PowerShell Trace-Command

Windows PowerShell Trace Command

On this page I will describe how to employ PowerShell's built-in cmdlet to debug problems.  Trace-Command cmdlet initiates a record of how PowerShell attempts to execute the specified expression.

 PowerShell Trace-Command Topics

• Investigate Components to Trace
• Example 1: Trace-Command Filesystem
• Sample Output of Trace-Command
• Example 2: Trace-Command Processes

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Preparation: Choose an Expression to Trace

I like to start at the beginning with a simple PowerShell command, and then build on success.

Note 1: This is just the expression that we wish to investigate with a trace.

Timeout: Investigate Components to Trace

Key Question: What specifically do we want to troubleshoot?  FileSystem, PathResolution?  Let us seek the answer by using another trace cmdlet.

This was how I discovered PathResolution and other debug components.

Example 1: Trace-Command Filsystem

We have chosen our expression {GCI}, and we have researched the name of a component to trace (PathResolution).

Note 2: Nothing gets displayed unless you append the -PSHost parameter.

Note 3: Talking of parameters, PathResolution itself is not a parameter, this is why for clarity I explicitly wrote -Name with its value of PathResolution.

Note 4: GCI is a common alias for Get-ChildItem.

Sample Output of Trace-Command

Note 4: There were no problems with this particular trace, to mimic an error to troubleshoot you could choose a non-exist path such as GCI V:

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Research Parameters for Trace-Command

This is how I discovered -PSHost and other useful parameters for this debugging cmdlet.

Note 5: The Help file reveals ParameterBinding

Example 2a: Trace-Command Processes

I created an array called $Names=@(, which contains interesting tracing elements.  For a working script I would just focus on the names of interest

Note 6: The expression is Get-Process.

Example 2b: Trace-Command Processes

For comprehensive debugging, I created an array $Names=@( containing all the possible tracing elements as revealed by Get-TraceSource.

Guy Recommends:  SolarWinds’ Log & Event Management Tool

LEM will alert you to problems such as when a key application on a particular server is unavailable.  It can also detect when services have stopped, or if there is a network latency problem.  Perhaps this log and event management tool’s most interesting ability is to take corrective action, for example by restarting services, or isolating the source of a maleware attack.

Yet perhaps the killer reason why people use LEM is for its compliance capability, with a little help from you, it will ensure that your organization complies with industry standards such as CISP or FERPA.  LEM is a really smart application that can make correlations between data in different logs, then use its built-in logic to take corrective action, to restart services, or thwart potential security breaches – give LEM a whirl.

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Discover Other Members of PowerShell's 'Trace' Family

Let us research other cmdlets which deal with tracing or debugging.

See more tasks for PowerShell »

Summary of PowerShell's Trace-Command

Trace-Command cmdlet automatically configures a detailed record of the specified PowerShell expression or command.  

See more Microsoft PowerShell tutorials

• PowerShell Home   • Real life tasks   • Invoke-Command   • PowerShell Windows 7

• Remote PowerShell   • PowerShell WSMan  • -Online   • PowerShell WinRm   • Test-Connection

• Jobs  -AsJob   • Receive-Job   • Get-Job   • Receive-Job   • Free WMI Monitor

Please email me if you have a better example script. Also please report any factual mistakes, grammatical errors or broken links, I will be happy to correct the fault.