Ever wonder how PowerShell pros turn long scripts into quick one-liners? The secret is pipelines—and in this post and video, you’ll learn how to use them to make your automation and scripting faster and easier.
What Are PowerShell Pipelines?
A pipeline in PowerShell is a way to take the output from one command and feed it directly into another. Instead of writing multiple commands or creating a script, you can chain commands together using the pipeline operator: |. This makes your commands more powerful and efficient. Commands flow left to right, and each command processes the output from the previous one.
Why Use Pipelines?
Pipelines let you filter and sort data quickly, create complex one-liners without writing full scripts, and automate repetitive tasks with minimal effort. They’re perfect for PowerShell beginners and pros alike because they simplify Windows PowerShell tasks like automation, scripting, and troubleshooting.
The Magic of $_
You’ll often see the $_ variable in pipelines. This automatic variable represents the current object being passed through the pipeline. It’s used inside script blocks (wrapped in {}) to reference properties of the object.
Get-Service | Where-Object { $_.Status -eq 'Stopped' }Examples You’ll Love
Sort Processes by CPU Usage:
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending -Top 10Find All Stopped Services:
Get-Service | Where-Object { $_.Status -eq 'Stopped' }Deallocate Shut-Down Azure VMs:
Get-AzVM -ResourceGroupName DemoRG -Status | Where-Object { $_.PowerState -eq 'VM stopped' } | Stop-AzVM -ForceWhy It Matters
Pipelines make PowerShell basics more powerful and help you automate tasks without writing long scripts. Whether you’re managing local processes or cloud resources, pipelines save time and reduce complexity.
Ready to learn more? Watch the full video for a step-by-step PowerShell tutorial and see these examples in action. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share to help others discover this guide!
Links:
A Beginner’s Guide to the AZ-900
https://www.udemy.com/course/beginners-guide-az-900/?referralCode=C74C266B74E837F86969
Zero to Hero with Azure Virtual Desktop
https://www.udemy.com/course/zero-to-hero-with-windows-virtual-desktop/?referralCode=B2FE49E6FCEE7A7EA8D4
Hybrid Identity with Windows AD and Azure AD
https://www.udemy.com/course/hybrid-identity-and-azure-active-directory/?referralCode=7F62C4C6FD05C73ACCC3
Windows 365 Enterprise and Intune Management
https://www.udemy.com/course/windows-365-enterprise-and-intune-management/?referralCode=4A1ED105341D0AA20D2E
PowerShell Commands
https://github.com/tsrob50/CiraltosTool
