Scripting Blog [archived]
Formerly known as the "Hey, Scripting Guy!" blog
Latest posts
PowerTip: Use PowerShell to create repeating letters
Summary: Learn how to easily create duplicate letters by using Windows PowerShell. How can I use Windows PowerShell to easily create a specific number of letters in a repetitive fashion? To create repetitive letters, all you need to do is to “multiply” them, for example: PS C:\> "a"*5 aaaaa
Using Desired State Configuration and Chef to deploy System Center
Summary: Learn how to use Chef and DSC in Windows PowerShell to deploy System Center in this guest blog post by Jason Morgan.Ed Wilson, here. Today I have a guest blog post by Jason Morgan in which he will talk about using Desired State Configuration (DSC) and Chef to deploy System Center. Welcome back, Jason…Hello again. Today I’m writing to analyze the deployment of System Center by using Desired State Configuration and Chef. I’ve been using Chef heavily for the last six months because I decided that using DSC to run my System Center deployments was a too heavy lift on its own. Adding Chef ha...
PowerTip: Import colon-delimited file with PowerShell
Summary: Learn how to use Windows PowerShell to import a file that uses a colon as a delimiter. How can I use Windows PowerShell to import a file that is delimited with a colon instead of a comma? Use the Import-CSV cmdlet and specify the colon as the delimiter, for example: import-csv -Path C:\fso\applog.csv -Delimiter ':'
Announcing the 2015 Honorary Scripting Guys
Summary: The Honorary Scripting Guys for 2015 are announced in this blog post. Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. I have been pretty busy—I missed work because of my ear surgery and the holidays, so I have enlisted the help of the Scripting Wife, Teresa Wilson, to write this post to announce the 2015 Honorary Scripting Guys. I gave her the names and she did the rest. Wow, that is almost exactly what I wrote last year, and it holds true for this year. The main difference is that the recovery time from my ear surgery was quite a bit longer than I anticipated. Hopefully that is the last ear surgery for m...
PowerTip: Find running services with PowerShell
Summary: Use Windows PowerShell to find running services. How can I use Windows PowerShell to quickly produce a sortable list of running services on my computer? Use the Get-Service cmdlet to return the services, and the Out-GridView to produce a sortable list: gsv | ogv Note gsv is an alias for Get-Service, and ogv is an alias for Out-GridView.
Introducing the top five Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog posts in 2015
Summary: See which Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog posts were the top five in 2015.Today I feature Honorary Scripting Guy and Windows PowerShell MVP, Teresa Wilson, aka The Scripting Wife. Take it away Teresa…Hello everyone, with over 700 new posts a year on the Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog, the number one thing I hear at conferences and user group meetings is that it is practically impossible to keep up with the blog. I happen to have an RSS feed that comes to Outlook, so I am able to keep up fairly well. The exception is when I go on vacation, or am otherwise not as connected to the Internet as I might wish.Anyway,...
PowerTip: Find disk status with PowerShell and Windows 10
Summary: Use Windows PowerShell in Windows 10 to find disk status. How can I use Window PowerShell in Windows 10 to check the status information (such as the health status, operational status, and if the disks are offline or read-only) on multiple disks? Use the Get-DiskStorageNodeView cmdlet: Get-DiskSNV Note Get-DiskSNV is an alias for Get-DiskStorageNodeView.
PowerTip: Create list of approved PowerShell verbs
Summary: Learn how to easily produce a list of approved Windows PowerShell verbs. How can I find what verbs are approved for use in a Windows PowerShell function? Use the Get-Verb cmdlet, and to make it easy to peruse, send the output to the Out-GridView cmdlet: get-verb | Out-GridView
PowerTip: Find single-name PowerShell functions
Summary: Learn how to find Windows PowerShell functions that do not have a hyphen in the name. How can I easily find Windows PowerShell functions that do not have a hyphen in the name, but instead are single words, such as the Prompt function? Use the Get-Command cmdlet and return only functions. Filter out function names that do not contain a hyphen, for example: gcm -CommandType function | where name -notmatch '-' Note gcm is an alias for the Get-Command cmdlet.