Creates a record of all or part of a Windows PowerShell session in a text file.
Syntax
Start-Transcript [[-Path] <string>] [-Append] [-Force] [-NoClobber] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]
Description
The Start-Transcript cmdlet creates a record of all or part of a Windows PowerShell session in a text file. The transcript includes all command that the user types and all output that appears on the console.
Parameters
-Append
Adds the new transcript to the end of an existing file. Use the Path parameter to specify the file.
|
Required? |
false |
|
Position? |
named |
|
Default Value |
none |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
|
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
-Force
Allows the cmdlet to append the transcript to an existing read-only file. When used on a read-only file, the cmdlet changes the file permission to read-write. Even using the Force parameter, the cmdlet cannot override security restrictions.
|
Required? |
false |
|
Position? |
named |
|
Default Value |
none |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
|
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
-NoClobber
Will not overwrite (replace the contents) of an existing file. By default, if a transcript file exists in the specified path, Start-Transcript overwrites the file without warning.
|
Required? |
false |
|
Position? |
named |
|
Default Value |
none |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
|
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
-Path <string>
Specifies a location for the transcript file. Enter a path to a .txt file. Wildcards are not permitted.
If you do not specify a path, Start-Transcript uses the path in the value of the $Transcript global variable. If you have not created this variable, Start-Transcript stores the transcripts in the $Home\My Documents directory as \PowerShell_transcript.<time-stamp>.txt files.
If any of the directories in the path do not exist, the command fails.
|
Required? |
false |
|
Position? |
1 |
|
Default Value |
none |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
|
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
-Confirm
Prompts you for confirmation before executing the command.
|
Required? |
false |
|
Position? |
named |
|
Default Value |
none |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
|
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
-WhatIf
Describes what would happen if you executed the command without actually executing the command.
|
Required? |
false |
|
Position? |
named |
|
Default Value |
none |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
|
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
<CommonParameters>
This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Verbose, -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -OutBuffer, and -OutVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.
Inputs and Outputs
The input type is the type of the objects that you can pipe to the cmdlet. The return type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet returns.
|
Inputs |
None You cannot pipe objects to this cmdlet. |
|
Outputs |
System.String Start-Transcript returns a string that contains a confirmation message and the path to the output file. |
Notes
To stop a transcript, use the Stop-Transcript cmdlet.
To record an entire session, add the Start-Transcript command to your profile. For more information, see about_Profiles.
Example 1
C:\PS>start-transcript This command starts a transcript in the default file location.
Example 2
C:\PS>start-transcript -path c:\transcripts\transcript0.txt -noclobber This command starts a transcript in the Transcript0.txt file in C:\transcripts. The NoClobber parameter prevents any existing files from being overwritten. If the Transcript0.txt file already exists, the command fails.
See Also