Windows Tricks Cheatsheet

WSL - Windows Subsystem for Linux

Before you can install WSL 2 it is necessary to ensure your processor is capable of supporting Virtualization, and VT-x or AMD-V is enabled in the BIOS.

How to Find Out If Intel VT-x or AMD-V Virtualization Technology is Supported?

Next make sure Virtualization is configured in Windows, search for Turn Windows features on or off

Virtual Machine Platform - enabled
Windows Subsystem for Linux - enabled
Windows Hypervisor Platform - only enable if you want Hyper-V and have a license that supports it

It should also be possible to do this from the command line

PS> dsim.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all
PS> dsim.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /norestart

Reboot your computer.

From the Microsoft Store install Windows Subsystem for Linux and Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS or Ubuntu.

Alternatively directly install Ubuntu from the command line.

PS> wsl --install

A further reboot maybe necessary, but Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS or Ubuntu should now work.

PS> wsl --list
PS> wsl --help
PS> wsl
Welcome to Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.15.90.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 x86_64)

 * Documentation:  https://help.ubuntu.com
 * Management:     https://landscape.canonical.com
 * Support:        https://ubuntu.com/advantage

sjfke@wallace:~$                       # UNIX home directory, /home/sjfke
sjfke@wallace:~$ cd /mnt/c/Users/geoff # Change to Windows home directory
sjfk@eWALLACE:/mnt/c/Users/geoff$ ls   # Windows home directory

Oh My Posh

Note

Laptop must be configured to run scripts, PowerShell Scripting Cheatsheet - Introduction

For all users

PS> Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

        Scope ExecutionPolicy
        ----- ---------------
MachinePolicy       Undefined
   UserPolicy       Undefined
      Process       Undefined
  CurrentUser       Undefined
 LocalMachine       RemoteSigned

For just for your account

PS> Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

        Scope ExecutionPolicy
        ----- ---------------
MachinePolicy       Undefined
   UserPolicy       Undefined
      Process       Undefined
  CurrentUser    RemoteSigned
 LocalMachine       Undefined

Warning

Oh My Posh installation and configuration instructions have changed

Install Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store
Install oh-my-posh using the winget command line, the Microsoft Store version is outdated.

PS> winget install JanDeDobbeleer.OhMyPosh --source winget # install
PS> winget upgrade JanDeDobbeleer.OhMyPosh --source winget # any upgrades

Check the oh-my-posh installation

PS> get-childitem Env: | where {$_.Name -like 'POSH*' -or $_.Name -like 'POWER*'}
Name                           Value
----                           -----
POWERLINE_COMMAND              oh-my-posh

Install Meslo LGM NF fonts which include the required Nerd fonts.

PS> oh-my-posh font install meslo

Open Windows Terminal
- Settings > Windows PowerShell > Appearance > Color Scheme choose Campbell PowerShell
- Settings > Windows PowerShell > Appearance > Font face choose MesloLGM Nerd Font
Configure Oh My Posh prompt by choosing a Theme

PS> Test-Path $PROFILE -PathType Leaf         # If FALSE, then create it using New-Item
PS> New-Item -Path $PROFILE -Type File -Force # Create the PowerShell_profile.ps1 file

PS> notepad $PROFILE                          # Choose your theme and update your profile

PS> Get-Content -Path $PROFILE
# oh-my-posh init pwsh | Invoke-Expression
# oh-my-posh init pwsh --config "paradox" | Invoke-Expression
# oh-my-posh init pwsh --config "dracula" | Invoke-Expression
# oh-my-posh init pwsh --config "remk" | Invoke-Expression
# oh-my-posh init pwsh --config "jtracey93" | Invoke-Expression
# oh-my-posh init pwsh --config "mt" | Invoke-Expression
oh-my-posh init pwsh --config "agnoster" | Invoke-Expression
# oh-my-posh init pwsh --config "agnosterplus" | Invoke-Expression

# These might fail, with 'PowerShell 5.1' the default on 'Windows-11'
PS> . $PROFILE                                      # IGNORE errors
PS> oh-my-posh init pwsh --eval | Invoke-Expression # IGNORE traceback errors

PS> $PSVersionTable
Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      5.1.26100.7462
PSEdition                      Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
BuildVersion                   10.0.26100.7462
CLRVersion                     4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion              3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1

If the above failed, open the Terminal from the task bar, and the PowerShell should be using your chosen theme.

