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PowerShell vs Linux Commands Guide

A comprehensive comparison between PowerShell and Linux/bash commands for system administrators working across platforms.

Philosophy Differences

Aspect	PowerShell	Linux/Bash
Data Type	Works with objects	Works with text streams
Output	Structured objects	Plain text
Approach	Verb-Noun commands	Short cryptic commands
Case Sensitivity	Case insensitive	Case sensitive
Help System	Built-in comprehensive help	Man pages + various docs

Directory Operations

Task	PowerShell	Linux
Current directory	`Get-Location` or `pwd`	`pwd`
Change directory	`Set-Location C:\temp` or `cd C:\temp`	`cd /tmp`
List files	`Get-ChildItem` or `ls` or `dir`	`ls`
List with details	`Get-ChildItem -Force`	`ls -la`
List recursively	`Get-ChildItem -Recurse`	`find .` or `ls -R`

Examples

# PowerShell
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\temp -Recurse -Force | Where-Object {$_.Extension -eq ".txt"}

# Linux equivalent
find /tmp -name "*.txt" -type f

File Operations

Task	PowerShell	Linux
Create directory	`New-Item -Type Directory -Path C:\folder`	`mkdir /folder`
Create file	`New-Item -Type File -Path C:\file.txt`	`touch /file.txt`
Copy file	`Copy-Item source.txt dest.txt`	`cp source.txt dest.txt`
Copy directory	`Copy-Item -Recurse C:\src C:\dest`	`cp -r /src /dest`
Move/rename	`Move-Item old.txt new.txt`	`mv old.txt new.txt`
Delete file	`Remove-Item file.txt`	`rm file.txt`
Delete directory	`Remove-Item -Recurse -Force folder`	`rm -rf folder`

Examples

# PowerShell - Copy all .txt files
Get-ChildItem *.txt | Copy-Item -Destination C:\backup

# Linux equivalent
cp *.txt /backup/

File Content Operations

Reading Files

Task	PowerShell	Linux
Display file	`Get-Content file.txt`	`cat file.txt`
First 10 lines	`Get-Content file.txt -TotalCount 10`	`head file.txt`
Last 10 lines	`Get-Content file.txt -Tail 10`	`tail file.txt`
Follow/monitor	`Get-Content file.txt -Wait`	`tail -f file.txt`
Display with line numbers	`Get-Content file.txt \\| ForEach-Object {$i=1} {"$i`: $_"; $i++}`\|`cat -n file.txt`

Writing Files

Task	PowerShell	Linux
Write to file	`"Hello" \\| Out-File file.txt`	`echo "Hello" > file.txt`
Append to file	`"Hello" \\| Add-Content file.txt`	`echo "Hello" >> file.txt`
Write multiple lines	`@("Line1","Line2") \\| Out-File file.txt`	`printf "Line1\nLine2\n" > file.txt`

Text Processing

Task	PowerShell	Linux
Search in files	`Select-String "pattern" *.txt`	`grep "pattern" *.txt`
Case insensitive search	`Select-String "pattern" *.txt`	`grep -i "pattern" *.txt`
Count lines	`(Get-Content file.txt).Count`	`wc -l file.txt`
Sort lines	`Get-Content file.txt \\| Sort-Object`	`sort file.txt`
Unique lines	`Get-Content file.txt \\| Sort-Object -Unique`	`sort file.txt \\| uniq`
Replace text	`(Get-Content file.txt) -replace "old","new"`	`sed 's/old/new/g' file.txt`

Examples

# PowerShell - Find files containing "error" and show line numbers
Get-ChildItem *.log | Select-String "error" | Select-Object Filename,LineNumber,Line

