TOPIC
about_Windows_PowerShell_2.0
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Describes the new features that are included in Windows PowerShell 2.0.
LONG DESCRIPTION
Windows PowerShell 2.0 includes several significant features that
extend its use, improve its usability, and allow you to control and
manage Windows-based environments more easily and comprehensively.
Windows PowerShell 2.0 is backward compatible. Cmdlets, providers,
snap-ins, scripts, functions, and profiles that were designed for Windows
PowerShell 1.0 work in Windows PowerShell 2.0 without changes.
NEW FEATURES
Windows PowerShell 2.0 includes the following new features.
Remoting
Windows PowerShell 2.0 lets you run commands on one or many remote
computers with a single Windows PowerShell command. You can run
individual commands, or you can create a persistent connection
(a session) to run a series of related commands. You can also start a
session with a remote computer so that the commands you type run
directly on the remote computer.
The remoting features of Windows PowerShell are built on Windows
Remote Management (WinRM). WinRM is the Microsoft implementation of
the WS-Management protocol, a standard SOAP-based, firewall-compatible
communications protocol.
The remote computers must have Windows PowerShell 2.0, the Microsoft .NET
Framework 2.0, and the WinRM service. Remote commands are supported
on all operating systems that can run Windows PowerShell. The
current user must have permission to run commands on the remote
computers. For more information, see about_Remote_Requirements.
To support remoting, the Invoke-Command, Enter-PSSession, and
Exit-PSSession cmdlets have been added, along with other cmdlets
that contain the PSSession noun. These cmdlets let you create and manage
persistent connections.
The ComputerName parameter has also been added to several cmdlets,
including the Get-Process, Get-Service, and Get-Eventlog cmdlets. This
parameter allows you to get information about remote computers.
These cmdlets use .NET Framework methods to get their data,
so they do not rely on Windows PowerShell remoting. They do not require
any new programs or configuration. For more information, see the Help for
each cmdlet.
For more information about remote commands, see about_Remote and
about_Remote_FAQ. For more information about sessions, see
about_PSSessions.
Windows PowerShell ISE
Windows PowerShell 2.0 includes Windows PowerShell Integrated
Scripting Environment (ISE), a host application that lets you run
commands, and design, write, test, and debug scripts in a graphical,
color-coded, Unicode-based environment.
Windows PowerShell ISE requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 or
later.
Windows PowerShell ISE includes:
- A Command pane that lets you run interactive commands just as you
would in the Windows PowerShell console. Just type a command, and then
press ENTER. The output appears in the Output pane.
- A Script pane that lets you compose, edit, debug, and run functions
and scripts.
- Multiple tabs, each with its own Command and Script pane, that let you
work on one or several tasks independently.
Windows PowerShell ISE is designed for both novice and advanced users.
Background Jobs
Background jobs are commands that run asynchronously. When you run a
background job, the command prompt returns immediately, even if the
command is still running. You can use the background job feature to run a
complex command in the background so that you can use your session for
other work while the command runs.
You can run a background job on a local or remote computer and then save
the results on the local or remote computer. To run a job remotely, use
the Invoke-Command cmdlet.
Windows PowerShell includes a set of cmdlets that contain the Job noun
(the Job cmdlets). Use these cmdlets for creating, starting, managing,
and deleting background jobs and for getting the results of a background
job. To get a list of the job cmdlets, type the following command:
get-command *-job
For more information about background jobs, see about_Jobs.
Script Debugger
Windows PowerShell 2.0 includes a cmdlet-based debugger for scripts and
functions. The debugger is supported by a fully documented public API
that you can use to build your own debugger or to customize or extend
the debugger.
The debugger cmdlets let you set breakpoints on lines, columns,
variables, and commands. These cmdlets let you manage the breakpoints
and display the call stack. You can create conditional breakpoints and
specify custom actions at a breakpoint, such as running diagnostic and
logging scripts.
When you reach a breakpoint, Windows PowerShell suspends execution
and starts the debugger. The debugger includes a set of custom commands
that let you step through the code. You can also run standard Windows
PowerShell commands to display the values of variables, and you can use
cmdlets to investigate the results.
For more information about debugging, see about_Debuggers.
Data Section
Scripts designed for Windows PowerShell 2.0 can have one or more
DATA sections that isolate the data from the script logic. The data in
the new DATA section is restricted to a specified subset of the Windows
PowerShell scripting language.
In Windows PowerShell 2.0, the DATA section is used to support
script internationalization. You can use the DATA section to isolate
and identify user message strings that will be translated into
multiple user interface languages.
For more information, see about_Data_Sections.
Script Internationalization
Windows PowerShell 2.0 script internationalization features allow you
to better serve users throughout the world. Script internationalization
enables scripts and functions to display messages and Help text to users
in multiple languages.
The script internationalization features query the operating system user
interface culture ($PsUICulture) during execution and then import the
appropriate translated text strings so you can display them to the user.
The Data section lets you store text strings separate from code so that
they are easily identified. A new cmdlet, ConvertFrom-StringData,
converts text strings into dictionary-like hash tables to facilitate
translation.
For more information, see about_Script_Internationalization.
WMI Cmdlets
The Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) functionality of
Windows PowerShell 2.0 is improved with the addition of the following
cmdlets:
- Remove-WmiObject
- Set-WmiInstance
- Invoke-WmiMethod
New parameters have been added to the Get-WmiObject cmdlet. All the WMI
cmdlets now support the following parameters:
- EnableAllPrivileges
- Impersonation
- Authentication
- Authority
These new parameters give you more refined control over the security
configuration of your WMI operations without requiring you to work
directly with the types in the .NET Framework Class Library.
For a list of WMI cmdlets, type the following command:
get-help *wmi*
To get help for each cmdlet, type get-help followed by the cmdlet name.