PS> get-childitem Env: | where {$_.Name -like 'POSH*' -or $_.Name -like 'POWER*'}
Name                           Value
----                           -----
POSH_CURSOR_COLUMN             1
POSH_CURSOR_LINE               22
POSH_INSTALLER                 ws
POSH_SESSION_ID                a5f16181-1894-4fcc-b94f-23159d4968dd
POSH_SHELL                     pwsh
POSH_SHELL_VERSION             5.1.26100.7462
POWERLINE_COMMAND              oh-my-posh

To do manual updates.

PS> oh-my-posh notice                                # Upgrade available? (unreliable)
PS> oh-my-posh version                               # Existing version
PS> winget upgrade JanDeDobbeleer.OhMyPosh -s winget # Upgrade (do weekly, upgrades are frequent)
PS> oh-my-posh version                               # New version

Summary of the oh-my-posh commands

PS> oh-my-posh help        # help summary
PS> oh-my-posh help --help # help on the 'help' command

It is recommended to use Terminal Icons to add color and icons to PowerShell directory listings, for your account -Scope CurrentUser, and for all users -Scope LocalMachine.

PS> Install-Module -Name Terminal-Icons -Repository PSGallery -Scope CurrentUser
PS> Import-Module -Name Terminal-Icons

# Append to $PROFILE
PS> Get-Content -Path $PROFILE
oh-my-posh init pwsh --config "agnoster" | Invoke-Expression
Import-Module -Name Terminal-Icons

Want more, see My Ultimate PowerShell prompt with Oh My Posh and the Windows Terminal

Warning

Exercise caution when installing from PowerShell Gallery

Updating Git For Windows

Git for Windows We bring the awesome Git SCM to Windows

PS> git update-git-for-windows
Git for Windows 2.50.0.windows.2 (64-bit)
Update 2.50.1.windows.1 is available
Download and install Git for Windows 2.50.1 [N/y]? y
######################################################################################### 100.0%
PS> git update-git-for-windows
Git for Windows 2.50.1.windows.1 (64-bit)
Up to date

Are Files Identical?

One novel approach is to use certutil to compute a hash to see if they are the same.

certutil supports hash algorithms: MD2, MD4, MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA384 SHA512
Commonly used hash algorithms being, SHA1 default, MD5 and SHA256

PS> certutil -hashfile file1.txt
SHA1 hash of file1.txt:
2236964ee87bff078491008b506044391975e2a6
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

PS> certutil -hashfile file1.txt MD5
MD5 hash of file1.txt:
4ead6a1f65b3f97d86a093dfb87a8be2
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

PS> certutil -hashfile file1.txt SHA256
SHA256 hash of file1.txt:
dde3f13078dae2baf1d1a12ad3be20ce6cc0d370cbab0f579fca16dcc4791394
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

PS> certutil -hashfile Fred_Flintstone.png SHA256
SHA256 hash of Fred_Flintstone.png:
a4c8843ce4fb12654ccbe7aa14256c7e0243739d42874d42b531e74bc27ba32c
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

PS> sha256_hash = Invoke-Expression "certutil -hashfile Fred_Flintstone.png SHA256 | Select-Object -Index 1"
PS> write($sha256_hash) # a4c8843ce4fb12654ccbe7aa14256c7e0243739d42874d42b531e74bc27ba32c

PS> certutil -hashfile .\kustomize.exe SHA256
SHA256 hash of .\kustomize.exe:
2cd041a2e4d3533ffa6f5f03dc2d9e0828bae7931021cc5d11dfcd644bd8b4c0
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

Utility certutil is intended for manipulating certificates and so can do much more.

