Debugging Tool PowerShell

PowerShell automation

← Debugging Tools and Commands

PowerShell coordinates Windows test launches, GUI-session helpers, hashing, process identity, WPR/WPA tools, bounded input, manifests, and cleanup.

Property	Details
Supported OS	Windows, Linux, macOS; Windows is required for Windows-specific ETW and GUI orchestration.
Install	Install PowerShell or use Windows PowerShell where appropriate.
Verify	$PSVersionTable
Primary output	See the workflow below.

When to use it

PowerShell is used heavily to launch bounded workloads, invoke WPR/WPAExporter, capture process identity, hash files, and clean up owned helper processes.

Useful primitives:

Get-FileHash .\xemu.exe -Algorithm SHA256
Get-Process xemu -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Get-CimInstance Win32_Process | Where-Object Name -eq 'xemu.exe'
wpr -status collectors -details

For automation, record at least:

• PID;
• creation time;
• parent PID when available;
• originating command/run identity.

A remote command timing out does not prove the server-side process stopped. Always perform bounded cleanup checks.

Do not recursively kill generic python, powershell, wpa, or xperf processes unless ownership has been established; unrelated host tools may be active.

---

Boundaries and common mistakes

Automation output is not proof that the intended GUI action or guest state occurred. Verify window/session identity, guest progress, capture markers, and resulting artifacts.

A remote timeout does not stop the remote process. Clean up only processes owned by the run, using PID, creation time, parent PID, and command identity. Do not kill generic PowerShell, Python, WPA, or xemu processes without proving ownership.

Evidence to retain

• Tool name and exact version.
• Source commit/tree and executable SHA-256.
• The complete command or saved profile used.
• Input artifact hashes and the explicitly selected time or address range.
• Raw output plus any derived report; do not retain only a screenshot or conclusion.
• Admission failures, warnings, dropped events, incomplete rows, or unsupported operations.

Official references

• Install PowerShell
• PowerShell documentation

Related xemu guides

• Debugging Tools and Commands
• Debugging Lag and Hot Paths
• Performance Methodology