Creating folders programmatically can streamline tasks and ensure that required directory structures are in place.

In this guide, we explore a simple yet effective PowerShell script to check if a folder exists and create it if it doesn’t. By leveraging the Test-Path and New-Item commands, you can automate this task for any directory you need.

Key Topics Covered:
> Using Test-Path to Check for Folder Existence
> Creating a Folder with New-Item
> Customizing the Script for Different Use Cases

1. Using Test-Path to Check if a Folder Exists

The first step is to determine if the folder already exists using the Test-Path command. This command returns a boolean value: True if the path exists, and False otherwise.

Here’s the basic syntax to check for a folder:

# Define the folder path
$path = "C:\temp\"

# Check if folder exists
If (!(Test-Path $path)) {
    Write-Host "Folder does not exist."
}

– $path:
Stores the folder path to check.

– !(Test-Path $path):
The ! operator negates the result. The condition evaluates to True only if the folder does not exist.

Write-Host:
Outputs a message to the console for feedback.

2. Creating a Folder with New-Item

If the folder does not exist, you can create it using New-Item. This command allows you to specify the type of item (in this case, a directory) and the location for creation.

Here’s the full script to check for and create a folder:

# Define the folder path
$path = "C:\temp\"

# Check if folder exists
If (!(Test-Path $path)) {
    Write-Host "Folder does not exist."
}

3. Customizing the Script for Different Folders

You can easily adapt this script to check and create different folders by modifying the $path variable.

For example, to check for and create the folder C:\myfolder\:

# Define the custom folder path
$path = "C:\myfolder\"

# Check and create folder if not exists
If (!(Test-Path $path)) {
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $path
    Write-Host "Folder created at $path."
} Else {
    Write-Host "Folder already exists."
}

By modifying the $path variable, you can use this script to check for and create any folder you need.

Additional Tips:

Dynamic Paths:
You can use environment variables or parameters to dynamically define folder paths.$userProfilePath = "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\NewFolder"

Error Handling:
Use Try-Catch blocks to handle unexpected errors when creating folders.

Automation:
Integrate the script into larger automation tasks for efficient file management.

The Get-TimeZone cmdlet in PowerShell retrieves the current time zone of a computer. It can also list all available time zones, which is helpful if you’re planning to make changes to the system’s time zone settings.

In this post I’m sharing two examples of how to check the local time zone with PowerShell:

> Get Time Zone using PowerShell
> Script to Output Available Time Zones to a CSV File

Get the Time Zone using PowerShell

Running Get-TimeZone in PowerShell will return the currently set timezone of the local Windows Computer.

# get timezone powershell
Get-TimeZone

Script to Output Available Time Zones to a CSV File

The following PowerShell script outputs all available time zones to a CSV file in a specified directory:

# output available timezones to a local directory
$path = "c:\temp\"
$output_file_name = "timezones_available.csv"
$full_output_path = $path + $output_file_name

If(!(test-path $path))
{
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $path
}
Get-TimeZone -ListAvailable | Export-Csv -Path $full_output_path -NoTypeInformation -Force

I saved this script to my c:\temp folder and ran it:

The CSV will contain all time zones available:

This isn’t really a regular or task that you’d be doing often. I’m more just noting a different way of saving this info.

The Get-Service command in PowerShell is the tool for listing, filtering, and managing the services running on a computer. This quick guide is aimed at helping you understand it’s capabilities, with examples that sysadmins will find especially useful.

Contents:
> Listing All Services on a Computer
> Filtering Services by Name
> Filtering Services by Status
> Starting, Stopping, and Managing Services
> Checking Service Dependencies
> Using Get-Service Remotely
> Exporting Service Info to CSV

Basic Usage of Get-Service

To get a list of all services on your computer, simply run the Get-Service cmdlet:

# list all services on computer
Get-Service

This will return a complete list of services, showing key details like the service name, display name, and status (Running, Stopped, etc.).

Filtering Services by Name

You can use wildcards (*) to filter services by name. For example, to display all services with “SQL” in the name:

# list all sql services on computer
Get-Service *sql*

This is particularly useful for identifying services related to a specific application or feature, such as all SQL

Filtering Services by Status

To narrow down the results further, you can filter services based on their status. For example, to list only “Stopped” services with “SQL” in the name:

# show all 'Stopped' SQL Services
Get-Service *sql* | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Stopped"}

Common Service Status Values:
– Running
– Stopped
– Paused
– StartPending
– StopPending

Knowing these values can help you create specific filters to meet your needs.

Starting or Stopping a Service

DBAs & Sysadmins often need to start or stop services. You can use Start-Service and Stop-Service in combination with Get-Service.

For example, to start all stopped SQL services run the following:

# start SQL Services if they are not running
Get-Service *sql* | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Stopped"} | Start-Service

Or to stop all running SQL services:

# stop SQL agent service if its running
# this is for demo purposes only
Get-Service *sqlserveragent* | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"} | Stop-Service

Checking Service Dependencies

To investigate dependencies for a specific service, use the -DependentServices or -RequiredServices parameters:

# show dependent services for service example
(Get-Service -Name MSSQLSERVER).DependentServices

This will list all services that depend on the specified service, helping you understand the impact of stopping or restarting it.

Using Get-Service Remotely

You can query services on a remote computer using the -ComputerName parameter:

# Get services for remote computer
Get-Service -ComputerName Server01

Combine this with filtering to check specific services on remote systems:

# check running sql services for remote computer
Get-Service *sql* -ComputerName Server01 | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"}

Exporting Service Information to CSV

To save service details for reporting or documentation, you can export the results to a file:

# export service details to csv files
Get-Service *sql* | Export-Csv -Path "C:\ServicesReport.csv" -NoTypeInformation

This generates a CSV file with the filtered service details, which can be easily shared or archived.