Get-EventLog

Reference

Module:: Microsoft.PowerShell.Management

Gets the events in an event log, or a list of the event logs, on the local computer or remote computers.

Syntax

Get-EventLog
   [-LogName] <String>
   [-ComputerName <String[]>]
   [-Newest <Int32>]
   [-After <DateTime>]
   [-Before <DateTime>]
   [-UserName <String[]>]
   [[-InstanceId] <Int64[]>]
   [-Index <Int32[]>]
   [-EntryType <String[]>]
   [-Source <String[]>]
   [-Message <String>]
   [-AsBaseObject]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-EventLog
   [-ComputerName <String[]>]
   [-List]
   [-AsString]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Get-EventLog cmdlet gets events and event logs from local and remote computers. By default, Get-EventLog gets logs from the local computer. To get logs from remote computers, use the ComputerName parameter.

You can use the Get-EventLog parameters and property values to search for events. The cmdlet gets events that match the specified property values.

PowerShell cmdlets that contain the EventLog noun work only on Windows classic event logs such as Application, System, or Security. To get logs that use the Windows Event Log technology in Windows Vista and later Windows versions, use Get-WinEvent.

Note

Get-EventLog uses a Win32 API that is deprecated. The results may not be accurate. Use the Get-WinEvent cmdlet instead.

Examples

Example 1: Get event logs on the local computer

This example displays the list of event logs that are available on the local computer. The names in the Log column are used with the LogName parameter to specify which log is searched for events.

Get-EventLog -List

Max(K)   Retain   OverflowAction      Entries  Log
------   ------   --------------      -------  ---
15,168        0   OverwriteAsNeeded   20,792   Application
15,168        0   OverwriteAsNeeded   12,559   System
15,360        0   OverwriteAsNeeded   11,173   Windows PowerShell

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the List parameter to display the available logs.

Example 2: Get recent entries from an event log on the local computer

This example gets recent entries from the System event log.

Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 5

Index   Time          EntryType    Source              InstanceID   Message
-----   ----          ---------    ------              ----------   -------
13820   Jan 17 19:16  Error        DCOM                     10016   The description for Event...
13819   Jan 17 19:08  Error        DCOM                     10016   The description for Event...
13818   Jan 17 19:06  Information  Service Control...  1073748864   The start type of the Back...
13817   Jan 17 19:05  Error        DCOM                     10016   The description for Event...
13815   Jan 17 19:03  Information  Microsoft-Windows...        35   The time service is now sync...

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the System event log. The Newest parameter returns the five most recent events.

Example 3: Find all sources for a specific number of entries in an event log

This example shows how to find all of the sources that are included in the 1000 most recent entries in the System event log.

$Events = Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 1000
$Events | Group-Object -Property Source -NoElement | Sort-Object -Property Count -Descending

Count   Name
-----   ----
  110   DCOM
   65   Service Control Manager
   51   Microsoft-Windows-Kern...
   14   EventLog
   14   BTHUSB
   13   Win32k

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the System log. The Newest parameter selects the 1000 most recent events. The event objects are stored in the $Events variable. The $Events objects are sent down the pipeline to the Group-Object cmdlet. Group-Object uses the Property parameter to group the objects by source and counts the number of objects for each source. The NoElement parameter removes the group members from the output. The Sort-Object cmdlet uses the Property parameter to sort by the count of each source name. The Descending parameter sorts the list in order by count from highest to lowest.

Example 4: Get error events from a specific event log

This example gets error events from the System event log.

Get-EventLog -LogName System -EntryType Error

Index Time          EntryType   Source  InstanceID Message
----- ----          ---------   ------  ---------- -------
13296 Jan 16 13:53  Error       DCOM    10016 The description for Event ID '10016' in Source...
13291 Jan 16 13:51  Error       DCOM    10016 The description for Event ID '10016' in Source...
13245 Jan 16 11:45  Error       DCOM    10016 The description for Event ID '10016' in Source...
13230 Jan 16 11:07  Error       DCOM    10016 The description for Event ID '10016' in Source...

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the System log. The EntryType parameter filters the events to show only Error events.

Example 5: Get events from an event log with an InstanceId and Source value

This example gets events from the System log for a specific InstanceId and Source.

Get-EventLog -LogName System -InstanceId 10016 -Source DCOM

Index Time          EntryType  Source  InstanceID  Message
----- ----          ---------  ------  ----------  -------
13245 Jan 16 11:45  Error      DCOM         10016  The description for Event ID '10016' in Source...
13230 Jan 16 11:07  Error      DCOM         10016  The description for Event ID '10016' in Source...
13219 Jan 16 10:00  Error      DCOM         10016  The description for Event ID '10016' in Source...

