PowerShell: Process Wrangling with Get-Process
In it’s simplest form the PowerShell command Get-Process will return all running processes. In this article, we will explore all the powerful ways to use the Get-Process command.
The Basics
Get-Process- List all running processes
PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) CPU(s) Id SI ProcessName ------- ------ ----- ----- ------ -- -- ----------- 479 45 72088 95316 5.05 16984 9 Adobe CEF Helper 901 56 84624 122208 38.19 11072 9 Adobe Desktop Service 244 18 5232 11524 7.73 9776 9 AdobeIPCBroker 267 17 3732 10908 0.66 3452 0 AdobeUpdateService 115 9 1828 2264 0.08 13584 0 svchost 134 9 1844 7640 0.06 14116 0 svchost 235 16 2856 10928 3.23 15936 0 svchost 4848 0 184 18136 3,883.41 4 0 System 483 37 9264 23040 1.78 10000 9 taskhostw 115 7 1696 7088 0.05 1536 9 unsecapp 668 22 10268 21888 21.17 5968 0 WmiPrvSE 378 17 26128 10260 2.16 1348 0 WUDFHost 328 19 6272 14144 5.94 4052 0 ZeroConfigService ### output truncated Get-Process explorer- Get process(es) by name.
Note: This command may return more than one result if multple instances of an application are running. Get-Process a*- Wildcard Query search for processes by name
PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process a* Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) CPU(s) Id SI ProcessName ------- ------ ----- ----- ------ -- -- ----------- 479 45 72208 95800 6.20 16984 9 Adobe CEF Helper 912 56 84628 122356 54.34 11072 9 Adobe Desktop Service 244 18 5584 11776 13.14 9776 9 AdobeIPCBroker 267 17 3732 10908 0.72 3452 0 AdobeUpdateService 205 13 4732 11212 24.34 3520 0 AGSService 219 20 3888 13388 6.70 16040 0 AppleMobileDeviceService 632 38 13168 37336 1.89 9912 9 ApplePhotoStreams 364 25 4984 17416 0.42 9764 9 APSDaemon 516 23 30828 35288 3,189.81 14576 0 audiodg Get-Process -Id 3916- Get process by id or PID
Get-Process -iD 3916 | Select-Object *- Get all available information about a single process.
PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process -iD 3916 | Select-Object * Name : WavesSysSvc64 Id : 3916 PriorityClass : Normal FileVersion : 1.1.6.0 HandleCount : 97 WorkingSet : 3276800 PagedMemorySize : 2433024 PrivateMemorySize : 2433024 VirtualMemorySize : 36986880 TotalProcessorTime : 00:00:00.0312500 SI : 0 Handles : 97 VM : 36986880 WS : 3276800 PM : 2433024 NPM : 8624 Path : C:\Program Files\Waves\MaxxAudio\WavesSysSvc64.exe Company : Waves Audio Ltd. CPU : 0.03125 ProductVersion : 1.1.6.0 Description : WavesSysSvc Service Application Product : Waves MaxxAudio __NounName : Process BasePriority : 8 ExitCode : HasExited : False ExitTime : Handle : 1896 SafeHandle : Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles.SafeProcessHandle MachineName : . MainWindowHandle : 0 MainWindowTitle : MainModule : System.Diagnostics.ProcessModule (WavesSysSvc64.exe) MaxWorkingSet : 1413120 MinWorkingSet : 204800 Modules : {System.Diagnostics.ProcessModule (WavesSysSvc64.exe), System.Diagnostics.ProcessModule (ntdll.dll), System.Diagnostics.ProcessModule (KERNEL32.DLL), System.Diagnostics.ProcessModule (KERNELBASE.dll)...} NonpagedSystemMemorySize : 8624 NonpagedSystemMemorySize64 : 8624 PagedMemorySize64 : 2433024 PagedSystemMemorySize : 62752 PagedSystemMemorySize64 : 62752 PeakPagedMemorySize : 5505024 PeakPagedMemorySize64 : 5505024 PeakWorkingSet : 8888320 PeakWorkingSet64 : 8888320 PeakVirtualMemorySize : 40390656 PeakVirtualMemorySize64 : 40390656 PriorityBoostEnabled : True PrivateMemorySize64 : 2433024 PrivilegedProcessorTime : 00:00:00.0312500 ProcessName : WavesSysSvc64 ProcessorAffinity : 255 Responding : True SessionId : 0 StartInfo : System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo StartTime : 9/30/2017 4:33:01 PM SynchronizingObject : Threads : {3920, 5108} UserProcessorTime : 00:00:00 VirtualMemorySize64 : 36986880 EnableRaisingEvents : False StandardInput : StandardOutput : StandardError : WorkingSet64 : 3276800 Site : Container : Get-Process explorer -IncludeUsername- Information about the process owner is not included in the output by default but can be by supplying the -IncludeUserName argument.
PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process explorer -IncludeUsername | Select-Object Id,Name,UserName Id Name UserName -- ---- -------- 7628 explorer MYCOMPUTER\me
Get-Process -FileVersionInfo explorer | Select-Object *- Use the -FileVersionInfo argument to get detailed information about a executable file for a given process.
Note: Omitting| Select-Object *only returns ProductVersion,FileVersion,FileName.PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process -FileVersionInfo explorer | Select-Object * FileVersionRaw : 10.0.15063.608 ProductVersionRaw : 10.0.15063.608 Comments : CompanyName : Microsoft Corporation FileBuildPart : 15063 FileDescription : Windows Explorer FileMajorPart : 10 FileMinorPart : 0 FileName : C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE FilePrivatePart : 608 FileVersion : 10.0.15063.0 (WinBuild.160101.0800) InternalName : explorer IsDebug : False IsPatched : False IsPrivateBuild : False IsPreRelease : False IsSpecialBuild : False Language : English (United States) LegalCopyright : © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. LegalTrademarks : OriginalFilename : EXPLORER.EXE.MUI PrivateBuild : ProductBuildPart : 15063 ProductMajorPart : 10 ProductMinorPart : 0 ProductName : Microsoft® Windows® Operating System ProductPrivatePart : 608 ProductVersion : 10.0.15063.0 SpecialBuild :
Working with multiple instances of an application
Get-Process notepad | Sort-Object StartTime | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime- List all instances of an application sorted by StartTime.
PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process notepad | Sort-Object StartTime | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime Id Name StartTime -- ---- --------- 12524 notepad 10/7/2017 1:35:24 PM 7708 notepad 10/7/2017 1:35:31 PM 5380 notepad 10/7/2017 1:35:37 PM 17424 notepad 10/7/2017 1:35:46 PM 11336 notepad 10/7/2017 1:35:53 PM
Get-Process notepad | Sort-Object StartTime | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime | Select -First 1- Get the longest running instances of an application.
PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process notepad | Sort-Object StartTime | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime | Select -First 1 Id Name StartTime -- ---- --------- 12524 notepad 10/7/2017 1:35:24 PM
Get-Process notepad | Sort-Object StartTime -Descending | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime | Select -First 1- Get the most recent running instances of an application.
PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process notepad | Sort-Object StartTime -Descending | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime | Select -First 1 Id Name StartTime -- ---- --------- 11336 notepad 10/7/2017 1:35:53 PM
User Processes
Get Processes by Username
# Get Logged In User $myuser = $(Get-WMIObject -class Win32_ComputerSystem | select username).username # Query for User Processes Get-Process -IncludeUserName | Where-Object {$_.UserName -eq $myuser}
Process CPU and Memory Utilization
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -desc | Select-Object -first 5 | Format-Table Id,ProcessName,CPU- Get top 5 processes by CPU utilization
PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -desc | Select-Object -first 5 | Format-Table Id,ProcessName,CPU Id ProcessName CPU -- ----------- --- 4 System 4038.09375 14576 audiodg 3016.0625 3608 KillerService 2674.9375 5632 WmiPrvSE 2331.890625 12156 chrome 1474.921875633.328125 KillerService 2303.109375 WmiPrvSE 1373.234375 chrome gwmi Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfProc_Process| sort PercentProcessorTime -desc | select IDProcess,Name,PercentProcessorTime | Select -First 7 | ft -auto- This alternative command does not use Get-Process but does show top 5 processes with percentage of CPU utilization.
PS C:\dev\playground> gwmi Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfProc_Process| sort PercentProcessorTime -desc | select IDProcess,Name,PercentProcessorTime | Select -First 7 | ft -auto IDProcess Name PercentProcessorTime --------- ---- -------------------- 0 _Total 100 0 Idle 100 12156 chrome#20 17 17760 chrome#23 11 9880 chrome#24 11 14576 audiodg 11 1168 chrome#21 5 get-process | Where-Object {$_.Responding -ne "True"}- List all process that are hung or not responding.
