Summary : Use a Windows PowerShell cmdlet to retrieve logged information about Windows PowerShell. How can I easily find logged information about Windows PowerShell? Use the Get-WinEvent cmdlet and look for a LogName with powershell in the name: Get-WinEvent -LogName *powershell*

Summary : Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, concludes his five-part series about Windows PowerShell Workflow. Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a number of commands that I want to run against several remote servers. The commands include stuff that must happen prior to something else happening. But then, there are also some things that I would like to happen as fast as possible. Is this permissible? If so, do I have to write two different workflows? —TB Hello TB, Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. This afternoon I am sipping an awesome cup of Oolong tea with a cinnamon stick, jasmine flower, and lemon grass. The flavor is just about perfect. In the background, I am listening to Ravel . Outside, the sky is dark and it is raining. The thunder seems to punctuate the music. Note This is the last post in a five-part series about Windows PowerShell Workflow for “mere mortals.” Before you read this post, please read: PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 1 PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 2 PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 3 PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 4 For more information about workflow, see these Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog posts: Windows PowerShell Workflow . Well TB, the good news is that you do not need to write two different workflows to enable parallel processing and sequential processing. Windows PowerShell Workflows are flexible enough to handle both in the same workflow. Adding a sequence activity to a workflow To add a sequence activity to a Windows PowerShell Workflow, all I need to do is use the Sequence keyword and specify a script block. When I do this, it causes the commands in the sequence script block to run sequentially and in the specified order. The key concept here is that a Sequence activity occurs within a Parallel activity. The Sequence activity is required when I want commands to run in a particular order. This is because commands running inside a Parallel activity run in an undetermined order. The commands in the Sequence script block run in parallel with all of the commands in the Parallel activity. But the commands within the Sequence script block run in the order in which they appear in the script block. The following workflow illustrates this technique: workflow get-winfeatures { Parallel { Get-WindowsFeature -Name PowerShell* InlineScript {$env:COMPUTERNAME} Sequence { Get-date $PSVersionTable.PSVersion...

Summary : View Windows PowerShell console host information. How can I easily find information about the Windows PowerShell console host? Use the Get-Host cmdlet, and select the RawUI property from the InterhostUserInterface object: (get-host).ui.RawUI

Summary : Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, continues his five-part series about Windows PowerShell Workflow. Hey, Scripting Guy! Yesterday you talked about Windows PowerShell Workflow activities. But you only demonstrated the Parallel activity. Is there something you can share with me about some of the other types of activities? In particular I am interested in checkpoints because I think they can help me. —AP Hello AP, Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. This morning, it is really foggy outside. To be honest, it seems to look more like fall than the end of summer. But then, I am not a real weather person—I don’t even play one on TV. It is fairly humid and fairly cool—a nice morning for a cup of English Breakfast tea. I am not in the mood to experiment today, and so I am going with a standard recipe of mine: Three scoops of English Breakfast tea, a scoop of lemon grass, and a single crushed cinnamon stick. I let it steep for three minutes and 45 seconds, grab my tea pot, my Surface RT, and head outside to check email. AP, you want to talk about checkpoints in a Windows PowerShell workflow today. No problem… Note This is the fourth in a five-part series of blog posts about Windows PowerShell Workflow for “mere mortals.” Before you read this post, please read: PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 1 PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 2 PowerShell Workflow for Mere Mortals: Part 3 For more information about workflow, see these Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog posts: Windows PowerShell Workflow . Checkpoints Windows PowerShell workflow If I have a Windows PowerShell Workflow, and I need to save the workflow state or data to a disk while the workflow runs, I can configure a checkpoint. In this way, if something interrupts the workflow, it does not need to restart completely. Instead, the workflow resumes from the point of the last checkpoint. Setting a checkpoint in a Windows PowerShell Workflow is sometimes referred to as “persistence” or “persisting a workflow.” Because Windows PowerShell Workflows run on large distributed networks, or they control the execution of long running tasks, it is vital that the workflow can handle interruptions. Understanding checkpoints A checkpoint is a snapshot of the workflow’s current state. This includes the current values of variables and generated output. A checkpoint persists this data to...

Summary : Use Windows PowerShell to display date, time, and hour in 24-hour format. How can I use Windows PowerShell to get the hour of the day in 24-hour format? Use the Get-Date cmdlet and specify the “%H” pattern to the UFormat parameter ( H is case sensitive): get-date -UFormat "%H"