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the System log. The InstanceID parameter selects the events with the specified Instance ID. The Source parameter specifies the event property.

Example 6: Get events from multiple computers

This command gets the events from the System event log on three computers: Server01, Server02, and Server03.

Get-EventLog -LogName System -ComputerName Server01, Server02, Server03

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the System log. The ComputerName parameter uses a comma-separated string to list the computers from which you want to get the event logs.

Example 7: Get all events that include a specific word in the message

This command gets all the events in the System event log that contain a specific word in the event's message. It's possible that your specified Message parameter's value is included in the message's content but isn't displayed on the PowerShell console.

Get-EventLog -LogName System -Message *description*

Index Time          EntryType   Source       InstanceID   Message
----- ----          ---------   ------       ----------   -------
13821 Jan 17 19:17  Error       DCOM              10016   The description for Event ID '10016'...
13820 Jan 17 19:16  Error       DCOM              10016   The description for Event ID '10016'...
13819 Jan 17 19:08  Error       DCOM              10016   The description for Event ID '10016'...

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the System event log. The Message parameter specifies a word to search for in the message field of each event.

Example 8: Display the property values of an event

This example shows how to display all of an event's properties and values.

$A = Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 1
$A | Select-Object -Property *

EventID            : 10016
MachineName        : localhost
Data               : {}
Index              : 13821
Category           : (0)
CategoryNumber     : 0
EntryType          : Error
Message            : The description for Event ID '10016' in Source 'DCOM'...
Source             : DCOM
ReplacementStrings : {Local,...}
InstanceId         : 10016
TimeGenerated      : 1/17/2019 19:17:23
TimeWritten        : 1/17/2019 19:17:23
UserName           : username
Site               :
Container          :

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the System event log. The Newest parameter selects the most recent event object. The object is stored in the $A variable. The object in the $A variable is sent down the pipeline to the Select-Object cmdlet. Select-Object uses the Property parameter with an asterisk (*) to select all of the object's properties.

Example 9: Get events from an event log using a source and event ID

This example gets events for a specified Source and Event ID.

Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Source Outlook | Where-Object {$_.EventID -eq 63} |
              Select-Object -Property Source, EventID, InstanceId, Message

Source   EventID   InstanceId   Message
------   -------   ----------   -------
Outlook       63   1073741887   The Exchange web service request succeeded.
Outlook       63   1073741887   Outlook detected a change notification.
Outlook       63   1073741887   The Exchange web service request succeeded.

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the Application event log. The Source parameter specifies the application name, Outlook. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Where-Object cmdlet. For each object in the pipeline, the Where-Object cmdlet uses the variable $_.EventID to compare the Event ID property to the specified value. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Select-Object cmdlet. Select-Object uses the Property parameter to select the properties to display in the PowerShell console.

Example 10: Get events and group by a property

Get-EventLog -LogName System -UserName NT* | Group-Object -Property UserName -NoElement |
              Select-Object -Property Count, Name

Count  Name
-----  ----
6031   NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
  42   NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE
   4   NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE

The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the System log. The UserName parameter includes the asterisk (*) wildcard to specify a portion of the user name. The event objects are sent down the pipeline to the Group-Object cmdlet. Group-Object uses the Property parameter to specify that the UserName property is used to group the objects and count the number of objects for each user name. The NoElement parameter removes the group members from the output. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Select-Object cmdlet. Select-Object uses the Property parameter to select the properties to display in the PowerShell console.

Example 11: Get events that occurred during a specific date and time range

This example gets Error events from the System event log for a specified date and time range. The Before and After parameters set the date and time range but are excluded from the output.

$Begin = Get-Date -Date '1/17/2019 08:00:00'
$End = Get-Date -Date '1/17/2019 17:00:00'
Get-EventLog -LogName System -EntryType Error -After $Begin -Before $End

Index Time          EntryType   Source   InstanceID  Message
----- ----          ---------   ------   ----------  -------
13821 Jan 17 13:40  Error       DCOM          10016  The description for Event ID...
13820 Jan 17 13:11  Error       DCOM          10016  The description for Event ID...
...
12372 Jan 17 10:08  Error       DCOM          10016  The description for Event ID...
12371 Jan 17 09:04  Error       DCOM          10016  The description for Event ID...

The Get-Date cmdlet uses the Date parameter to specify a date and time. The DateTime objects are stored in the $Begin and $End variables. The Get-EventLog cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the System log. The EntryType parameter specifies the Error event type. The date and time range is set by the After parameter and $Begin variable and the Before parameter and $End variable.

Parameters

-After

Gets events that occurred after a specified date and time. The After parameter date and time are excluded from the output. Enter a DateTime object, such as the value returned by the Get-Date cmdlet.

