PowerShell CLI Tools

ℹ

Several commands that are helpful tools in PowerShell can be used on other operating systems.

`net user`

Manage local user accounts.

net user

Sample Output:

User accounts for \\COMPUTER-NAME
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administrator  Guest  Student

Create a new user:

net user newuser /add

Delete a user:

net user newuser /delete

`net use`

Connect to, manage, or disconnect from shared network resources such as shared drives or printers. Used to map network drives, view active connections, or remove them.

net use

Sample Output:

New connections will not be remembered.

Status       Local     Remote                    Network
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK           X:        \\Server\SharedFolder     Microsoft Windows Network
OK           Y:        \\Server\Printer          Microsoft Windows Network

`hostname`

Displays the name of the host system you are on.

hostname

Sample Output:

BestHostNameEver

Fun Fact: On Linux, hostname -i displays the IP address of the system. Run the same flag in PowerShell and you'll get this instead:

PS C:\Users\ellma\Documents> hostname -i
sethostname: Use the Network Control Panel Applet to set hostname.
hostname -s is not supported.

To find your IP address in PowerShell use ipconfig or Get-NetIPAddress instead.

`ipconfig`

ℹ

For further information on the commands below, talk to your networking person. Don't bully me.

Displays your IP address and network configuration.

ipconfig

Get-NetIPAddress

Example Output:

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : yourdomain.com
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::d4a5:2cfa:e3b5:cf2d%12
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.5
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::d4a5:2cfa:e3b5:cf2d%15
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.10
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:3487:1200:38b7:e0aa:9f9b:f288
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::38b7:e0aa:9f9b:f288%3
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Tunnel adapter isatap.{D94BB44D-CA8C-4DF7-82C9-C52F897B56AC}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

Option	Description
`ipconfig /all`	Displays full detailed network configuration for all interfaces.
`ipconfig /release`	Releases the current DHCP-assigned IP addresses for all or specific adapters.
`ipconfig /renew`	Renews DHCP-assigned IP addresses for all or specific adapters.
`ipconfig /flushdns`	Clears the DNS resolver cache.
`ipconfig /registerdns`	Refreshes and registers DNS names with the DNS server.
`ipconfig /displaydns`	Shows the current DNS resolver cache.
`ipconfig /allcompartments`	Displays all compartments for network interfaces.

`ping`

Tests connectivity between your computer and a remote system, and measures latency — the round-trip time for packets to travel to the destination and back in milliseconds.

If ping fails it can indicate a network configuration or routing issue. (It may also mean the target is down or blocking ICMP traffic — a conversation for another time.)

ping [hostname or IP address]

Example:

ping 8.8.8.8

Sample Output:

Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=37ms TTL=118
Request timed out.
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=37ms TTL=118
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=118

Ping statistics for 8.8.8.8:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 3, Lost = 1 (25% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 37ms, Maximum = 46ms, Average = 40ms

Reading the output:

bytes=32 — the size of the data packet sent and received.
time=37ms — the round-trip time to reach 8.8.8.8 and back.
TTL=118 — Time to Live, the number of router hops the packet can pass through before being discarded. Each router decrements this by 1.
Request timed out — a packet received no reply. Possible causes: temporary network congestion, packet loss, or a router along the path dropped the packet.

`netstat`

Displays network connections, routing tables, and interface statistics.

netstat

Option	Description
`-a`	Displays all connections and listening ports.
`-n`	Displays addresses and port numbers in numerical form (no DNS lookup).
`-o`	Displays the process ID (PID) associated with each connection.
`-b`	Shows the executable involved in creating each connection (requires admin).
`-r`	Displays the routing table.
`-e`	Displays Ethernet statistics (packets sent/received, errors).
`-p [proto]`	Shows connections for a specific protocol (e.g., TCP, UDP).
`-s`	Displays statistics for each protocol (e.g., TCP, UDP, ICMP).
`-f`	Displays the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for foreign addresses.

Fun Fact: On modern Linux distros, netstat is part of the net-tools package. That package is deprecated in favor of ss (socket statistics), but old habits die hard.

`nslookup`

Nameserver lookup — queries DNS to resolve a hostname to an IP address.

nslookup [hostname] [server]

Example:

nslookup google.com

Sample Output:

Server:  dns.google
Address:  8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    google.com
Address: 142.250.190.14

`tracert`

Traces the path packets take from your computer to a destination and measures the delay at each hop along the way.

tracert [hostname or IP address]

Example:

tracert google.com

Sample Output:

Tracing route to google.com [142.250.190.14]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms     1 ms     1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2    10 ms     8 ms    11 ms  10.0.0.1
  3    15 ms    14 ms    15 ms  198.51.100.1
  4    22 ms    20 ms    21 ms  203.0.113.5
  5    30 ms    28 ms    27 ms  142.250.190.14

Trace complete.