PowerShell: More flexible than IpconfigPowerShell: More flexible than IpconfigScripting WMI objects with PowerShell is a particularly productive area. On this page I will illustrate PowerShell's capabilities by creating a script which is more flexible than Ipconfig. Topics for PowerShell: More flexible than Ipconfig
Our MissionOn this page our mission is to extract TCP/IP information from a machine's network adapters using PowerShell. But first a question: 'Is Guy reinventing the wheel? Can Ipconfig, with its numerous switches, provide the same information?' To answer this question is easy, all you have to do is compare Ipconfig with my PowerShell scripts, even better, compare Ipconfig with YOUR scripts. If I could sum up the benefit of PowerShell over Ipconfig, in one word, that word would be flexibility. For example, you can customize which TCP/IP properties to display, and in addition, you can interrogate the network adapters on other machines. Can Ipconfig do that? I have not found away. PowerShell Objectives WMIObject -list (parameter to enumerate
all possible object classes) Guy's Advice Either work through my learning progression by starting with Objective 1 (recommended), or else if you are in a hurry, cut to the chase, and head for Objective 3 PowerShell: More flexible than Ipconfig. Pre-requisites and Checklist
Download
PowerShell from Microsoft's site. One interesting point is that there are different versions
of PowerShell for XP, Windows Server 2003 and Vista. Method 1 (Quick)
Method 2 (Best)
Objective 1) - List WMI ObjectsHere is a cmdlet which identifies all the Network WMI objects. $colItems = get-wmiobject -list | where {$_.name -match "network"} Learning PointsNote 1: Because PowerShell is so simple, yet so efficient, we need fewer commands than for a corresponding VBScript. Indeed, the bare minimum to get
started, and display all the WMI objects is these 8 letters with a dash in the middle: Note 2: Observe the (|) pipe. You will use this symbol hundreds of times in PowerShell, what happens is the output of the wmiobject list is pumped into the 'where' clause, which pulls out all the entries that contain the word "network". My thinking was get-wmiobject -list produces too many objects. Note 3: I deliberately don't use many aliases in my scripts, but I make an exception for ft (format-Table) because it's so useful for controlling the display of PowerShell's output. Do try the above script with, and without, the last word, 'name'. Objective 2) - WMIObject | get-Member (Discover which properties to use in our mission)This script identifies the properties available for the object: Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration. Here below is a classic example of the get-Member construction. $colItems = get-wmiobject -class "Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration" Learning PointsNote 1: Observe how -class homes in on the object that we are interested in, namely: Note 2: If you wished to manipulate the TCP/IP settings, you could investigate which methods are available by substituting 'Method' for the last word, 'Property'. Alternatively, you could omit the '-Membertype Property' phrase altogether. Objective 3) - PowerShell: More flexible than IpconfigHere is the main script illustrating PowerShell's ability to display information about your TCP/IP properties. # PowerShell cmdlet to interrogate the Network Adapter Note 1: The properties that I have chosen are not important. This is just an example to get you started; it would make my day if you substituted properties that you researched from Example 2: Get-Member, for example, .DefaultGateway or .IPSubnet instead of .MacAddress. Note 2: My old friend 'Barking' Eddie thought that my printer needed cleaning when he saw ` in my script. Actually this character (`), found at the top left of the keyboard, is called a backtick. What the backtick does is tell PowerShell - 'This command continues on the next line'. Just to be clear, this character corresponds to ASCII 096, and is not a misplaced comma! Note 3: To loop though all the network adapters, I chose the ForEach construction. In PowerShell in general, and ForEach in particular, the type of bracket is highly significant; (ellipses for the condition) and {curly for the block command}. Note 4: Most of my scripts employ the 'Where' clause to filter the output. In this case I wanted to discard data concerning any virtual network cards. Note 5: I almost forgot, $strComputer controls which computer you are analysing. Again, it would make my day if altered "." to the hostname of another machine on your network.
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Summary of PowerShell: More flexible than IpconfigThe aim of this script is to show you that PowerShell can not only mimic Ipconfig, but also exceed its capabilities. In particular, I wanted to show how PowerShell could customise list of TCP/IP properties in its output. It would also be useful to create a script which can display TCP/IP information from other machines on the network. See Also• Windows PowerShell Home • Introduction • Cmdlets • Exchange 2007 • Profile.ps1 • $_.Pipeline If you see an error of any kind, do let me know. Please report any factual mistakes, grammatical errors or broken links, I will be happy to not only to correct the fault, but also to give you credit. *
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