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PowerShell Commands

Get-Host

Get-Host [<CommonParameters>]

The Get-Host cmdlet gets an object that represents the program that is hosting Windows PowerShell.

The default display includes the Windows PowerShell version number and the current region and language settings that the host is using, but the host object contains a wealth of information, including detailed information about the version of Windows PowerShell that is currently running and the current culture and UI culture of Windows PowerShell. You can also use this cmdlet to customize features of the host program user interface, such as the text and background colors.

Parameters

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Inputs
None
You cannot pipe input to this cmdlet.
Outputs
System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHost
Get-Host returns a System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHost object.
Examples
  1. Get information about the PowerShell console host:
    PS C:\> Get-Host
    Name             : ConsoleHost
    Version          : 2.0
    InstanceId       : e4e0ab54-cc5e-4261-9117-4081f20ce7a2
    UI               : System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHostUserInterface
    CurrentCulture   : en-US
    CurrentUICulture : en-US
    PrivateData      : Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost+ConsoleColorProxy
    IsRunspacePushed : False
    Runspace         : System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalRunspace
    

    This command displays information about the Windows PowerShell console, which is the current host program for Windows PowerShell in this example. It includes the name of the host, the version of Windows PowerShell that is running in the host, and current culture and UI culture.

    The Version, UI, CurrentCulture, CurrentUICulture, PrivateData, and Runspace properties each contain an object with very useful properties. Later examples examine these properties.

  2. Resize the PowerShell window:
    PS C:\> $H = Get-Host
    PS C:\>  $Win = $H.UI.RawUI.WindowSize
    PS C:\>  $Win.Height = 10
    PS C:\>  $Win.Width  = 10
    PS C:\>  $H.UI.RawUI.Set_WindowSize($Win)
    

    This command resizes the Windows PowerShell window to 10 pixels by 10 pixels.

  3. Get the PowerShell version for the host:
    PS C:\> (Get-Host).Version | Format-List -Property *
    Major         : 2
    Minor         : 0
    Build         : -1
    Revision      : -1
    MajorRevision : -1
    MinorRevision : -1
    

    This command gets detailed information about the version of Windows PowerShell running in the host. You can view, but not change, these values.

    The Version property of Get-Host contains a System.Version object. This command uses a pipeline operator (|) to send the version object to the Format-List cmdlet. The Format-List command uses the Property parameter with a value of all (*) to display all of the properties and property values of the version object.

  4. Get the current culture for the host:
    PS C:\> (Get-Host).CurrentCulture | Format-List -Property *
    Parent                         : en
    LCID                           : 1033
    KeyboardLayoutId               : 1033
    Name                           : en-US
    IetfLanguageTag                : en-US
    DisplayName                    : English (United States) NativeName                     : English (United States) EnglishName                    : English (United States) TwoLetterISOLanguageName       : en
    ThreeLetterISOLanguageName     : eng
    ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName : ENU
    CompareInfo                    : CompareInfo - 1033
    TextInfo                       : TextInfo - 1033
    IsNeutralCulture               : False
    CultureTypes                   : SpecificCultures, InstalledWin32Cultures, FrameworkCultures
    NumberFormat                   : System.Globalization.NumberFormatInfo
    DateTimeFormat                 : System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo
    Calendar                       : System.Globalization.GregorianCalendar
    OptionalCalendars              : {System.Globalization.GregorianCalendar, System.Globalization.GregorianCalendar}
    UseUserOverride                : True
    IsReadOnly                     : False
    

    This command gets detailed information about the current culture set for Windows PowerShell running in the host. This is the same information that is returned by the Get-Culture cmdlet.

    Similarly, the CurrentUICulture property returns the same object that Get-UICulture returns.

    The CurrentCulture property of the host object contains a System.Globalization.CultureInfo object. This command uses a pipeline operator (|) to send the CultureInfo object to the Format-List cmdlet. The Format-List command uses the Property parameter with a value of all ( ) to display all of the properties and property values of the CultureInfo * object.

