Windows Command Line Cheat Sheet

All supported versions of Windows (server and client) have a set of Win32 console commands built in.

When faced with a touchscreen device, these commands will help you maneuver through Windows 10. (The term swipe simply means to slide your finger along the screen.) Swipe from the right edge to see the Action center: Swiping from the right side of the screen reveals the Action center. Windows run is one of the best features on windows. It is widely used by programmers to launch applications and programs. Windows run helps users to.

This set of documentation describes the Windows Commands you can use to automate tasks by using scripts or scripting tools.

To find information about a specific command, in the following A-Z menu, click the letter that the command starts with, and then click the command name.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Prerequisites

The information that is contained in this topic applies to:

• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server (Semi-Annual Channel)
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1

Command shell overview

The Command shell was the first shell built into Windows to automate routine tasks, like user account management or nightly backups, with batch (.bat) files. With Windows Script Host you could run more sophisticated scripts in the Command shell. For more information, see cscript or wscript. You can perform operations more efficiently by using scripts than you can by using the user interface. Scripts accept all Commands that are available at the command line.

Windows has two command shells: The Command shell and PowerShell. Each shell is a software program that provides direct communication between you and the operating system or application, providing an environment to automate IT operations.

PowerShell was designed to extend the capabilities of the Command shell to run PowerShell commands called cmdlets. Cmdlets are similar to Windows Commands but provide a more extensible scripting language. You can run Windows Commands and PowerShell cmdlets in Powershell, but the Command shell can only run Windows Commands and not PowerShell cmdlets.

For the most robust, up-to-date Windows automation, we recommend using PowerShell instead of Windows Commands or Windows Script Host for Windows automation.

Note

You can also download and install PowerShell Core, the open source version of PowerShell.

Caution

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making the following changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

Note

To enable or disable file and directory name completion in the Command shell on a computer or user logon session, run regedit.exe and set the following reg_DWOrd value:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftCommand ProcessorcompletionCharreg_DWOrd

To set the reg_DWOrd value, use the hexadecimal value of a control character for a particular function (for example, 0 9 is Tab and 0 08 is Backspace). User-specified settings take precedence over computer settings, and command-line options take precedence over registry settings.

Command-line reference A-Z

To find information about a specific Windows Command, in the following A-Z menu, click the letter that the Command starts with, and then click the Command name.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z)

A

B

• bitsadmin
• bootcfg

C

• change

D

E

F

• fsutil

G

H

I

J

K

• ksetup

L

• logman

M

• manage-bde

N

• nslookup

O

P

Q

R

• reg

S

• scwcmd
• secedit

T

U

V

• vssadmin-

W

• wbadmin

X

There is so much information out there that it is impossible to remember everything you have read or came across. That’s why bookmarking is so important; hundreds of them in the form of cheat sheets, quick reference cards, one-pagers, pensieves, or anything you want to call them. There are some really smart people out there who have put together some fantastic resources to help you quickly find what you need.
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When you only need to know how to do something quickly – not the reasoning behind it or the theory – and you don’t have time to read a 2,000-word whitepaper on how to put together a one-line command, you need a cheat sheet.

That’s why we’ve created this compendium of some of the best of these resources for you to use, save, or bookmark. Many are in PDF format, some are text, and a few are online only, but they are chock-full of great information.

PowerShell

PowerShell is the de facto administrative interface for Microsoft operating systems and applications. Even when you are running in a GUI, there’s PowerShell performing all the work in the background, so knowing PowerShell is vital. Cheat sheets abound online. Here’s a set of the best of the best.

Windows PowerShell 4.0 and Other Quick Reference Guides

Windows PowerShell 3.0 and Server Manager Quick Reference Guides

Aptillon Windows PowerShell Cheat Sheet

Windows PowerShell Quick Reference

Windows PowerShell 2 For Dummies

PowerShell Quick Reference v3.03 by Dimitri Koens

Windows PowerShell 3.0 Language Quick Reference

PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment 3.0

Windows PowerShell 3.0 Examples

Powershell: Regex Cheat Sheet

PowerShell for Exchange 2010–Cheat Sheet

Exchange Shell Quick Reference (2007)

In addition, there are 11 great monthly newsletters from PowerShell.com that, while not exactly in “cheat sheet” format, are well worth the download. Autosketch skd converter mp4. See the complete collection at http://powershell.com/cs/media/28/default.aspx

Active Directory

At the heart of every enterprise is Active Directory. Being able to manage it from the command line makes scripting and automation much more direct and efficient.

Active Directory PowerShell Quick Reference

Brakertech Active Directory Cheat Sheet

Microsoft Active Directory Ports cheat sheet

Windows Logging Cheat Sheet

Active Directory Auditing

Other Microsoft cheat sheets

Here’s a mixed bag of other cheat sheets and references for various Microsoft products, including user and server applications.

SharePoint 2013 Cheat Sheet

SharePoint 2010 Cheat Sheet

Office 365 Cheat Sheet for users

Access 2013

Excel 2013

Lync 2013

Outlook 2013

PowerPoint 2013

Project 2013

Word 2013

Access 2010

Excel 2010

Outlook 2010

PowerPoint 2010

Project 2010

Word 2010

Windows 8

Windows 7

Windows Server 2012 Windows PowerShell Web Access

Windows command line reference

SQL Server Cheat Sheet

SQL Data Types and Conversion, Functions, and Creation

Apple cheat sheets

Cheat sheets do not only exist for Microsoft products, but there are a handful for Apple.

Mac OSX

Excel 2011

Outlook 2011

PowerPoint 2011

Word 2011

iPad Cheat Sheet

Linux and Unix

Linux and Unix also have a collection of cheat sheets online.

VI/VIM Graphical Cheat Sheet

OpenSSH Quick Reference

Rosetta Stone for UNIX

AWK Cheat Sheet

Ed Unix Text Editor Cheat Sheet

Unix Toolbox

CHMOD Chart

Networking

Here’s a short list for networking engineers and sys admins. PacketLife has more than a dozen all on one page.

Protocol encapsulation chart from Wildpackets

PacketLife.net’s huge collection of protocol and networking cheat sheets

NMAP Cheat Sheet

SANS Institute TCP/IP Reference

Web

And since most of us have to do some web work from time to time, here are some cheat sheets for those of us who are not devs, but still have to bang out some limited code or like to customize our blogs.

HTML Cheat Sheet

HTML / XHTML Quick Reference

HTML Codes Cheat Sheet

HTML Color Codes

WordPress Theme Cheat Sheet

WordPress Helper Sheet

HTTP/1.1 Status Codes

HTML Cheat Sheet

HTML Character Entities Cheat Sheet

RGB Hex Colour Chart

JavaScript Cheat Sheet

VMware

If you use VMware for virtualization, there are some pretty handy references as well.

PowerCLI Quick Reference

vSphere 5.0 vReference Card

vSphere 4.1 vReference Card

esxtop & vscsiStats creditcard sized reference

ESX3 vmreference card

Just a few more things

You will need a login but Dzone has a huge collection of cheat sheets for sys admins. Certainly worth exploring if you want to sign up.

Expert cheat sheets and tutorial guides for developers

With all the great cheat sheets posted online, this list is certainly not exhaustive. Do you have any favorites? Leave a comment with a link below and let us know what your go-to resources are.

For more cheet sheets for sys admins check out: http://www.gegeek.com/

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Get immediate results. Identify where you’re vulnerable with your first scan on your first day of a 30-day trial. Take the necessary steps to fix all issues.