# Linux equivalent
grep -n "error" *.log

System Information

System Details

Task	PowerShell	Linux
OS Information	`Get-ComputerInfo`	`uname -a`
Hostname	`$env:COMPUTERNAME`	`hostname`
Current user	`$env:USERNAME`	`whoami`
Uptime	`(Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem).LastBootUpTime`	`uptime`
System load	`Get-Counter "\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time"`	`top` or `htop`
Memory usage	`Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem`	`free -h`
Disk usage	`Get-CimInstance Win32_LogicalDisk`	`df -h`

Examples

# PowerShell - Memory usage percentage
$os = Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem
$memUsed = ($os.TotalVisibleMemorySize - $os.FreePhysicalMemory) / $os.TotalVisibleMemorySize * 100
Write-Host "Memory Usage: $([math]::Round($memUsed,1))%"

# Linux equivalent
free | awk 'NR==2{printf "Memory Usage: %.1f%%\n", $3*100/$2}'

Process Management

Process Operations

Task	PowerShell	Linux
List processes	`Get-Process`	`ps aux`
Find process	`Get-Process -Name "notepad"`	`ps aux \\| grep notepad`
Kill process by name	`Stop-Process -Name "notepad"`	`pkill notepad`
Kill process by PID	`Stop-Process -Id 1234`	`kill 1234`
Force kill	`Stop-Process -Name "app" -Force`	`kill -9 1234`
Start process	`Start-Process "notepad.exe"`	`notepad.exe &`
Background process	`Start-Job { Start-Process "app.exe" }`	`app.exe &`

Examples

# PowerShell - Find processes using most memory
Get-Process | Sort-Object WorkingSet -Descending | Select-Object -First 5 Name,WorkingSet

# Linux equivalent
ps aux --sort=-%mem | head -5

Services Management

Task	PowerShell	Linux (systemd)
List services	`Get-Service`	`systemctl list-units --type=service`
Service status	`Get-Service -Name "Spooler"`	`systemctl status sshd`
Start service	`Start-Service -Name "Spooler"`	`systemctl start sshd`
Stop service	`Stop-Service -Name "Spooler"`	`systemctl stop sshd`
Restart service	`Restart-Service -Name "Spooler"`	`systemctl restart sshd`
Enable at boot	`Set-Service -Name "Spooler" -StartupType Automatic`	`systemctl enable sshd`
Disable at boot	`Set-Service -Name "Spooler" -StartupType Disabled`	`systemctl disable sshd`

Network Operations

Network Commands

Task	PowerShell	Linux
Test connectivity	`Test-NetConnection google.com`	`ping google.com`
Test specific port	`Test-NetConnection google.com -Port 80`	`telnet google.com 80`
Show IP config	`Get-NetIPAddress`	`ip addr show`
Show routing table	`Get-NetRoute`	`ip route show`
DNS lookup	`Resolve-DnsName google.com`	`nslookup google.com`
Download file	`Invoke-WebRequest url -OutFile file`	`wget url` or `curl -o file url`
Show open ports	`Get-NetTCPConnection`	`netstat -tuln`

Examples

# PowerShell - Check if multiple servers are reachable
$servers = @("server1", "server2", "server3")
$servers | ForEach-Object { 
  $result = Test-NetConnection $_ -Port 80 -WarningAction SilentlyContinue
  [PSCustomObject]@{Server=$_; Reachable=$result.TcpTestSucceeded}
}

# Linux equivalent
for server in server1 server2 server3; do
  if timeout 5 bash -c "</dev/tcp/$server/80"; then
    echo "$server: Reachable"
  else
    echo "$server: Not reachable"
  fi
done

Variables and Environment

Variable Syntax

Concept	PowerShell	Linux/Bash
Variable assignment	`$name = "John"`	`name="John"`
Variable access	`$name`	`$name`
Environment variables	`$env:PATH`	`$PATH`
Command substitution	`$date = Get-Date`	`date=$(date)`
Array	`$arr = @("a","b","c")`	`arr=("a" "b" "c")`
Array access	`$arr[0]`	`${arr[0]}`

