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Skype for Business Server 2015 Management Shell

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The Skype for Business Server Management Shell provides the command line interface for server administration and management. It is built on Windows PowerShell and includes a comprehensive set of management and administration cmdlets that are specific to Skype and legacy Lync server products.

Windows PowerShell allows you to manage Microsoft applications from the command line. It includes a command-line environment, product-specific commands, and a full scripting language. Windows PowerShell was first introduced as a downloadable release for the Windows operating system late in 2006, and was incorporated as the command-line interface for manageability of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. It has been incorporated into most of the Microsoft Server products, including Lync and Skype servers beginning with Lync Server 2010. There are over 700 Lync and Skype specific cmdlets available in the Skype for Business Server Management Shell.

Note

Skype for Business cmdlet reference has moved to docs.microsoft.com. Clicking on the links below will take you to the new docs.microsoft.com page. The content is now open sourced and available for community contributions through GitHub. Interested in contributing? Check out the README in the repo here: https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/office-docs-powershell

The following sections contain a list of cmdlets and their descriptions. This information is also available directly from the command line. Simply type the following at the Skype for Business Server Management Shell command prompt:

Get-Help <cmdlet name> -Full

For example, to retrieve help from the command prompt on the New-CsVoicePolicy cmdlet, type the following:

Get-Help New-CsVoicePolicy -Full

Things to know about Windows PowerShell in Skype for Business Server:

  • To run the Skype for Business Server cmdlets, open the Skype for Business Server Management Shell.

    Warning

    If you open a Windows PowerShell window rather than the Skype for Business Server Management Shell, by default you may not be able to run the Skype cmdlets. To run Skype for Business Server cmdlets from within Windows PowerShell, first type the following at the Windows PowerShell command prompt:
    Import-Module SkypeforBusiness

  • Skype for Business Server Management Shell is automatically installed on every Skype for Business Server Enterprise Edition Front End Server or Standard Edition server.

  • You can update the Skype for Business Server Management Shell help content by running the Update-Help cmdlet. The Update-Help cmdlet downloads and installs the newest help files available for all of the modules installed on your computer, including updates to Skype for Business cmdlets.

    By default, the Update-Help cmdlet will update all the modules installed on your Skype for Business Server. If you want to update only certain modules, you can use the Module parameter to limit the scope of the cmdlet. The following example updates only the Skype for Business module.

    Update-Help -Module SkypeforBusiness

    If you need to update the Help on servers that are not connected to the internet, you can use the Save-Help cmdlet to get the latest version of the help and save it to a location you specify. You can then use the Update-Help cmdlet with the –SourcePath parameter on servers not connected to the internet to get the updated help from the location you selected. The following example shows how to save the help files to a network file share, and then update the help for the Skype for Business module from the file share.

    // Save the help files
   Save-Help -DestinationPath \\UpdateShare\HelpDownload
// Run Update-Help against the local help files
   Update-Help -Module SkypeforBusiness -SourcePath \\UpdateShare\HelpDownload

    For more detailed information, see About Updatable Help.