.  PowerShell can display help at various levels of detail depending on how much information you need.  To access a cmdlets’ detailed help file, just ask for help as you normally would, but add the –Detailed parameter for Get-Help.

Get-Help Stop-Process –Detailed

With the detailed help file you get 2 extra pieces of information the basic help file does not have.  Parameter help and Examples.  Below is a small sample of the parameter help.
ARAMETERS
    -Force []
        Stops the specified processes without prompting for confirmation. By default, Stop-Process prompts for confirmation before stopping any process that
        is not owned by the current user.
       
        To find the owner of a process, use the Get-WmiMethod cmdlet to get a Win32_Process object that represents the process, and then use the GetOwner
        method of the object.
       
    -Id
        Specifies the process IDs of the processes to be stopped. To specify multiple IDs, use commas to separate the IDs. To find the PID of a process, type
        "get-process". The parameter name ("Id") is optional.

Above is displaying the help files for 2 of the parameters –Force and –ID.  You can see that after the parameter name, the data type the parameter requires is shown.  Remember that even though –ID accepts integer data types, you can sometimes send it an object that can be converted to an integer.  Take a look at the example below.  We identified two instances of Notepad.  We sent Stop-Process an integer value to its –ID parameter in the first instance and a string in the second.  Since the string could be translated to an integer, it worked. Remember to test prior to relying on this functionality.

PS C:\> Get-process -Name Notepad

Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VM(M)   CPU(s)     Id  SI ProcessName                                                                                      
-------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     --  -- -----------                                                                                     
    141      11     1996       3208 ...63     1.56   2996   1 notepad                                                                                         
    141      11     1992       3112 ...63     3.52  11636   1 notepad                                                                                          



PS C:\> Stop-Process -id 2996

PS C:\> Stop-Process -id "11636"

PS C:\> 

The next added feature of the Detailed help file for a cmdlet is the Example section:
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------
   
    PS C:\>stop-process -name notepad
   
    This command stops all instances of the Notepad process on the computer. (Each instance of Notepad runs in its own process.) It uses the Name parameter to
    specify the processes, all of which have the same name. If you were to use the ID parameter to stop the same processes, you would have to list the process
    IDs of each instance of Notepad.

This is just one example from Stop-Process.  You can see an example Stop-Process –name notepad and a description of what will happen if you execute that example.  A good help file will have multiple examples of how to use the cmdlet.  Take a look at example 4:

     -------------------------- EXAMPLE 4 --------------------------
   
    PS C:\>get-process lsass | stop-process
   
    Stop-Process : Cannot stop process 'lsass (596)' because of the following error: Access is denied
    At line:1 char:34
    + get-process lsass  | stop-process <<<<
   
    [ADMIN]: PS C:\>get-process lsass | stop-process
   
    Warning!
    Are you sure you want to perform this action?
    Performing operation 'Stop-Process' on Target 'lsass(596)'
    [Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"):
    [ADMIN]: PS C:\>get-process lsass | stop-process -force
    [ADMIN]: PS C:\>
   
    These commands show the effect of using the Force parameter to stop a process that is not owned by the user.
   
    The first command uses the Get-Process cmdlet to get the Lsass process. A pipeline operator sends the process to the Stop-Process cmdlet to stop it. As
    shown in the sample output, the first command fails with an "Access denied" message, because this process can be stopped only by a member of the
    Administrator's group on the computer.
   
    When Windows PowerShell is opened with the "Run as administrator" option, and the command is repeated, Windows PowerShell prompts you for confirmation.
   
    The second command uses the Force parameter to suppress the prompt. As a result, the process is stopped without confirmation.

Much more detailed.  Many times I how found examples of what I was looking for in the example section.



Tomorrow we will look at the full help file.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sticky Key problem between Windows Server 2012 and LogMeIn

By
This week I instructed my first class using Windows Server 2012 accessed via LogMeIn and discovered a Sticky Key problem every time you press the Shift key. Here is my solution to resolve this.  First off, in the Preferences of LogMeIn for the connection to the Windows Server, click General . Change the Keyboard and mouse priority to Host side user and click Apply at the bottom. On the Windows 2012 server, open the Control Panel – Ease of Access – Change how your keyboard works . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys . Click Set up Sticky Keys . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys when SHIFT is pressed five times . Click OK twice. If you are using Windows Server 2012 as a Hyper-V host, you will need to redo the Easy of Use settings on each guest operating system in order to avoid the Sticky Key Problem. Updated Information: March 20, 2013 If you continue to have problems, Uncheck Turn on Filter Keys .
6 comments
Read more

Where did a User’s Account Get Locked Out?

By
Updated: May 15, 2015 When this article was originally published, two extra carriage returns were add causing the code to malfunction.  The code below is correct.   My client for this week’s PowerShell class had a really interesting question. They needed to know where an account is being locked out at. OK, interesting. Apparently users hop around clients and forget to log off, leading to eventual lock out of their accounts. The accounts can be unlocked, but are then relocked after Active Directory replication. This problem is solved in two parts. The first one is to modify the event auditing on the network. The second part is resolved with PowerShell. The first part involves creating a group policy that will encompass your Domain Controllers. In this GPO, make these changes. Expand Computer Configuration \ Policies \ Windows Settings \ Security Settings \ Advanced Audit Policy Configuration \ Audit Policies \ Account Management Double click User Account Management C...
18 comments
Read more

Backup and Restore AD LDS with DSDBUTIL.exe

By
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services allow you to create a directory service that allows applications to have access to user accounts, groups, and authentication similar to Active Directory Domain Services.  The big advantage here is that the schema of the directory service will not be bound by the rules of an Active Directory database.  Exchange 2007/2010, for example, use an instance of AD LDS on the Edge Transport Server to provide for user authentication from the internet.  Because your Active Directory database is not exposed to the internet, this is more secure. Applications will handle most of the dirty work should they require AD LDS.  You may want to make sure the database is being backed up and also have a restore plan in place.  Should the database become corrupt, the application that uses that database will fail.  This document will walk you through backing up and restoring an instance of AD LDS using the dsdbutil.exe command. Fi...
6 comments
Read more