Environment Variables

Task	PowerShell	Linux
List all env vars	`Get-ChildItem env:`	`env` or `printenv`
Get specific var	`$env:PATH`	`echo $PATH`
Set env var	`$env:MYVAR = "value"`	`export MYVAR="value"`
Set permanent var	`[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("MYVAR","value","User")`	Add to `~/.bashrc`

Scripting Concepts

Basic Script Structure

PowerShell Script (.ps1)

#!/usr/bin/env pwsh

# Parameters
param(
    [string]$ServerName = "localhost",
    [int]$Port = 80
)

# Function
function Test-Connection {
    param($Server, $Port)
    $result = Test-NetConnection $Server -Port $Port
    return $result.TcpTestSucceeded
}

# Main logic
if (Test-Connection $ServerName $Port) {
    Write-Host "Server $ServerName is reachable on port $Port" -ForegroundColor Green
} else {
    Write-Host "Server $ServerName is NOT reachable on port $Port" -ForegroundColor Red
}

Bash Script (.sh)

#!/bin/bash

# Parameters with defaults
SERVER_NAME=${1:-localhost}
PORT=${2:-80}

# Function
test_connection() {
    local server=$1
    local port=$2
    timeout 5 bash -c "</dev/tcp/$server/$port" 2>/dev/null
    return $?
}

# Main logic
if test_connection "$SERVER_NAME" "$PORT"; then
    echo -e "\033[32mServer $SERVER_NAME is reachable on port $PORT\033[0m"
else
    echo -e "\033[31mServer $SERVER_NAME is NOT reachable on port $PORT\033[0m"
fi

Conditional Logic

PowerShell

if ($age -ge 18) {
    Write-Host "Adult"
} elseif ($age -ge 13) {
    Write-Host "Teenager"
} else {
    Write-Host "Child"
}

# Switch statement
switch ($day) {
    "Monday" { "Start of work week" }
    "Friday" { "TGIF!" }
    default { "Regular day" }
}

Bash

if [ $age -ge 18 ]; then
    echo "Adult"
elif [ $age -ge 13 ]; then
    echo "Teenager"
else
    echo "Child"
fi

# Case statement
case $day in
    "Monday") echo "Start of work week" ;;
    "Friday") echo "TGIF!" ;;
    *) echo "Regular day" ;;
esac

Loops

PowerShell

# ForEach
$fruits = @("apple", "banana", "cherry")
foreach ($fruit in $fruits) {
    Write-Host "I like $fruit"
}

# For loop
for ($i = 1; $i -le 10; $i++) {
    Write-Host "Count: $i"
}

# While loop
$count = 1
while ($count -le 5) {
    Write-Host "Count: $count"
    $count++
}

Bash

# For loop with array
fruits=("apple" "banana" "cherry")
for fruit in "${fruits[@]}"; do
    echo "I like $fruit"
done

# For loop with range
for i in {1..10}; do
    echo "Count: $i"
done

# While loop
count=1
while [ $count -le 5 ]; do
    echo "Count: $count"
    ((count++))
done

Error Handling

PowerShell

try {
    $result = Get-Content "nonexistent.txt"
} catch {
    Write-Error "File not found: $($_.Exception.Message)"
} finally {
    Write-Host "Cleanup code here"
}

# Check last command success
if ($?) {
    Write-Host "Command succeeded"
} else {
    Write-Host "Command failed"
}

Bash

# Simple error handling
if ! cp source.txt dest.txt 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "Copy failed" >&2
    exit 1
fi

# Check exit code
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Command succeeded"
else
    echo "Command failed"
fi

# Set error handling
set -e  # Exit on any error
set -u  # Exit on undefined variable

Package Management

Task	PowerShell	Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)	Linux (RHEL/CentOS)
Install package	`Install-Module ModuleName`	`apt install package`	`yum install package`
Update packages	`Update-Module`	`apt update && apt upgrade`	`yum update`
Search packages	`Find-Module keyword`	`apt search keyword`	`yum search keyword`
List installed	`Get-InstalledModule`	`apt list --installed`	`yum list installed`
Remove package	`Uninstall-Module ModuleName`	`apt remove package`	`yum remove package`