Type:	DateTime
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-AsBaseObject

Indicates that this cmdlet returns a standard System.Diagnostics.EventLogEntry object for each event. Without this parameter, Get-EventLog returns an extended PSObject object with additional EventLogName, Source, and InstanceId properties.

To see the effect of this parameter, pipe the events to the Get-Member cmdlet and examine the TypeName value in the result.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-AsString

Indicates that this cmdlet returns the output as strings, instead of objects.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Before

Gets events that occurred before a specified date and time. The Before parameter date and time are excluded from the output. Enter a DateTime object, such as the value returned by the Get-Date cmdlet.

Type:	DateTime
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-ComputerName

This parameter specifies a remote computer's NetBIOS name, Internet Protocol (IP) address, or a fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

If the ComputerName parameter isn't specified, Get-EventLog defaults to the local computer. The parameter also accepts a dot (.) to specify the local computer.

The ComputerName parameter doesn't rely on Windows PowerShell remoting. You can use Get-EventLog with the ComputerName parameter even if your computer is not configured to run remote commands.

Type:	String[]
Aliases:	Cn
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-EntryType

Specifies, as a string array, the entry type of the events that this cmdlet gets.

The acceptable values for this parameter are:

Error
Information
FailureAudit
SuccessAudit
Warning

Type:	String[]
Aliases:	ET
Accepted values:	Error, Information, FailureAudit, SuccessAudit, Warning
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Index

Specifies the index values to get from the event log. The parameter accepts a comma-separated string of values.

Type:	Int32[]
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-InstanceId

Specifies the Instance IDs to get from the event log. The parameter accepts a comma-separated string of values.

Type:	Int64[]
Position:	1
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-List

Displays the list of event logs on the computer.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-LogName

Specifies the name of one event log. To find the log names use Get-EventLog -List. Wildcard characters are permitted. This parameter is required.

Type:	String
Aliases:	LN
Position:	0
Default value:	None
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	True

-Message

Specifies a string in the event message. You can use this parameter to search for messages that contain certain words or phrases. Wildcards are permitted.

Type:	String
Aliases:	MSG
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	True

-Newest

Begins with the newest events and gets the specified number of events. The number of events is required, for example -Newest 100. Specifies the maximum number of events that are returned.

Type:	Int32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Source

Specifies, as a string array, sources that were written to the log that this cmdlet gets. Wildcards are permitted.

Type:	String[]
Aliases:	ABO
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	True

-UserName

Specifies, as a string array, user names that are associated with events. Enter names or name patterns, such as User01, User*, or Domain01\User*. Wildcards are permitted.

Type:	String[]
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	True

Inputs

None

You cannot pipe input to Get-EventLog.

Outputs

System.Diagnostics.EventLogEntry. System.Diagnostics.EventLog. System.String

If the LogName parameter is specified, the output is a collection of System.Diagnostics.EventLogEntry objects.

If only the List parameter is specified, the output is a collection of System.Diagnostics.EventLog objects.

If both the List and AsString parameters are specified, the output is a collection of System.String objects.

Notes

The cmdlets Get-EventLog and Get-WinEvent are not supported in the Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE).

Share via

Get-EventLog

Syntax

Description

Examples

Example 1: Get event logs on the local computer

Example 2: Get recent entries from an event log on the local computer

Example 3: Find all sources for a specific number of entries in an event log

Example 4: Get error events from a specific event log

Example 5: Get events from an event log with an InstanceId and Source value

Example 6: Get events from multiple computers

Example 7: Get all events that include a specific word in the message

Example 8: Display the property values of an event

Example 9: Get events from an event log using a source and event ID

Example 10: Get events and group by a property

Example 11: Get events that occurred during a specific date and time range

Parameters

-After

-AsBaseObject

-AsString

-Before

-ComputerName

-EntryType

-Index

-InstanceId

-List

-LogName

-Message

-Newest

-Source

-UserName

Inputs

Outputs

Notes

Additional resources

Share via

Get-EventLog

Syntax

Description

Examples

Example 1: Get event logs on the local computer

Example 2: Get recent entries from an event log on the local computer

Example 3: Find all sources for a specific number of entries in an event log

Example 4: Get error events from a specific event log

Example 5: Get events from an event log with an InstanceId and Source value

Example 6: Get events from multiple computers

Example 7: Get all events that include a specific word in the message

Example 8: Display the property values of an event

Example 9: Get events from an event log using a source and event ID

Example 10: Get events and group by a property

Example 11: Get events that occurred during a specific date and time range

Parameters

-After

-AsBaseObject

-AsString

-Before

-ComputerName

-EntryType

-Index

-InstanceId

-List

-LogName

-Message

-Newest

-Source

-UserName

Inputs

Outputs

Notes

Related Links

Additional resources