PS C:\dev\playground> get-process | Where-Object {$_.Responding -ne "True"} Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) CPU(s) Id SI ProcessName ------- ------ ----- ----- ------ -- -- ----------- 1233 44 37768 92448 6.86 10804 9 ShellExperienceHost 667 35 15172 44736 0.88 6688 9 SystemSettings Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.WorkingSet -gt 100000000}- Get all processes using more than 100MB of memory
PS C:\dev\playground> Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.WorkingSet -gt 100000000} Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) CPU(s) Id SI ProcessName ------- ------ ----- ----- ------ -- -- ----------- 909 56 84628 122312 48.98 11072 9 Adobe Desktop Service 448 65 234176 256376 244.64 1168 9 chrome 3253 123 289692 375732 970.67 3060 9 chrome 420 54 156236 187296 194.78 5056 9 chrome 279 55 174848 176724 48.19 5624 9 chrome 460 56 164316 182924 104.59 6224 9 chrome 319 36 95716 99716 26.48 8692 9 chrome 563 41 252896 251396 445.02 12104 9 chrome 444 56 193576 222024 1,357.28 12156 9 chrome 438 55 154580 177040 19.86 17760 9 chrome 2223 73 45192 113804 48.63 7628 9 explorer 834 85 232872 188256 1,123.73 3952 0 MsMpEng 1401 97 151420 198412 138.58 9768 9 PaintDotNet 1328 88 234760 279732 293.44 11016 9 powershell_ise 994 62 45524 98704 0.86 18308 9 SearchUI
Executing & Terminating Processes
Start-Process- Let’s first learn how to launch a process from PowerShell. If we want to do anything interesting with our executing process we need use the -passthru argument so that the process id is pass back to our script.
# Execute notepad and print the process id (PID) $app = Start-Process notepad -passthru echo $app.Id # Launch 5 instances of notepad and keep track of the PIDs $procs = @{} 1..5 | % { Start-Process notepad -passthru | ForEach-Object { $procs[$_.Id] = $_ }} echo $procs Stop-Process- Next, lets review how Stop-Process works
#Kill process by id Stop-Process 19320 #Kill process by name Stop-Process -processname notepad #Kill process using wildcard search Stop-Process -processname note* #Force termnation a process that is not responding Stop-Process -processname notepad -Force
Combining
Get-ProcessandStop-Process# Passing a Get-Process returned object to Stop-Process $p = Get-Process notepad Stop-Process $p # Same as above but combined into one line Get-Process notepad | Stop-Process
- Terminate the most recent instance of an application
Get-Process notepad | Sort-Object StartTime -Descending | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime | Select -First 1 | Stop-Process #Same command expanded for readability Get-Process notepad ` | Sort-Object StartTime -Descending ` | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime ` | Select -First 1 ` | Stop-Process
- Terminate the oldest instance of an application
Get-Process notepad | Sort-Object StartTime | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime | Select -First 1 | Stop-Process #Same command expanded for readability Get-Process notepad ` | Sort-Object StartTime ` | Select-Object Id,Name,StartTime ` | Select -First 1 ` | Stop-Process
Terminate application instances in order, oldest to newest
- In this example we also introduce a 2 second delay between each call to Stop-Process.
# Terminal all instances of an application oldest to newest # Introducing a delay of 2 seconds between each termination Foreach( $p in Get-Process notepad | Sort-Object StartTime ) { echo "Terminating $($p.Id)" Stop-Process $p echo "2 Second Delay" Start-Sleep -s 2 } # Script Output Terminating 4824 2 Second Delay Terminating 8416 2 Second Delay Terminating 16460 2 Second Delay Terminating 10300 2 Second Delay Terminating 10040 2 Second Delay # - Start and Stop an Application
# Launch Notepad, wait 5 seconds and close it $app = Start-Process notepad -passthru echo $app.Id Start-Sleep -s 5 Stop-Process $app.Id
- Start a process and wait for it to terminate
# Launch notepad and pause script until user closes it $app = Start-Process notepad -passthru echo "Notepad Launched" Wait-Process $app.Id echo "Notepad Closed"
Launch an application and count how long it was running for
$StartTime = Get-Date # Launch Notepad $app = Start-Process notepad -passthru echo "Notepad Launched" # Wait for user to close application Wait-Process $app.Id echo "Notepad Closed" $EndTime = Get-Date echo "Notepad was running for $(($EndTime - $StartTime).Seconds) seconds" # Script Output Notepad Launched Notepad Closed Notepad was running for 17 seconds #
Executing & Terminating Multiple Processes
#Start 10 instances of notepad, wait 5 seconds, and then terminate each instance $procs = New-Object System.Collections.ArrayList 1..10 | % { Start-Process notepad -passthru | ForEach-Object { $procs.Add($_) | Out-Null }} Start-Sleep -s 5 Foreach($p in $procs) { echo $p.Id Stop-Process $p }
I hope you have enjoyed this deep dive into the Get-Process command. If you have any suggestions or additions to this article please leave a comment down below.