The Get-WinEvent Cmdlet
The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets events from Event Viewer logs and from
Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) event log files on local and remote
computers. It can get events from classic event logs and from the
Windows Event Logs that were introduced in Windows Vista.
You can use Get-WinEvent to get the objects that represent event logs, event
log providers, and the events in the logs. Get-WinEvent lets you combine
events from different sources in a single command. It supports
advanced queries in XML Path Language (XPath), XML, and hash table
format.
Get-WinEvent requires Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 and the
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.
The Out-Gridview Cmdlet
The Out-GridView cmdlet displays the results of other commands in an
interactive table in which you can search, sort, group, and filter the
results. For example, you can send the results of a Get-Process,
Get-WmiObject, Get-WinEvent, or Get-Eventlog command to Out-GridView and
then use the table features to examine the data.
help out-gridview -full
The Add-Type Cmdlet
The Add-Type cmdlet lets you add .NET Framework types to
Windows PowerShell from the source code of another .NET Framework
language.
Add-Type compiles the source code that creates the types and generates
assemblies that contain the new .NET Framework types. Then, you can use
the .NET Framework types in Windows PowerShell commands along with the
standard object types provided by the .NET Framework.
You can also use Add-Type to load assemblies into your session so that
you can use the types in the assemblies in Windows PowerShell.
Add-Type allows you develop new .NET Framework types, to
use .NET Framework types in C# libraries, and to access Win32 APIs.
For more information, see Add-Type.
Event Notification
Windows PowerShell 2.0 introduces event notification. Users can register
and subscribe to events, such as Windows PowerShell events, WMI events,
or .NET Framework events. And, users can listen, forward, and act on
management and system events both synchronously and asynchronously.
Developers can write applications that use the event architecture
to receive notification about state changes. Users can write
scripts that subscribe to various events and that react to the content.
Windows PowerShell provides cmdlets that create new events, get
events and event subscriptions, register and unregister events,
wait for events, and delete events. For more information about these
cmdlets, type the following command:
get-command *-event
Modules
Windows PowerShell modules let you divide and organize your
Windows PowerShell scripts into independent, self-contained,
reusable units. Code from a module executes in its own context,
so it does not add to, conflict with, or overwrite the variables,
functions, aliases, and other resources in the session.
You can write, distribute, combine, share, and reuse modules to build
simple scripts and complex applications.
Windows PowerShell 2.0 includes cmdlets to add, get, and remove modules
and to export module members. For more information about the cmdlets
that are related to modules, type the following command:
get-command *-module*
Transactions
Windows PowerShell 2.0 includes support for transactions. Transactions
let you undo an entire series of operations. Transactions are available
only for operations that support transactions. They are designed for
applications that require atomicity, consistency, isolation, and
recoverability, like databases and message queuing.
Cmdlets and providers that support transactions have a new
UseTransaction parameter. To start an operation within a transaction,
use the Start-Transaction cmdlet. Then, when you use the cmdlets that
perform the operation, use the UseTransaction parameter of each cmdlet
when you want the command to be part of a transaction.
If any command in the transaction fails at any point, use the
Rollback-Transaction cmdlet to undo all the commands in the transaction.
If all the commands succeed, use the Commit-Transaction cmdlet to make
the command actions permanent.
Windows PowerShell 2.0 includes cmdlets to start, use, commit, and roll
back transactions. For information about these cmdlets, type the
following command:
get-command *transaction*
Breaking Changes to Windows PowerShell 1.0
-- The value of the PowerShellVersion registry entry in
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\PowerShellEngine
is changed to 2.0.
-- New cmdlets and variables have been added. These additions might
conflict with variables and functions in profiles and scripts.
-- The -IEQ operator performs a case insensitive comparison on characters.
-- The Get-Command cmdlet gets functions by default, in addition to
cmdlets.
-- Native commands that generate a user interface cannot be piped to the
Out-Host cmdlet.
-- The new Begin, Process, End, and Dynamic Param language keywords might
conflict with similar words used in scripts and functions. Interpreting
these words as language keywords might result in parsing errors.
-- Cmdlet name resolution has changed. In Windows PowerShell 1.0, a
runtime error was generated when two Windows PowerShell snap-ins
exported cmdlets with the same name. In Windows PowerShell 2.0, the
last cmdlet that is added to the session runs when you type the command
name. To run a command that does not run by default, qualify the cmdlet
name with the name of the snap-in or module in which it originated.
-- A function name followed by '-?' gets the help topic for the function,
if one is included in the function.
-- Parameter resolution for Microsoft .Net Frameword methods have changed.
In Windows PowerShell 1.0, if you called an overloaded .NET method
that has more than one best fit syntax, no error was reported. In
Windows PowerShell 2.0, an ambiguity error is reported.
In addition, in Windows PowerShell 2.0, the algorithm for choosing the
best fit method has been revised significantly to minimize the number
of ambiguities.
-- If you are enumerating a collection in the pipeline and you try to
modify the collection in the pipeline, Windows PowerShell throws an
exception.
For example, the following commands would work in Windows
PowerShell 1.0, but would fail after first pipeline iteration in
Windows PowerShel 2.0.
$h = @{Name="Hello"; Value="Test"}
$h.keys | foreach-object {$h.remove($_)}
To avoid this error, create a sub-expression for the enumerator
by using the $() characters. For example:
$($h.keys) | foreach-object {$h.remove($_)}
For more information about Windows PowerShell 2.0, visit the following Web
sites:
-- Windows PowerShell Web Site
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=106031
-- Windows PowerShell Team Blog:
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=143696
SEE ALSO
about_Data_Sections
about_Debuggers
about_Functions_Advanced
about_Jobs
about_Join
about_PSSessions
about_Remote
about_Script_Internationalization
about_Split