File Permissions and Users

Permissions

Task	PowerShell	Linux
Show permissions	`Get-Acl C:\file.txt`	`ls -l file.txt`
Change permissions	`Set-Acl -Path C:\file.txt -AclObject $acl`	`chmod 755 file.txt`
Change owner	Complex ACL operations	`chown user:group file.txt`

User Management

Task	PowerShell	Linux
Current user	`$env:USERNAME`	`whoami`
List users	`Get-LocalUser`	`cat /etc/passwd`
Add user	`New-LocalUser -Name "user"`	`useradd user`
User groups	`Get-LocalGroup`	`groups` or `id`

Useful One-liners

PowerShell

# Find large files
Get-ChildItem C:\ -Recurse | Where-Object {$_.Length -gt 100MB} | Sort-Object Length -Descending

# Find files modified in last 7 days
Get-ChildItem -Recurse | Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -gt (Get-Date).AddDays(-7)}

# Check disk space on all drives
Get-CimInstance Win32_LogicalDisk | Select-Object DeviceID,@{n='Size(GB)';e={[math]::Round($_.Size/1GB,2)}},@{n='Free(GB)';e={[math]::Round($_.FreeSpace/1GB,2)}}

# Find duplicate files by hash
Get-ChildItem -Recurse | Get-FileHash | Group-Object Hash | Where-Object {$_.Count -gt 1}

Linux

# Find large files
find / -type f -size +100M -exec ls -lh {} \; 2>/dev/null | sort -k5 -hr

# Find files modified in last 7 days
find . -type f -mtime -7

# Check disk space
df -h

# Find duplicate files by hash
find . -type f -exec md5sum {} \; | sort | uniq -d -w 32

Key Differences Summary

PowerShell Advantages

Object-oriented: Rich data structures, easy property access
Consistent syntax: Verb-Noun pattern, predictable parameters
Built-in help: Comprehensive documentation with examples
Cross-platform: Runs on Windows, Linux, macOS
Integration: Deep Windows system integration
Type safety: Strong typing prevents many errors

Linux/Bash Advantages

Performance: Generally faster for text processing
Ubiquity: Available on virtually all Unix-like systems
Simplicity: Short commands for common tasks
Pipes: Excellent text stream processing
History: Decades of scripts and knowledge
Resource usage: Lower memory footprint

When to Use What

Use PowerShell when:
- Working primarily on Windows
- Need rich object manipulation
- Want consistent, discoverable commands
- Working with .NET applications
- Need strong error handling

Use Linux/Bash when:
- Working on Unix-like systems
- Processing large text files
- Need maximum performance
- Working with traditional Unix tools
- Want minimal system dependencies

Cross-Platform PowerShell

PowerShell Core (6+) runs on Linux too! Install with:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install powershell

# RHEL/CentOS
sudo yum install powershell

# Run PowerShell on Linux
pwsh

This gives you PowerShell's object-oriented approach on Linux systems, combining the best of both worlds!

Last updated: 2025-08-26 20:00 UTC

PowerShell vs Linux Commands Guide

Philosophy Differences

Basic Navigation and File Operations

Directory Operations

Examples

File Operations

Examples

File Content Operations

Reading Files

Writing Files

Text Processing

Examples

System Information

System Details

Examples

Process Management

Process Operations

Examples

Services Management

Network Operations

Network Commands

Examples

Variables and Environment

Variable Syntax

Environment Variables

Scripting Concepts

Basic Script Structure

Conditional Logic

Loops

Error Handling

Package Management

File Permissions and Users

Permissions

User Management

Useful One-liners

PowerShell

Linux

Key Differences Summary

PowerShell Advantages

Linux/Bash Advantages

When to Use What

Cross-Platform PowerShell