Lessons in Windows PowerShell - Hello World

A “Hello World” script is probably a good starting point.

Start PowerShell from Start Menu ➞ All Programs ➞ Windows PowerShell 1.0 ➞ Windows PowerShell.

At the PowerShell command prompt, the command Help shows the various commands and aliases that are available in PowerShell.

The command Write-Host Hello World will essentially do the same as the old Command Prompt echo command - which is great for our purpose here. But that is too easy… we want a script!

In a text editor, create a text file named “test.ps1” and save it to the current path within PowerShell. Add the following text to the file and save it.

1Write-Host Hello World

Back in the PowerShell window, how do we run the script?

Just typing the command test.ps1 produces the following error.

1The term 'test.ps1' is not recognized as a cmdlet, function, operable program, or script file. Verify the term and try again.
2At line:1 char:8      
3+ test.ps1 <<<<

Instead, the name of the script needs to be prefixed with a period followed by a forward or backwards slash.

Run the command ./test.ps1.

Since we haven’t digitally signed the script, another error appears.

1File test.ps1 cannot be loaded because the execution of scripts is disabled on this system. Please see "get-help about_signing" for more details.
2At line:1 char:10      
3+ ./test.ps1 <<<<

This error occurs because by default the execution policy that affects all users on a machine is set (in the Windows Registry) such that unsigned scripts are disabled.

The command Get-ExecutionPolicy shows the current policy about executing scripts. Currently it is set to “Restricted”.

The command Get-Help Set-ExecutionPolicy provides general information about the Set-ExecutionPolicy command.

The command Get-Help Set-ExecutionPolicy -detailed provides more detailed information about the Set-ExecutionPolicy command.

The command Get-Help Set-ExecutionPolicy -full provides the most information about the Set-ExecutionPolicy command.

The command Set-ExecutionPolicy -executionPolicy RemoteSigned will set the policy such that only scripts that are downloaded from the internet are required to be signed by a trusted publisher.

However, on Windows Vista the following error occurs because it requires escalated privileges.

1Set-ExecutionPolicy : Access to the registry key 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1ShellIds\Microsoft     
2.PowerShell' is denied.      
3At line:1 char:20      
4+ Set-ExecutionPolicy <<<< -executionPolicy RemoteSigned

The easiest way to change the execution policy in Vista is to start PowerShell from the start menu by right-clicking and selecting “Run as Administrator”. From within that PowerShell the Set-ExecutionPolicy command will work. Close that window after executing the command.

Finally we can then successfully execute the script with the command ./test.ps1, and it actually works!