  5. Get the DateTimeFormat for the current culture:
    PS C:\> (Get-Host).CurrentCulture.DateTimeFormat | Format-List -Property *
    AMDesignator                     : AM
    Calendar                         : System.Globalization.GregorianCalendar
    DateSeparator                    : /
    FirstDayOfWeek                   : Sunday
    CalendarWeekRule                 : FirstDay
    FullDateTimePattern              : dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy h:mm:ss tt
    LongDatePattern                  : dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy
    LongTimePattern                  : h:mm:ss tt
    MonthDayPattern                  : MMMM dd
    PMDesignator                     : PM
    RFC1123Pattern                   : ddd, dd MMM yyyy HH':'mm':'ss 'GMT'
    ShortDatePattern                 : M/d/yyyy
    ShortTimePattern                 : h:mm tt
    SortableDateTimePattern          : yyyy'-'MM'-'dd'T'HH':'mm':'ss
    TimeSeparator                    : : UniversalSortableDateTimePattern : yyyy'-'MM'-'dd HH':'mm':'ss'Z'
    YearMonthPattern                 : MMMM, yyyy
    AbbreviatedDayNames              : {Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed...} ShortestDayNames                 : {Su, Mo, Tu, We...} DayNames                         : {Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...} AbbreviatedMonthNames            : {Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr...} MonthNames                       : {January, February, March, April...} IsReadOnly                       : False
    NativeCalendarName               : Gregorian Calendar
    AbbreviatedMonthGenitiveNames    : {Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr...} MonthGenitiveNames               : {January, February, March, April...}
    

    This command returns detailed information about the DateTimeFormat of the current culture that is being used for Windows PowerShell.

    The CurrentCulture property of the host object contains a CultureInfo object that, in turn, has many useful properties. Among them, the DateTimeFormat property contains a DateTimeFormatInfo object with many useful properties.

    To find the type of an object that is stored in an object property, use the Get-Member cmdlet. To display the property values of the object, use the Format-List cmdlet.

  6. Get the RawUI property for the host:
    PS C:\> (Get-Host).UI.RawUI | Format-List -Property *
    ForegroundColor       : DarkYellow
    BackgroundColor       : DarkBlue
    CursorPosition        : 0,390
    WindowPosition        : 0,341
    CursorSize            : 25
    BufferSize            : 120,3000
    WindowSize            : 120,50
    MaxWindowSize         : 120,81
    MaxPhysicalWindowSize : 182,81
    KeyAvailable          : False
    WindowTitle           : Windows PowerShell 2.0 (04/11/2008 00:08:14)
    

    This command displays the properties of the RawUI property of the host object. By changing these values, you can change the appearance of the host program.

  7. Set the background color for the PowerShell console:
    PS C:\> (Get-Host).UI.RawUI.BackgroundColor = "Black"
    PS C:\>  cls
    

    These commands change the background color of the Windows PowerShell console to black. The cls command is an alias for the Clear-Host function, which clears the screen and changes the whole screen to the new color.

    This change is effective only in the current session. To change the background color of the console for all sessions, add the command to your Windows PowerShell profile.

  8. Set the background color for error messages:
    PS C:\> $Host.PrivateData.ErrorBackgroundColor = "white"
    

    This command changes the background color of error messages to white.

    This command uses the $Host automatic variable, which contains the host object for the current host program. Get-Host returns the same object that $Host contains, so you can use them interchangeably.

    This command uses the PrivateData property of $Host as its ErrorBackgroundColor property. To see all of the properties of the object in the $Host.PrivateData property, type `$host.privatedata | format-list *`.

Additional Notes
 The $Host automatic variable contains the same object that Get-Host * returns, and you can use it in the same 
 way. Similarly, the $PSCulture and $PSUICulture automatic variables contain the same objects that the 
 CurrentCulture and CurrentUICulture properties of the host object contain. You can use these features 
 interchangeably.

 For more information, see about_Automatic_Variables.

 *

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. It is attributed to Microsoft Corporation and can be found here.

PowerShell Commands