Finding PowerShell commands for a given mission isn't always easy. There are thousands of commands. Especially for new users, finding a good command to start with often is a show stopper.
The built-in Get-Command is a good choice to find commands based on name, verb, noun, module, or parameter.
Find-PowerShellCommand goes a step beyond. It takes a simple keyword from you. Just make sure the keyword describes either the command you are looking for, or the information you want to get.
Find-PowerShellCommand searches for your keyword not just in the command name. It also looks at the kinds of data returned by the command, so if you're looking for commands that help you get IPAddresses, Find-PowerShellCommand would find commands with arbitrary names that return objects with at least one property containing your keyword, i.e. IPAddress.
That makes discovering commands so much easier, for the new user as well as for the experienced PowerShell SysAdmin who's looking for some piece of information.
I've started work on this while updating one of my books. In a perfect world, I'd love to get your feedback via Discussions so we can refine Find-PowerShellCommand and add more strategies and tools to make the first step easier: finding the automation command that can make your day.
Install from PowerShell Gallery:
Install-Module -Name PsCommandDiscovery -Scope CurrentUser -VerboseLists all cmdlets and functions that use the term "user" anywhere in its name, parameter, returned property or returned method.
Find-PowerShellCommand -Keyword userSample result:
Command MatchType Member
------- --------- ------
Add-WinADUserGroups CommandName
Convert-SidToUser CommandName
Convert-SIDToUser CommandName
(...)
Get-Credential Property [string] UserName (readonly)
Get-Culture Property [bool] UseUserOverride (readonly)
Get-EventLog Property [string] UserName (readonly)
Get-LocalUser CommandName
Get-PnPAADUser CommandName
Get-PnPTeamsUser CommandName
Get-PnPUser CommandName
Get-PnPUserOneDriveQuota CommandName
Get-PnPUserProfileProperty CommandName
Get-Process Property [timespan] UserProcessorTime (readonly)
Get-SPOCrossGeoMovedUsers CommandName
Get-SPOCrossGeoUsers CommandName
Get-SPOExternalUser CommandName
Get-SPOSiteUserInvitations CommandName
Get-SPOUser CommandName
Get-SPOUserAndContentMoveState CommandName
Get-SPOUserOneDriveLocation CommandName
Get-UICulture Property [bool] UseUserOverride (readonly)
Get-WinUserLanguageList CommandName
Get-WUServiceManager CommandName
(...)
Start-Process Property [timespan] UserProcessorTime (readonly)
Start-SPOUserAndContentMove CommandName
Stop-Process Property [timespan] UserProcessorTime (readonly)
Stop-SPOUserAndContentMove CommandName
Update-AzADUser CommandName
Update-UserType CommandName
Lists all commands that return objects that expose a property with "user" in its name, and shows a progress bar while searching.
Using a progress bar can slow down the overall time the command requires.
Find-PowerShellCommand -Keyword user -SearchType Property -ShowProgressSample result:
Command MatchType Member
------- --------- ------
Get-Credential Property [string] UserName (readonly)
Get-Culture Property [bool] UseUserOverride (readonly)
Get-EventLog Property [string] UserName (readonly)
Get-Process Property [timespan] UserProcessorTime (readonly)
Get-UICulture Property [bool] UseUserOverride (readonly)
New-PSTransportOption Property [Nullable`1[[System.Int32, mscorlib, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089]]] MaxSessionsPerUser ...
New-PSTransportOption Property [Nullable`1[[System.Int32, mscorlib, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089]]] MaxConcurrentUsers ...
Start-Process Property [timespan] UserProcessorTime (readonly)
Stop-Process Property [timespan] UserProcessorTime (readonly)
Finds all cmdlets and functions with a parameter that contains "network"
Find-PowerShellCommand -Keyword network -SearchType ParameterSample result:
Command MatchType Member Type
------- --------- ------ ----
Enable-PSRemoting Parameter -SkipNetworkProfileCheck [switch] (Switch) Microsoft.PowerShell.Core
Enable-PSSessionConfiguration Parameter -SkipNetworkProfileCheck [switch] (Switch) Microsoft.PowerShell.Core
Enter-PSSession Parameter -EnableNetworkAccess [switch] (Switch) Microsoft.PowerShell.Core
Invoke-Command Parameter -EnableNetworkAccess [switch] (Switch) Microsoft.PowerShell.Core
New-PSSession Parameter -EnableNetworkAccess [switch] (Switch) Microsoft.PowerShell.Core
Set-WSManQuickConfig Parameter -SkipNetworkProfileCheck [switch] (Switch) Microsoft.WSMan.Management
Finds all executables and differentiates console commands from gui applications.
