Exercise - Discover objects

  • 1 minute

In some scenarios, you'll need to manage processes on a machine. If you need to stop some of the processes, you might want to track what processes are running, how many resources they're using, and their process IDs.

Discover an object by using Get-Member

You know that the Get-Process cmdlet lists information about processes. Now, you want to find what other cmdlets work with processes and what a process consists of.

In this scenario, you'll use the Get-Member cmdlet.

  1. Run Get-Process:

    Get-Process

    The table-like response consists of all processes that are running on your machine. The exact response depends on what is running on your machine. Choose a process name from the column on the right, and then use it as an argument for your next command.

  2. Run Get-Process again. This time, use the process name and pipe Get-Member.

    Get-Process -Name 'selected-process-name' | Get-Member

    Tip

    • Use Left arrow and Right arrow to reposition the cursor on the command line.
    • Use Backspace and Delete to edit on the command line.

    This command produces a long response that consists of all members, events, and methods. At this point, focus on the first line, which lists the following information:

    TypeName: System.Diagnostics.Process

    Now you know that the type is Process. You can learn more about what other cmdlets use this type. Next, use Get-Command and add the type as a parameter.

  3. Run Get-Command:

    Get-Command -ParameterType Process

    This command produces a response that's similar to the following text:

     CommandType     Name                                               Version    Source
 -----------     ----                                               -------    ------
 Cmdlet          Debug-Process                                      7.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
 Cmdlet          Enter-PSHostProcess                                7.0.3.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.Core
 Cmdlet          Get-Process                                        7.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
 Cmdlet          Get-PSHostProcessInfo                              7.0.3.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.Core
 Cmdlet          Stop-Process                                       7.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
 Cmdlet          Wait-Process                                       7.0.0.0    Microsoft.PowerShell.Management

Congratulations! By knowing the name of the Get-Process cmdlet, you've discovered related commands. You can continue to learn about these commands by using Get-Help.