Using the Help System

Remarks#

Get-Help is a cmdlet for reading help topics in PowerShell.

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Updating the Help System

Beginning with PowerShell 3.0, you can download and update the offline help documentation using a single cmdlet.

Update-Help

To update help on multiple computers (or computers not connected to the internet).

Run the following on a computer with the help files

Save-Help -DestinationPath \\Server01\Share\PSHelp -Credential $Cred

To run on many computers remotely

Invoke-Command -ComputerName (Get-Content Servers.txt) -ScriptBlock {Update-Help -SourcePath \\Server01\Share\Help -Credential $cred}

Using Get-Help

Get-Help can be used to view help in PowerShell. You can search for cmdlets, functions, providers or other topics.

In order to view the help documentation about jobs, use:

Get-Help about_Jobs

You can search for topics using wildcards. If you want to list available help topics with a title starting with about_, try:

Get-Help about_*

If you wanted help on Select-Object, you would use:

Get-Help Select-Object

You can also use the aliases help or man.

Viewing online version of a help topic

You can access online help documentation using:

Get-Help Get-Command -Online

Viewing Examples

Show usage examples for a specific cmdlet.

Get-Help Get-Command -Examples

Viewing the Full Help Page

View the full documentation for the topic.

Get-Help Get-Command -Full

Viewing help for a specific parameter

You can view help for a specific parameter using:

Get-Help Get-Content -Parameter Path