PowerShell Commands

Set-Service

Set-Service [-ComputerName <String[]>] [-Confirm] [-Description <String>] [-DisplayName <String>] [-InputObject<ServiceController>] [-PassThru] [-StartupType {Boot | System | Automatic | Manual | Disabled}] [-Status {Running| Stopped | Paused}] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]
Set-Service [-Name*] <String> [-ComputerName <String[]>] [-Confirm] [-Description <String>] [-DisplayName <String>][-PassThru] [-StartupType {Boot | System | Automatic | Manual | Disabled}] [-Status {Running | Stopped | Paused}][-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]

The Set-Service cmdlet changes the properties of a local or remote service. This includes the status, description, display name, and start mode. You can use this cmdlet to start, stop, or suspend, or pause, a service. To identify the service, enter its service name or submit a service object, or pipe a service name or service object to Set-Service .

Parameters

-ComputerName <String[]>

  • Default value is None
  • Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies one or more computers. The default is the local computer.

Type the NetBIOS name, an IP address, or a fully qualified domain name of a remote computer. To specify the local computer, type the computer name, a dot (.), or localhost.

This parameter does not rely on Windows PowerShell remoting. You can use the ComputerName parameter even if your computer is not configured to run remote commands.

-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]

  • Default value is False
  • Accepts pipeline input False

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

-Description <String>

  • Default value is None
  • Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a new description for the service.

The service description appears in Services in Computer Management. Description is not a property of the ServiceController object that Get-Service gets. To see the service description, use Get-WmiObject to get a Win32_Service object that represents the service.

-DisplayName <String>

  • Default value is None
  • Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a new display name for the service.

-InputObject <ServiceController>

  • Default value is None
  • Accepts pipeline input ByValue

Specifies a ServiceController object that represents the service to change. Enter a variable that contains the object, or type a command or expression that gets the object, such as a Get-Service command. You can also pipe a service object to Set-Service.

-Name <String>

  • This value is required
  • Default value is None
  • Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies the service name of the service to be changed. Wildcard characters are not permitted. You can also pipe a service name to Set-Service .

-PassThru [<SwitchParameter>]

  • Default value is False
  • Accepts pipeline input False

Returns objects that represent the services that were changed. By default, this cmdlet does not generate any output.

-StartupType <ServiceStartMode>

  • Default value is None
  • Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the start mode of the service. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

- Automatic. Start when the system starts. - Manual. Starts only when started by a user or program. - Disabled. Cannot be started.

-Status <String>

  • Default value is None
  • Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the status for the service. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

- Running. Starts the service. - Stopped. Stops the service. - Paused. Suspends the service.

-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]

  • Default value is False
  • Accepts pipeline input False

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

<CommonParameters>

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

Inputs
System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController, System.String
You can pipe a service object or a string that contains a service name to Set-Service.
Outputs
System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController
This cmdlet does not return any objects.
Examples
  1. Change a display name:
    PS C:\> Set-Service -Name "lanmanworkstation" -DisplayName "LanMan Workstation"
    

    This command changes the display name of the lanmanworkstation service to LanMan Workstation. The default is Workstation.

  2. Change the startup type of services:
    PS C:\> Get-WMIObject win32_service -Filter "name = 'SysmonLog'"
    
       ExitCode  : 0
       Name      : SysmonLog
       ProcessId : 0
       StartMode : Manual
       State     : Stopped
       Status    : OK
    
    PS C:\>  Set-Service -Name "sysmonlog" -StartupType automatic
    PS C:\>  Get-WMIObject win32_service -Filter "name = 'SysmonLog'"
    ExitCode  : 0
    Name      : SysmonLog
    ProcessId : 0
    StartMode : Auto
    State     : Stopped
    Status    : OK
    
    
    PS C:\>  Get-WMIObject win32_service | Format-Table Name, StartMode -auto
    
       Name                                  StartMode
       ----                                  ---------
       AdtAgent                              Auto
       Alerter                               Disabled
       ALG                                   Manual
       AppMgmt                               Manual
       ...

    These commands get the startup type of the Performance Logs and Alerts (SysmonLog) service, set the start mode to automatic, and then display the result of the change.

    These commands use the Get-WmiObject cmdlet to get the Win32_Service object for the service, because the ServiceController object that Get-Service returns does not include the start mode.

    The first command uses the Get-WmiObject cmdlet to get the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) object that represents the SysmonLog service. The default output of this command displays the start mode of the service.

    The second command uses Set-Service to change the start mode to automatic. Then, the first command is repeated to display the change.

    The final command displays the start mode of all services on the computer.

  3. Change the description of a service:
    PS C:\> Set-Service -Name "Schedule" -ComputerName "S1" -Description "Configures and schedules tasks."
    PS C:\>  Get-WMIObject win32_service -ComputerName "s1" | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq "Schedule"} | Format-List Name, Description
    

    These commands change the description of the Task Scheduler service on the S1 remote computer and then display the result.

    These commands use the Get-WmiObject cmdlet to get the Win32_Service object for the service, because the ServiceController object that Get-Service returns does not include the service description.

    The first command changes the description. It identifies the service by using the service name of the service, Schedule.

    The second command uses the Get-WmiObject cmdlet to get an instance of the WMI Win32_Service that represents the Task Scheduler service. The first element in the command gets all instances of the Win32_service class.

    The pipeline operator (|) passes the result to the Where-Object cmdlet, which selects instances with a value of Schedule in the Name property.

    Another pipeline operator sends the result to the Format-List cmdlet, which formats the output as a list that has only the Name and Description properties.

  4. Start a service on a remote computer:
    PS C:\> Set-Service -Name "winrm" -Status Running -PassThru -ComputerName "Server02"
    

    This command starts the WinRM service on the Server02 computer. The command uses the Status parameter to specify the desired status, which is running, and the PassThru parameter to direct Set-Service to return an object that represents the WinRM service.

  5. Suspend a service on remote computers:
    PS C:\> Get-Service -Name "schedule" -ComputerName "S1", "S2" | Set-Service -Status paused
    

    This command suspends the Schedule service on the S1 and S2 remote computers. It uses Get-Service to get the service. A pipeline operator (|) sends the service to Set-Service , which changes its status to Paused.

  6. Stop a service on the local computer:
    PS C:\> $s = Get-Service -Name "schedule"
    PS C:\>  Set-Service -InputObject $s -Status stopped
    

    These commands stop the Schedule service on the local computer.

    The first command uses Get-Service to get the Schedule service. The command stores the service in the $s variable.

    The second command changes the status of the Schedule service to Stopped. It uses the InputObject parameter to submit the service stored in the $s variable, and it uses the Status parameter to specify the desired status.

Additional Notes
 To use Set-Service * on Windows Vista and later versions of the Windows operating system, start Windows 
 PowerShell by using the Run as administrator option.  Set-Service * can control services only when the current 
 user has permission to do this. If a command does not work correctly, you might not have the required 
 permissions. To find the service names and display names of the services on your system, type `Get-Service`. 
 The service names appear in the Name column and the display names appear in the DisplayName * column.

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