Microsoft introduced PowerShell in 2006. The goal was to move system administration off the graphical interface (GUI) so network admins could automate work from the command line and with scripts, and do it faster. In 2016 PowerShell became open source, and it now also runs on Linux and Mac.
This is not just a black window for typing. It is the main language for managing Windows. The commands below are the ones that show up in ordinary work:
Services and processes
Get-Service: lists every service. You can filter by status and look only at ones that are Stopped.
Get-Process: checks CPU and RAM use in the moment.
Network troubleshooting
Test-NetConnection: is much more useful than ping. It tells you whether a specific port on a server is open.
Get-NetIPConfiguration: shows adapter, IP, and DNS in one place.
Logs and events
Get-WinEvent: a faster alternative to the graphical Event Viewer. You can filter system or application errors inside a chosen time window.
Habits for daily use
- Never run unknown scripts on a server.
- Do not change Execution Policy until you know why you are changing it.
- To make command output easier to read, add
| Format-Tableat the end. - Save long or frequent commands as a
.ps1file so you do not have to type them again.