In this section, we will explore one of the most powerful features of PowerShell: pipelines. Pipelines allow you to pass the output of one command as input to another command, enabling complex data manipulation and processing in a streamlined and efficient manner.

• Definition: A pipeline in PowerShell is a series of commands connected by pipeline operators (|), where the output of one command is passed as input to the next command.
• Syntax: command1 | command2 | command3

• Object Passing: Unlike traditional command-line interfaces that pass text, PowerShell pipelines pass objects. This allows for more complex and rich data manipulation.
• Pipeline Operator (|): The operator used to connect commands in a pipeline.

• Explanation:
  • Get-Process: Retrieves a list of all running processes.
  • Sort-Object CPU -Descending: Sorts the processes by CPU usage in descending order.
  • Select-Object -First 5: Selects the top 5 processes based on CPU usage.

• Explanation:
  • Get-Service: Retrieves a list of all services.
  • Where-Object {$_.Status -eq 'Running'}: Filters the services to only include those that are currently running.

• Explanation:
  • Get-Process: Retrieves a list of all running processes.
  • Select-Object Name, CPU: Selects only the Name and CPU properties of each process.

• Explanation:
  • Get-Process: Retrieves a list of all running processes.
  • Group-Object -Property Company: Groups the processes by the Company property.
  • Select-Object Name, Count: Selects the Name and Count properties of each group.

Task: Write a PowerShell command to list the top 10 processes consuming the most memory.

Task: Write a PowerShell command to find all services that are currently stopped.

Task: Write a PowerShell command to group processes by their priority class and count the number of processes in each group.

• Forgetting to Use the Pipeline Operator: Ensure you use the | operator to connect commands.
• Incorrect Property Names: Double-check property names when filtering or selecting objects.

• Use Get-Member: To explore the properties and methods of objects passed through the pipeline, use Get-Member.

  Get-Process | Get-Member
  

• Chain Commands: You can chain multiple commands to perform complex data manipulations in a single line.

In this section, we have covered the basics of pipelines and object manipulation in PowerShell. You have learned how to use the pipeline operator to pass objects between commands, filter data, select specific properties, and group objects. These skills are fundamental for efficient data processing and automation in PowerShell. In the next section, we will delve deeper into filtering and selecting objects to further enhance your scripting capabilities.