PowerShell Command-Line

This post contains PowerShell commands I frequently use for managing Active Directory, Group Policy, Hyper-V, and Microsoft 365.

Active Directory

Export All Active Directory Users to CSV

The following command exports all Active Directory users and selected properties to a CSV file:

Get-ADUser -Filter * -Properties * |
    Select-Object Name, Mail, LastLogonDate, WhenCreated |
    Export-Csv -Path "C:\userexport.csv" -NoTypeInformation

The exported file is saved as:

C:\userexport.csv

The -NoTypeInformation parameter prevents PowerShell type metadata from being added to the CSV file.

Get Active Directory User Properties

Retrieve all available properties for a specific Active Directory user:

Get-ADUser -Identity <ACCOUNT> -Properties *

Replace <ACCOUNT> with the user’s username, distinguished name, GUID, or another supported identity value.

For example:

Get-ADUser -Identity jdoe -Properties *

Get Group Policy Objects and Creation Times

Use dsquery to list Group Policy Objects and display their names and creation times:

dsquery * -filter "(ObjectCategory=groupPolicyContainer)" -attr displayName whenCreated

Note: Run this command from a system with the appropriate Active Directory tools installed.

Hyper-V

List Snapshots for a Virtual Machine

List the snapshots associated with a local virtual machine:

Get-VMSnapshot -VMName <VM_NAME>

To list snapshots for a virtual machine on a specific Hyper-V host:

Get-VMSnapshot -ComputerName <HYPER_V_HOST> -VMName <VM_NAME>

For example:

Get-VMSnapshot -ComputerName HV01 -VMName APP01

Delete All Snapshots

The following command removes all snapshots associated with a virtual machine:

Get-VMSnapshot -VMName <VM_NAME> |
    Remove-VMSnapshot

Warning: Snapshot deletion can be irreversible and may trigger disk-merge operations. Confirm that the snapshots are no longer required before running this command.

To remove a snapshot from a remote Hyper-V host:

Get-VMSnapshot -ComputerName <HYPER_V_HOST> -VMName <VM_NAME> |
    Remove-VMSnapshot

Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online

Connect to the Exchange Tenant

The following example creates a remote PowerShell session to Exchange Online:

$UserCredential = Get-Credential

$Session = New-PSSession `
    -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange `
    -ConnectionUri "[https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/](https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/)" `
    -Credential $UserCredential `
    -Authentication Basic `
    -AllowRedirection

Import-PSSession $Session -DisableNameChecking

When you finish working, remove the remote session:

Remove-PSSession $Session

Note: Basic authentication and the older remote PowerShell connection method shown above may no longer be available in many Microsoft 365 environments. Use the current Exchange Online PowerShell module and modern authentication for new deployments.

A typical modern connection uses the Exchange Online module:

Connect-ExchangeOnline

After installing the module, authenticate with your Microsoft 365 account when prompted.

Get Calendar Permissions

Display the permissions assigned to a user’s calendar:

Get-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity "<USER>:\Calendar"

For example:

Get-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity "[email protected]:\Calendar"

To display permissions for a shared mailbox calendar:

Get-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity "[email protected]:\Calendar"