PowerShell cmdlets offer an efficient way to identify network issues and resolve connectivity problems. This ebook looks at 10 of these troubleshooting time-savers.

From the ebook:

As Microsoft releases newer versions of its Windows client and server OSes, it continues to double down on PowerShell (PS), the framework developed for managing systems and automation. With its ever-expanding list of commands, called cmdlets, PS is poised to aid in configuring just about any settings found within Windows.

While PS boasts a vast number of cmdlets, thankfully most are grouped based on functionality or the service they manage. For the purposes of this article, the cmdlets that pertain to managing network-based settings are all found within the base PowerShell framework.

Before diving into the cmdlets, you’ll need to meet a few requirements to ensure that all cmdlets are available and fully supported:

• PC with Windows Vista installed (or newer)
• Windows Management Framework 3.0 (or newer)
• Switched network (required for most cmdlets to function properly)
• Broadband internet access (optional, but recommended)

1. Ping devices locally or remotely
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName “Hostname or IP”
The Test-NetConnection cmdlet offers a number of ways to test network connectivity on the LAN and WAN. Enter the command as typed above and the computer will essentially perform a ping to determine if network connectivity between the local device and the target computer or domain exists.

2. Check connectivity based on port or service
Test-NetConnection “Hostname” -Port #
Another feature of the Test-NetConnection cmdlet is the ability to test the connectivity between the local device and the target host by specifying a port number. This is extremely useful for testing services between devices and the ports they communicate on specifically.