What is a PowerShell command (cmdlet)?

Commands for PowerShell are known as cmdlets (pronounced command-lets). In addition to cmdlets, PowerShell allows you to run any command available on your system.

What is a cmdlet?

Cmdlets are native PowerShell commands, not stand-alone executables. Cmdlets are collected into PowerShell modules that can be loaded on demand. Cmdlets can be written in any compiled .NET language or in the PowerShell scripting language itself.

Cmdlet names

PowerShell uses a Verb-Noun name pair to name cmdlets. For example, the Get-Command cmdlet included in PowerShell is used to get all the cmdlets that are registered in the command shell. The verb identifies the action that the cmdlet performs, and the noun identifies the resource on which the cmdlet performs its action.

Next steps

To learn more about PowerShell and how to find other cmdlets, see the PowerShell Bits tutorial Discover PowerShell.

For more information about creating your own cmdlets, see the following resources:

Script-based cmdlets

• about_Functions_Advanced
• about_Functions_CmdletBindingAttribute
• about_Functions_Advanced_Methods

Compiled cmdlets (PowerShell SDK docs)

• Cmdlet overview