Get-Process Properties Reference
PS C:\> Get-Process | Get-Member -MemberType Properties
TypeName: System.Diagnostics.Process
Name MemberType Definition
---- ---------- ----------
Handles AliasProperty Handles = Handlecount
Name AliasProperty Name = ProcessName
NPM AliasProperty NPM = NonpagedSystemMemorySize64
PM AliasProperty PM = PagedMemorySize64
SI AliasProperty SI = SessionId
VM AliasProperty VM = VirtualMemorySize64
WS AliasProperty WS = WorkingSet64
__NounName NoteProperty string __NounName=Process
BasePriority Property int BasePriority {get;}
Container Property System.ComponentModel.IContainer Container {get;}
EnableRaisingEvents Property bool EnableRaisingEvents {get;set;}
ExitCode Property int ExitCode {get;}
ExitTime Property datetime ExitTime {get;}
Handle Property System.IntPtr Handle {get;}
HandleCount Property int HandleCount {get;}
HasExited Property bool HasExited {get;}
Id Property int Id {get;}
MachineName Property string MachineName {get;}
MainModule Property System.Diagnostics.ProcessModule MainModule {get;}
MainWindowHandle Property System.IntPtr MainWindowHandle {get;}
MainWindowTitle Property string MainWindowTitle {get;}
MaxWorkingSet Property System.IntPtr MaxWorkingSet {get;set;}
MinWorkingSet Property System.IntPtr MinWorkingSet {get;set;}
Modules Property System.Diagnostics.ProcessModuleCollection Modules {get;}
NonpagedSystemMemorySize Property int NonpagedSystemMemorySize {get;}
NonpagedSystemMemorySize64 Property long NonpagedSystemMemorySize64 {get;}
PagedMemorySize Property int PagedMemorySize {get;}
PagedMemorySize64 Property long PagedMemorySize64 {get;}
PagedSystemMemorySize Property int PagedSystemMemorySize {get;}
PagedSystemMemorySize64 Property long PagedSystemMemorySize64 {get;}
PeakPagedMemorySize Property int PeakPagedMemorySize {get;}
PeakPagedMemorySize64 Property long PeakPagedMemorySize64 {get;}
PeakVirtualMemorySize Property int PeakVirtualMemorySize {get;}
PeakVirtualMemorySize64 Property long PeakVirtualMemorySize64 {get;}
PeakWorkingSet Property int PeakWorkingSet {get;}
PeakWorkingSet64 Property long PeakWorkingSet64 {get;}
PriorityBoostEnabled Property bool PriorityBoostEnabled {get;set;}
PriorityClass Property System.Diagnostics.ProcessPriorityClass PriorityClass {get;set;}
PrivateMemorySize Property int PrivateMemorySize {get;}
PrivateMemorySize64 Property long PrivateMemorySize64 {get;}
PrivilegedProcessorTime Property timespan PrivilegedProcessorTime {get;}
ProcessName Property string ProcessName {get;}
ProcessorAffinity Property System.IntPtr ProcessorAffinity {get;set;}
Responding Property bool Responding {get;}
SafeHandle Property Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles.SafeProcessHandle SafeHandle {get;}
SessionId Property int SessionId {get;}
Site Property System.ComponentModel.ISite Site {get;set;}
StandardError Property System.IO.StreamReader StandardError {get;}
StandardInput Property System.IO.StreamWriter StandardInput {get;}
StandardOutput Property System.IO.StreamReader StandardOutput {get;}
StartInfo Property System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo StartInfo {get;set;}
StartTime Property datetime StartTime {get;}
SynchronizingObject Property System.ComponentModel.ISynchronizeInvoke SynchronizingObject {get;set;}
Threads Property System.Diagnostics.ProcessThreadCollection Threads {get;}
TotalProcessorTime Property timespan TotalProcessorTime {get;}
UserProcessorTime Property timespan UserProcessorTime {get;}
VirtualMemorySize Property int VirtualMemorySize {get;}
VirtualMemorySize64 Property long VirtualMemorySize64 {get;}
WorkingSet Property int WorkingSet {get;}
WorkingSet64 Property long WorkingSet64 {get;}
Company ScriptProperty System.Object Company {get=$this.Mainmodule.FileVersionInfo.CompanyName;}
CPU ScriptProperty System.Object CPU {get=$this.TotalProcessorTime.TotalSeconds;}
Description ScriptProperty System.Object Description {get=$this.Mainmodule.FileVersionInfo.FileDescription;}
FileVersion ScriptProperty System.Object FileVersion {get=$this.Mainmodule.FileVersionInfo.FileVersion;}
Path ScriptProperty System.Object Path {get=$this.Mainmodule.FileName;}
Product ScriptProperty System.Object Product {get=$this.Mainmodule.FileVersionInfo.ProductName;}
ProductVersion ScriptProperty System.Object ProductVersion {get=$this.Mainmodule.FileVersionInfo.ProductVersion;}
