If you’re new to PowerShell, some of the first things you’ll want to do are find your way around, find the commands, aliases. Some of the concepts, like figuring out the pipe, and how to use it, can be a struggle.
Before long, though, you’re going to start getting used to it, and then you’ll want to start saving your work so you can reuse it. You can do that by saving a text file with a .ps1 extension. A ps1 is just a PowerShell script. You don’t have to have anything else in it other than the same commands you use when you’re typing in to the PowerShell console. In fact, anything that you can type into the console can be typed into a .ps1 file exactly the same way, and then run.
So this is for my PowerShell people that are just getting to know their way around, and need to start either working with PowerShell profiles or start running PS1 files. Once you’ve gotten the script doing what you want, you can also run a PowerShell script as a scheduled task.
Here are some things you can (and should) do to work with ps1 files, including your profile:
Tip 1: Set the Execution Policy on One Machine (Use Group Policy for a Domain)
PowerShell takes security seriously. By default, you cannot run scripts at all, not even your profile. The execution policy defines what scripts you can run.
There are four settings for the execution policy. You can set this to whatever you like, but it may have already been set for you in your environment via group policy. Here are the different settings you can set the execution policy to, from most restrictive to least
An execution policy is applied to a scope. There are three scopes you can apply the policy setting to: LocalMachine (the computer), CurrentUser (the user), or Process (the currently running PowerShell session and the policy goes away once the window is closed.) If you don’t specify a scope, you’re setting the LocalMachine policy. Also, there is a preference in applying scopes: Process overrides CurrentUser, which in turn overrides LocalMachine.
- Undefined – If all scopes are undefined then it is set to the default, which is restricted.
- Restricted – No scripts may run at all.
- AllSigned – All scripts that have a digital signature may run.
- RemoteSigned – Local scripts may run. Scripts executed from the network must be digitally signed.
- Unrestricted – All scripts may run.
- Bypass – All scripts may run, and all warnings and prompts are disabled.
Which execution policy you set is up to you. Usually a prudent choice is RemoteSigned. Here’s how you set it
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
Easy, right? Well without setting the execution policy, all of your scripts, even your own profile, won’t run at all.
Tip 2: Save Work You Will Use Again in a Script
If you’re not already using the Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE), you should really get to know it.
When you go to start PowerShell, instead look for the option to start PowerShell ISE. Using the ISE gives you an opportunity to save the work that you’ve been doing often, and you can run bits and pieces of your script as you’re writing it to make sure it’s working as you intend.
Tip 3: Use a PowerShell Profile
If you are starting to get into writing down the things you do, you should look at creating a profile. The profiles (there are multiples actually) are very useful for defining functions, mapping PSDrives, and importing modules. If you haven’t setup your profile yet, I’ve written a post outlining how to setup your PowerShell profile
Tip 4: Use Comments, Even For Scripts Only You Will Use
When typing out your scripts into a ps1 file, it’s a great idea to use comments liberally. Even if you think you will not be sharing this script with others, you will likely be sharing it with yourself 6 months after you wrote it. The things that you thought would always be obvious suddenly are not. You can save yourself a lot of frustration and time decoding your own scripts if you just add some comments throughout the script describing what you’re attempting to do with it.
The comment character for PowerShell is the Number Sign (Pound Sign, or #). Anything written after a # in a PowerShell script file (ps1), or even in the console, are not processed but instead passed over.
You can easily comment out a single line of your script by placing a “#” at the beginning of it, like this:
# Write-Host “This Line is a comment. It won’t write anything”
# This is a comment too.# Comments can be used at the end of a single line to describe what is happening
$myVariable = 2 + 4 # This should set $myVariable to 6.
You can also comment with a comment block. Anything written (even on multiple lines) is commented out. A comment block starts with <#, and then anything after that is a comment until the comment block ends with a #>
<# This is a comment block
Still a comment
This is the last comment line #>
Write-host “Uncommented now”
I hope this is a help to those of you just starting out with PowerShell, and that it helps move you from just starting out, to taking the next steps towards automating with Windows PowerShell.
