45 Commands: Linux/Bash to PowerShell (With Examples)

By Charles Joseph | Cybersecurity Advocate

Last update: November 25, 2023

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PowerShell is a powerful scripting language and command-line shell developed by Microsoft, designed primarily for task automation and configuration management.

It’s built on the .NET Framework and utilizes a versatile scripting language called PowerShell Scripting Language (PSL).

With its ease of use, flexibility, and robustness, PowerShell has become an indispensable tool for system administrators and developers alike.

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Why Use Powershell?

One of the main reasons you’d want to use PowerShell is its ability to seamlessly manage and automate tasks across different Microsoft platforms and services.

It can be used to interact with the Windows operating system, Active Directory, Exchange Server, Azure, and many other Microsoft technologies.

Moreover, PowerShell enables you to manage remote systems, execute commands in parallel, and perform complex tasks with just a few lines of code.

Its object-oriented nature allows for precise control over data manipulation, offering better error handling and output formatting.

History of Powershell

PowerShell was first introduced in 2006 as Windows PowerShell, a replacement for the traditional Command Prompt (cmd.exe).

It was designed to address the limitations of the Command Prompt and provide a more powerful and extensible scripting environment.

The first version of PowerShell, 1.0, was released with Windows Server 2008, and its popularity grew steadily with each subsequent release.

In 2016, Microsoft made a significant announcement: PowerShell was going open source, and a cross-platform version called PowerShell Core was being developed.

This move aimed to expand PowerShell’s reach and usability beyond the Windows ecosystem.

PowerShell Core, built on the .NET Core framework, was first released in 2018 as version 6.0, offering support for macOS and

45 Linux Commands with Their Powershell Equivalents

No.	Linux Command	PowerShell Equivalent	Linux Example	PowerShell Example
1	ls	Get-ChildItem	ls /home/user	Get-ChildItem C:\Users\User
2	pwd	Get-Location	pwd	Get-Location
3	cd	Set-Location	cd /home/user	Set-Location C:\Users\User
4	mkdir	New-Item	mkdir new_directory	New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path new_directory
5	touch	New-Item	touch new_file.txt	New-Item -ItemType File -Path new_file.txt
6	cp	Copy-Item	cp file1.txt file2.txt	Copy-Item file1.txt file2.txt
7	mv	Move-Item	mv file1.txt dir1/	Move-Item file1.txt dir1\
8	rm	Remove-Item	rm file.txt	Remove-Item file.txt
9	cat	Get-Content	cat file.txt	Get-Content file.txt
10	grep	Select-String	grep ‘word’ file.txt	Select-String -Path file.txt -Pattern ‘word’
11	echo	Write-Output	echo “Hello, World!”	Write-Output “Hello, World!”
12	wc	Measure-Object	wc -l file.txt	Get-Content file.txt \| Measure-Object -Line
13	chmod	Set-Acl	chmod 755 file.txt	N/A (Permissions are set differently in Windows)
14	chown	Set-Owner	chown user:group file.txt	N/A (Ownership is set differently in Windows)
15	sudo	Start-Process	sudo apt-get update	Start-Process -Verb RunAs PowerShell
16	kill	Stop-Process	kill -9 12345	Stop-Process -Id 12345 -Force
17	ps	Get-Process	ps	Get-Process
18	tail	Get-Content	tail -n 10 file.txt	Get-Content -Path file.txt -Tail 10
19	sort	Sort-Object	sort file.txt	Get-Content file.txt \| Sort-Object
20	head	Get-Content	head -n 10 file.txt	Get-Content -Path file.txt -Head 10
21	date	Get-Date	date	Get-Date
22	uname	Get-CimInstance	uname -a	Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem
23	df	Get-PSDrive	df -h	Get-PSDrive -PSProvider FileSystem
24	du	Get-ChildItem	du -sh /home/user	Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\User -Recurse -Force \| Measure-Object -Property Length -Sum
25	tar	Compress-Archive	tar -czvf archive.tar.gz folder	Compress-Archive -Path folder -DestinationPath archive.zip
26	gzip	Compress-Archive	gzip file.txt	Compress-Archive -Path file.txt -DestinationPath file.txt.gz
27	gunzip	Expand-Archive	gunzip file.txt.gz	Expand-Archive -Path file.txt.gz -DestinationPath .
28	wget	Invoke-WebRequest	wget https://example.com/file.txt	Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://example.com/file.txt -OutFile file.txt
29	alias	Set-Alias	alias ll=’ls -la’	Set-Alias -Name ll -Value “Get-ChildItem -Force”
30	curl	Invoke-WebRequest	curl -O https://example.com/file.txt	Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://example.com/file.txt -OutFile file.txt
31	env	Get-ChildItem	env	Get-ChildItem -Path Env:
32	export	Set-Variable	export VAR=value	Set-Variable -Name VAR -Value “value” -Scope Global
33	history	Get-History	history	Get-History
34	ifconfig	Get-NetIPAddress	ifconfig	Get-NetIPAddress
35	man	Get-Help	man ls	Get-Help Get-ChildItem
36	ping	Test-NetConnection	ping example.com	Test-NetConnection -ComputerName example.com
37	sed	ForEach-Object	sed ‘s/old/new/g’ file.txt	Get-Content file.txt \| ForEach-Object { $_ -replace ‘old’, ‘new’ } \| Set-Content file.txt
38	awk	ForEach-Object	awk ‘{print $1}’ file.txt	Get-Content file.txt \| ForEach-Object { ($_ -split ‘\s+’)[0] }
39	top	Get-Process	top	Get-Process \| Sort-Object -Descending CPU
40	crontab	Task Scheduler	crontab -e	N/A (Use Windows Task Scheduler)
41	scp	Copy-Item	scp file.txt user@host:/path/	Copy-Item -Path file.txt -Destination \hostname\path\ -ToSession (New-PSSession -ComputerName hostname)
42	ssh	Enter-PSSession	ssh user@host	Enter-PSSession -ComputerName hostname -Credential (Get-Credential)
43	diff	Compare-Object	diff file1.txt file2.txt	Compare-Object (Get-Content file1.txt) (Get-Content file2.txt)
44	passwd	Set-LocalUser	passwd	Set-LocalUser -Name “username” -Password (Read-Host -AsSecureString)
45	uptime	Get-CimInstance	uptime	(Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32