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Get-Service

  • Reference
Module:
Microsoft.PowerShell.Management

Gets the services on the computer.

Syntax

Get-Service
   [[-Name] <String[]>]
   [-DependentServices]
   [-RequiredServices]
   [-Include <String[]>]
   [-Exclude <String[]>]
   [<CommonParameters>]
Get-Service
   [-DependentServices]
   [-RequiredServices]
   -DisplayName <String[]>
   [-Include <String[]>]
   [-Exclude <String[]>]
   [<CommonParameters>]
Get-Service
   [-DependentServices]
   [-RequiredServices]
   [-Include <String[]>]
   [-Exclude <String[]>]
   [-InputObject <ServiceController[]>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

This cmdlet is only available on the Windows platform.

The Get-Service cmdlet gets objects that represent the services on a computer, including running and stopped services. By default, when Get-Service is run without parameters, all the local computer's services are returned.

You can direct this cmdlet to get only particular services by specifying the service name or the display name of the services, or you can pipe service objects to this cmdlet.

Examples

Example 1: Get all services on the computer

This example gets all of the services on the computer. It behaves as though you typed Get-Service *. The default display shows the status, service name, and display name of each service.

Get-Service

Example 2: Get services that begin with a search string

This example retrieves services with service names that begin with WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation).

Get-Service "wmi*"

Example 3: Display services that include a search string

This example displays services with a display name that includes the word network. Searching the display name finds network-related services even when the service name doesn't include Net, such as xmlprov, the Network Provisioning Service.

Get-Service -Displayname "*network*"

Example 4: Get services that begin with a search string and an exclusion

This example only gets the services with service names that begin with win, except for the WinRM service.

Get-Service -Name "win*" -Exclude "WinRM"

Example 5: Display services that are currently active

This example displays only the services with a status of Running.

Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"}

Get-Service gets all the services on the computer and sends the objects down the pipeline. The Where-Object cmdlet, selects only the services with a Status property that equals Running.

Status is only one property of service objects. To see all of the properties, type Get-Service | Get-Member.

Example 6: List the services on the computer that have dependent services

This example gets services that have dependent services.

Get-Service |
  Where-Object {$_.DependentServices} |
    Format-List -Property Name, DependentServices, @{
      Label="NoOfDependentServices"; Expression={$_.dependentservices.count}
    }

Name                  : AudioEndpointBuilder
DependentServices     : {AudioSrv}
NoOfDependentServices : 1

Name                  : Dhcp
DependentServices     : {WinHttpAutoProxySvc}
NoOfDependentServices : 1
...

The Get-Service cmdlet gets all the services on the computer and sends the objects down the pipeline. The Where-Object cmdlet selects the services whose DependentServices property isn't null.

The results are sent down the pipeline to the Format-List cmdlet. The Property parameter displays the name of the service, the name of the dependent services, and a calculated property that displays the number of dependent services for each service.

Example 7: Sort services by property value

This example shows that when you sort services in ascending order by the value of their Status property, stopped services appear before running services. This happens because the value of Status is an enumeration, in which Stopped has a value of 1, and Running has a value of 4. For more information, see ServiceControllerStatus.

To list running services first, use the Descending parameter of the Sort-Object cmdlet.

Get-Service "s*" | Sort-Object status

Status   Name               DisplayName
------   ----               -----------
Stopped  stisvc             Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
Stopped  SwPrv              MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
Stopped  SysmonLog          Performance Logs and Alerts
Running  Spooler            Print Spooler
Running  srservice          System Restore Service
Running  SSDPSRV            SSDP Discovery Service
Running  ShellHWDetection   Shell Hardware Detection
Running  Schedule           Task Scheduler
Running  SCardSvr           Smart Card
Running  SamSs              Security Accounts Manager
Running  SharedAccess       Windows Firewall/Internet Connectio...
Running  SENS               System Event Notification
Running  seclogon           Secondary Logon

Example 8: Get the dependent services of a service

This example gets the services that the WinRM service requires. The value of the service's ServicesDependedOn property is returned.

Get-Service "WinRM" -RequiredServices

Example 9: Get a service through the pipeline operator

This example gets the WinRM service on the local computer. The service name string, enclosed in quotation marks, is sent down the pipeline to Get-Service.

"WinRM" | Get-Service

Parameters

-DependentServices

Indicates that this cmdlet gets only the services that depend upon the specified service.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:DS
Position:Named
Default value:False
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-DisplayName

Specifies, as a string array, the display names of services to be retrieved. Wildcards are permitted.

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

-Exclude

Specifies, as a string array, a service or services that this cmdlet excludes from the operation. The value of this parameter qualifies the Name parameter. Enter a name element or pattern, such as s*. Wildcards are permitted.

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

-Include

Specifies, as a string array, a service or services that this cmdlet includes in the operation. The value of this parameter qualifies the Name parameter. Enter a name element or pattern, such as s*. Wildcards are permitted.

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

-InputObject

Specifies ServiceController objects representing the services to be retrieved. Enter a variable that contains the objects, or type a command or expression that gets the objects. You can pipe a service object to this cmdlet.

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

-Name

Specifies the service names of services to be retrieved. Wildcards are permitted.

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

-RequiredServices

Indicates that this cmdlet gets only the services that this service requires. This parameter gets the value of the ServicesDependedOn property of the service.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:SDO, ServicesDependedOn
Position:Named
Default value:False
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:True

Inputs

ServiceController

You can pipe a service object to this cmdlet.

String

You can pipe a service name to this cmdlet.

Outputs

ServiceController

This cmdlet returns objects that represent the services on the computer.

Notes

PowerShell includes the following aliases for Get-Service:

  • Windows:
    • gsv

This cmdlet is only available on Windows platforms.

Beginning in PowerShell 6.0, the following properties are added to the ServiceController objects: UserName, Description, DelayedAutoStart, BinaryPathName, and StartupType .

This cmdlet can display services only when the current user has permission to see them. If this cmdlet does not display services, you might not have permission to see them.

To find the service name and display name of each service on your system, type Get-Service. The service names appear in the Name column, and the display names appear in the DisplayName column.

Note

Typically, Get-Service returns information about services and not driver. However, if you specify the name of a driver, Get-Service returns information about the driver.

  • Enumeration doesn't include device driver services
  • When a wildcard is specified, the cmdlet only returns Windows services
  • If you specify the Name or DisplayName that is an exact match to a device service name, then the device instance is returned

When you sort in ascending order by status value, Stopped services appear before Running services. The Status property of a service is an enumerated value in which the names of the statuses represent integer values. The sort is based on the integer value, not the name. Running appears before Stopped because Stopped has a value of 1, and Running has a value of 4. For more information, see ServiceControllerStatus.