Base 64 Encode/Decode

PS> [Convert]::ToBase64String([System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes("EncodeMe-in-Base64"))
RW5jb2RlTWUtaW4tQmFzZTY0

PS> [System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetString([System.Convert]::FromBase64String('RW5jb2RlTWUtaW4tQmFzZTY0'))
EncodeMe-in-Base64

Using wsl, if installed

PS> wsl
$ echo -n 'EncodeMe-in-Base64' | base64
RW5jb2RlTWUtaW4tQmFzZTY0

$ echo -n 'RW5jb2RlTWUtaW4tQmFzZTY0' | base64 -d
EncodeMe-in-Base64

Using Python, if installed

>>> import base64
>>> _ascii = "EncodeMe-in-Base64".encode("ascii")
>>> _b64bytes = base64.b64encode(_ascii)
>>> print(_b64bytes.decode("ascii"))
RW5jb2RlTWUtaW4tQmFzZTY0

>>> import base64
>>> _ascii = "RW5jb2RlTWUtaW4tQmFzZTY0".encode("ascii")
>>> _b64bytes = base64.b64decode(_ascii)
>>> print(_b64bytes.decode("ascii"))
EncodeMe-in-Base64

JSON, YAML File Filtering

jq is a lightweight command-line JSON processor, similar to sed.
yq is a Python command-line (jq wrapper) YAML/XML processor.

# Installation
PS> winget install jqlang.jq

# Command Line examples
PS> Write-Output '{"fruit":{"name":"apple","color":"green","price":1.20}}' | jq '.' # pretty-print
{
  "fruit": {
    "name": "apple",
    "color": "green",
    "price": 1.2
  }
}

# {JSON} Placeholder - Free fake and reliable API for testing and prototyping.
PS> Invoke-RestMethod -uri https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1 | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 10 | jq '.'
{
  "userId": 1,
  "id": 1,
  "title": "delectus aut autem",
  "completed": false
}

# Get International Space Station Current Location
PS> Invoke-RestMethod -uri http://api.open-notify.org/iss-now.json | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 10 | jq '.'
# -or-
PS> Invoke-RestMethod -uri http://api.open-notify.org/iss-now.json -outfile iss-now.json
PS> jq '.' .\iss-now.json # pretty-print
{
  "message": "success",
  "iss_position": {
    "latitude": "-1.5479",
    "longitude": "-51.8420"
  },
  "timestamp": 1719839316
}

# Installation
PS> winget install --id MikeFarah.yq

# Command Line examples
PS> Write-Output '{"fruit":{"name":"apple","color":"green","price":1.20}}' | yq '.'
{"fruit": {"name": "apple", "color": "green", "price": 1.20}}

# {JSON} Placeholder - Free fake and reliable API for testing and prototyping.
PS> Invoke-RestMethod -uri https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1 | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 10 | yq '.'
{"userId": 1, "id": 1, "title": "delectus aut autem", "completed": false}

# Get International Space Station Current Location
PS> Invoke-RestMethod -uri http://api.open-notify.org/iss-now.json | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 10 | yq '.'
# -or-
PS> Invoke-RestMethod -uri http://api.open-notify.org/iss-now.json -outfile iss-now.json
PS> yq '.' .\iss-now.json # pretty-print
{
  "message": "success",
  "iss_position": {
    "latitude": "-32.9725",
    "longitude": "-24.9078"
  },
  "timestamp": 1719839968
}

JSON Examples, see “jq JSON Cheatsheet”
YAML, JSON Examples, see “yq YAML/JSON Cheatsheet”
{JSON} Placeholder Free fake and reliable API for testing and prototyping.

Wipe a USB drive on Windows 11

Start a CMD shell as Administrator

C:\Windows\System32>diskpart
DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online          476 GB  2048 KB        *
  Disk 1    Online           57 GB      0 B        *

DISKPART> select disk 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> clean all

Note

The clean all may appear to hang, unplug USB device if this happens.