Find-PowerShellCommand -Keyword power -CommandType ApplicationSample result:
Command MatchType Member Type
------- --------- ------ ----
powercfg.cpl Command .cpl: powercfg (x64) [Gui] 10.0.19041.800 Gui
powercfg.exe Command .exe: powercfg (x64) [Console] 10.0.19041.800 Console
POWERPNT.EXE Command .exe: POWERPNT (x86) [Gui] 16.0.13530.20440 Gui
powershell.exe Command .exe: powershell (x64) [Console] 10.0.19041.800 Console
powershell_ise.exe Command .exe: powershell_ise (x64) [Gui] 10.0.19041.1 Gui
Finds all console applications and lists version and source.
Again, all information returned is object-oriented so you can drill into the properties to retrieve what you need.
Find-PowerShellCommand -Keyword power -CommandType Application |
Where-Object Type -eq Console | Select-Object -ExpandProperty CommandSample result:
CommandType Name Version Source
----------- ---- ------- ------
Application powercfg.exe 10.0.19... C:\WINDOWS\system32\powercfg.exe
Application powershell.exe 10.0.19... C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
Lists all commands that produce objects with methods that carry a "Write" in the method name.
Note how you can use hashtables and calculated properties to combine information from different nest levels.
Find-PowerShellCommand -Keyword Write -SearchType Method |
Select-Object -Property Command,
@{N='MethodName';E={$_.Member}},
@{N='Module';E={$_.Command.ModuleName}}Sample result:
Command MethodName Module
------- ---------- ------
Get-IseSnippet [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() ISE
New-TemporaryFile [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility
ConvertTo-Xml [void] WriteTo() Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility
ConvertTo-Xml [void] WriteContentTo() Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility
Export-PSSession [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility
Get-ChildItem [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-Clipboard [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-Clipboard [void] Write() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-Clipboard [IAsyncResult] BeginWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-Clipboard [void] EndWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-Clipboard [Threading.Tasks.Task] WriteAsync() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-Clipboard [void] WriteByte() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-Clipboard [Threading.Tasks.Task] WriteAsync() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() (static) Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() (static) Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() (static) Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() (static) Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() (static) Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEntry() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEvent() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEvent() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEvent() (static) Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-EventLog [void] WriteEvent() (static) Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-Item [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-Item [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Get-ItemProperty [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
New-FileCatalog [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Security
New-Item [IO.FileStream] OpenWrite() Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteError() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteObject() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteObject() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteVerbose() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteWarning() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteCommandDetail() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteProgress() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteDebug() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteInformation() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
Test-DscConfiguration [void] WriteInformation() PSDesiredStateConfiguration
The module comes with a number of helper functions that may be valuable by their own.
Test-ApplicationType takes a path to an executable and investigates its PE header to find out whether it is a console or a gui application, and what its architecture is.
Obviously this works only for applications that have a PE header, so most likely this function can be used on Windows operating systems only.
Test-ApplicationType -Path c:\windows\explorer.exeSample result:
Name : explorer
Extension : .exe
Directory : c:\windows
Type : Gui
Architecture : x64
VersionInfo : File: C:\windows\explorer.exe
InternalName: explorer
OriginalFilename: EXPLORER.EXE.MUI
FileVersion: 10.0.19041.800 (WinBuild.160101.0800)
FileDescription: Windows-Explorer
Product: Betriebssystem Microsoft® Windows®
ProductVersion: 10.0.19041.800
Debug: False
Patched: False
PreRelease: False
PrivateBuild: False
SpecialBuild: False
Language: Deutsch (Deutschland)
WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) and its Cim derivates use their own data types such as SInt16 or SInt8.
Convert-CimTypeToNetType takes the string name of a CimType datatype and returns the corresponding .NET datatype:
Convert-CimTypeToNetType -CimType 'SInt16'Returns:
IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType
-------- -------- ---- --------
True True Int16 System.ValueType
PowerShell uses Type Accelerators for the most common .NET types and supports additional ways to shorten .NET data type names.
Convert-TypeToTypeAccelerator takes a regular .NET type and returns the short PowerShell data type description (as string):
Convert-TypeToTypeAccelerator -Type ([System.Xml.XmlDocument])returns:
xml
[System.Int32] | Convert-TypeToTypeAcceleratorreturns:
int