Topic: Reusable Code V

Notice: This post is a part of the PowerShell Monday series — a group of quick and easy to read mini lessons that briefly cover beginning and intermediate PowerShell topics. As a PowerShell enthusiast, this seemed like a beneficial way to ensure those around me at work were consistently learning new things about Windows PowerShell. At some point, I decided I would share these posts here, as well. Here’s the PowerShell Monday Table of Contents.

I know, I know, I said this would be a four part series, but we’re adding a fifth installment; it’s going to be worth it.

Now that we have a function we want to use whenever it makes sense, we need a place to put it. While we could dot source our Process.ps1 file every time we want to add the function to our scope (like we did last week), there’s two better options. The first option is the profile script. This is a .ps1 file that runs every time you open a new PowerShell ConsoleHost. There’s actually one for the ISE, too.

The below example shows how to determine where the profile script should be located for the current host program (the ConsoleHost).

$PROFILE

C:\Users\tommymaynard\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

Now, just because we know the path and file, doesn’t mean the file actually exists. The next thing we should do is test the path to determine if the file exists, or not. Test-Path is a helpful cmdlet, in that it can determine if files and folders exist.

Test-Path -Path $PROFILE

False

If you received False when you run the above command, you don’t yet have a profile script. If you do have one, it’ll indicate True. For those with False, let’s quickly create a profile script and then open it.

New-Item -Path $PROFILE -ItemType File -Force

Once this command is run, it’ll indicate that it’s created the profile script file. It’s a simple text file, so it can be opened and edited a number of different ways. As of now, I tend to modify my profile script in the PowerShell ISE. To edit yours in the ISE, use the first below example. To use Notepad, use the second one. For those already using Visual Studio Code, you can open it there as well.

ise $PROFILE

notepad $PROFILE

With your profile script opened, you can add the function we finished with last Monday. It’s included below.

Function Get-TMService {
    Param (
        [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
        [string]$Service
    )
 
    try {
        Get-Process -Name $Service -ErrorAction Stop |
            Select-Object -Property @{N='Process Name';E={$_.Name}},
                Description,
                Company,
                @{N='Shared Memory';E={"$([Math]::Round($_.WorkingSet / 1MB)) MB"}},
                @{N='Private Memory Size';
                    E={"$([Math]::Round($_.PrivateMemorySize / 1MB)) MB"}}
    } catch {
        Write-Warning -Message "Cannot locate the $Service process."
    }
}

Now, if you’re following along, enter the below command.

Get-TMService -Service powershell_ise

This command should fail, whether or not, the PowerShell ISE is running. It’s because you added the function to your profile script after the profile script was last run. Close the PowerShell ConsoleHost and then open a new one. Doing this will ensure the recently added function is available in your PowerShell session. At this point, the above Get-TMService command should run successfully.

The second option is to use a PowerShell module. Creating a module can get much more complex, as can most things, but there’s just a few steps to make it work at its simplest form. A module is typically created to hold several related functions; however, it can only hold one function, if that’s all you have for now.

First, copy the above function into a text file, giving it an appropriate name, and saving it as a .psm1 file. For instance, call the new file MyFunctions.psm1 and paste the function code inside of it. Now, create a folder with the same name as the module file (without the file extension). This means your folder would be called MyFunctions. The name of the file and the folder must be the same. Now, move the file into the folder.

Next, we need to relocate this folder to a location in the filesystem where PowerShell will look for modules automatically. You can see those locations using the below example.

$env:PSModulePath -split ';'

C:\Users\tommymaynard\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules
C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules
C:\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\

You’re welcome to use “C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\” if you want all users on the computer to use the module. If you’re happy with just you being able to use your module, then place it in your profile folder. The final above path, in System32, shouldn’t be bothered if you can help it.

With this completed, the next time you open the PowerShell ConsoleHost you’re module, and that contained function, will be available. If you write some more functions, you can always add them to this same module file, just like you could your profile script.