Testing Remote Connections

The examples are testing for SSH daemon (port 22) on host 192.168.0.1

Test-NetConnection

PowerShell provides Test-NetConnection

PS> Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 192.168.0.1 -Port 22
PS> get-help Test-NetConnection

Python: telnetlib — Telnet client 

Warning

‘telnetlib’ was deprecated in Python 3.12 and removed in Python 3.13

PS> python3.12 -c "import telnetlib; tel=telnetlib.Telnet('192.168.0.1','22',10); print(tel.host,tel.port); tel.close()"
PS> python
>>> import telnetlib
>>> tel = telnetlib.Telnet('192.168.0.1', 22, 10) # 10 second timeout
>>> print(tel.host, tel.port) # 192.168.0.1 22
>>> tel.close()
>>> exit()

Python: socket — Low-level networking interface 

PS> python3 -c "import socket; s = socket.socket(); s.settimeout(10); s.connect(('192.168.0.1', 22)); print(s)"
PS> python3
>>> import socket
>>> s = socket.socket()
>>> s.settimeout(10)
>>> s.connect(('192.168.0.1', 22))
>>> print(s) # "<socket.socket fd=1376, family=2, type=1, proto=0, laddr=('127.0.0.1', 52243), raddr=('192.168.0.1', 22)>"
>>> exit()

curl - transfer a URL 

cURL can do much much more see, cURL on Windows

PS> winget install cURL.cURL                  # installation
PS> curl.exe -v telnet://<remote server>:port # typical command
PS> curl.exe -v telnet://192.168.0.1:22       # test

cURL on Windows

There are a vast amount of use-cases for curl, such as:

FTP upload, Proxy support, SSL connections, HTTP post

It also supports the use of all the following protocols: DICT, FILE, FTP, FTPS, GOPHER, HTTP, HTTPS, IMAP, IMAPS, LDAP, LDAPS, POP3, POP3S, RTMP, RTSP, SCP, SFTP, SMB, SMBS, SMTP, SMTPS, TELNET, and TFTP.

cURL installation

# Package Installation: '%localappdata%\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages'
# Package Links: '%localappdata%\Microsoft\WinGet\Links\'
PS> winget install cURL.cURL # installation
PS> winget list curl         # version installed
PS> curl.exe -h              # help

Warning

Use curl.exe because Invoke-WebRequest has a curl alias

cURL examples

PS> curl.exe https://www.nonbleedingedge.com  # HTTP GET
PS> curl.exe -I https://nonbleedingedge.com   # get HTTP headers
PS> curl.exe -D - https://nonbleedingedge.com # store the HTTP headers that a site sends back

PS> curl.exe -o favicon.ico https://nonbleedingedge.com/_static/favicon.ico # get/save icon image

PS> curl.exe --request POST https://nonbleedingedge.com   # examples see 'Everything curl' URL above
PS> curl.exe --request DELETE https://nonbleedingedge.com # examples see 'Everything curl' URL above
PS> curl.exe --request PUT https://nonbleedingedge.com    # examples see 'Everything curl' URL above

PS> curl.exe -v telnet://<remote server>:port # test remote connection
PS> curl.exe -v telnet://192.168.0.1:22 # test for ssh (port 22) on server 192.168.0.1

Simple PUT and DELETE examples

Windows Tricks Cheatsheet

WSL - Windows Subsystem for Linux

Oh My Posh

Updating Git For Windows

Are Files Identical?

Base 64 Encode/Decode

JSON, YAML File Filtering

Wipe a USB drive on Windows 11

Testing Remote Connections

Test-NetConnection

Python: telnetlib — Telnet client

Python: socket — Low-level networking interface

curl - transfer a URL

cURL on Windows

cURL installation

cURL examples

Python: telnetlib — Telnet client 

Python: socket — Low-level networking interface 

curl - transfer a URL 