Discover commands in PowerShell

Question 1

Discover cmdlets by using the help system and Get-Help

Answer 1

You can use the Get-Help core cmdlet to learn more about a command. Typically, you invoke Get-Help by specifying it by name and adding the -Name flag that contains the name of the cmdlet you want to learn about. Here’s an example:

Get-Help -Name Get-Help

Question 2

Update help

Answer 2

New versions of PowerShell don’t include the help system by default. The first time you run Get-Help, you’re asked to install the help files. You can also run the Update-Help cmdlet to install the help files. Because a call to Update-Help downloads many help files, the command can fetch only once per day by default. You can override this fetching behavior by using the -Force flag.

You update the help files differently on Windows compared to Linux or macOS. The process differs because when you run the Update-Help cmdlet, help files are fetched over the internet by matching your computer’s culture. On Windows, a culture is already installed, but it’s missing on Linux and macOS. So you need to specify a culture when you update help files on Linux and macOS.

Update-Help -UICulture en-US -Verbose

This command specifies the -UICulture flag. It gives it the value en-US, which fetches US English help files. To update your help files on macOS or Linux, use a culture that corresponds to your machine’s culture.

Question 3

NAME

Answer 3

Provides the name of the command.

Question 4

SYNTAX

Answer 4

Shows ways to call the command by using a combination of flags, and sometimes, allowed parameters.

Question 5

ALIASES

Answer 5

Lists any aliases for a command. An alias is a different name for a command, and it can be used to invoke the command.

Question 6

REMARKS

Answer 6

Provides information about what commands to run to get more help for this command.

Question 7

PARAMETERS

Answer 7

Provides details about the parameter. It lists its type, a longer description, and acceptable values, if applicable.

Question 8

Filter the help response Full

Answer 8

Returns a detailed help page. It specifies information like parameters, inputs, and outputs that you don’t get in the standard response.

Question 9

Filter the help response Detailed

Answer 9

Returns a response that looks like the standard response, but it includes a section for parameters.

Question 10

Filter the help response Examples

Answer 10

Returns only examples, if any exist.

Question 11

Filter the help response Online

Answer 11

Opens a web page for your command.

Question 12

Filter the help response Parameter

Answer 12

Requires a parameter name as an argument. It lists a specific parameter’s properties.