Get-WinEvent

Syntax

Get-WinEvent
   [[-LogName] <String[]>]
   [-MaxEvents <Int64>]
   [-ComputerName <String>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-FilterXPath <String>]
   [-Force]
   [-Oldest]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-WinEvent
   [-ListLog] <String[]>
   [-ComputerName <String>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-Force]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-WinEvent
   [-ListProvider] <String[]>
   [-ComputerName <String>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-WinEvent
   [-ProviderName] <String[]>
   [-MaxEvents <Int64>]
   [-ComputerName <String>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-FilterXPath <String>]
   [-Force]
   [-Oldest]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-WinEvent
   [-Path] <String[]>
   [-MaxEvents <Int64>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-FilterXPath <String>]
   [-Oldest]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-WinEvent
   [-MaxEvents <Int64>]
   [-ComputerName <String>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-FilterHashtable] <Hashtable[]>
   [-Force]
   [-Oldest]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-WinEvent
   [-MaxEvents <Int64>]
   [-ComputerName <String>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-FilterXml] <XmlDocument>
   [-Oldest]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

This cmdlet is only available on the Windows platform.

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets events from event logs, including classic logs, such as the System and Application logs. The cmdlet gets data from event logs that are generated by the Windows Event Log technology introduced in Windows Vista and events in log files generated by Event Tracing for Windows (ETW). By default, Get-WinEvent returns event information in the order of newest to oldest.

Get-WinEvent lists event logs and event log providers. To interrupt the command, press CTRL+C. You can get events from selected logs or from logs generated by selected event providers. And, you can combine events from multiple sources in a single command. Get-WinEvent allows you to filter events using XPath queries, structured XML queries, and hash table queries.

If you're not running PowerShell as an Administrator, you might see error messages that you cannot retrieve information about a log.

Examples

Example 1: Get all the logs from a local computer

This command gets all the event logs on the local computer. Logs are listed in the order that Get-WinEvent gets them. Classic logs are retrieved first, followed by the new Windows Event logs. It's possible for a log's RecordCount to be null, which is blank, or zero.

Get-WinEvent -ListLog *

LogMode   MaximumSizeInBytes RecordCount LogName
-------   ------------------ ----------- -------
Circular            15532032       14500 Application
Circular             1052672         117 Azure Information Protection
Circular             1052672        3015 CxAudioSvcLog
Circular            20971520             ForwardedEvents
Circular            20971520           0 HardwareEvents

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the computer. The ListLog parameter uses the asterisk (*) wildcard to display information about each log.

Example 2: Get the classic Setup log

This command gets an EventLogConfiguration object that represents the classic Setup log. The object includes information about the log, such as file size, provider, file path, and whether the log is enabled.

Get-WinEvent -ListLog Setup | Format-List -Property *

FileSize                       : 69632
IsLogFull                      : False
LastAccessTime                 : 3/13/2019 09:41:46
LastWriteTime                  : 3/13/2019 09:41:46
OldestRecordNumber             : 1
RecordCount                    : 23
LogName                        : Setup
LogType                        : Operational
LogIsolation                   : Application
IsEnabled                      : True
IsClassicLog                   : False
SecurityDescriptor             : O:BAG:SYD: ...
LogFilePath                    : %SystemRoot%\System32\Winevt\Logs\Setup.evtx
MaximumSizeInBytes             : 1052672
LogMode                        : Circular
OwningProviderName             : Microsoft-Windows-Eventlog
ProviderNames                  : {Microsoft-Windows-WUSA, Microsoft-Windows-ActionQueue...
ProviderLevel                  :
ProviderKeywords               :
ProviderBufferSize             : 64
ProviderMinimumNumberOfBuffers : 0
ProviderMaximumNumberOfBuffers : 64
ProviderLatency                : 1000
ProviderControlGuid            :

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet uses the ListLog parameter to specify the Setup log. The object is sent down the pipeline to the Format-List cmdlet. Format-List uses the Property parameter with the asterisk (*) wildcard to display each property.

Example 3: Configure the classic Security log

This command gets an EventLogConfiguration object that represents the classic Security log. The object is then used to configure settings for the log, such as max file size, file path, and whether the log is enabled.

$log = Get-WinEvent -ListLog Security
$log.MaximumSizeInBytes = 1gb
try{
   $log.SaveChanges()
   Get-WinEvent -ListLog Security | Format-List -Property *
}catch [System.UnauthorizedAccessException]{
   $ErrMsg  = 'You do not have permission to configure this log!'
   $ErrMsg += ' Try running this script with administrator privileges. '
   $ErrMsg += $_.Exception.Message
   Write-Error $ErrMsg
}

FileSize                       : 69632
IsLogFull                      : False
LastAccessTime                 : 3/13/2019 09:41:46
LastWriteTime                  : 3/13/2019 09:41:46
OldestRecordNumber             : 1
RecordCount                    : 23
LogName                        : Security
LogType                        : Administrative
LogIsolation                   : Custom
IsEnabled                      : True
IsClassicLog                   : True
SecurityDescriptor             : O:BAG:SYD: ...
LogFilePath                    : %SystemRoot%\System32\Winevt\Logs\Security.evtx
MaximumSizeInBytes             : 1073741824
LogMode                        : Circular
OwningProviderName             :
ProviderNames                  : {Microsoft-Windows-WUSA, Microsoft-Windows-ActionQueue...
ProviderLevel                  :
ProviderKeywords               :
ProviderBufferSize             : 64
ProviderMinimumNumberOfBuffers : 0
ProviderMaximumNumberOfBuffers : 64
ProviderLatency                : 1000
ProviderControlGuid            :

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet uses the ListLog parameter to specify the Security log. The object is saved to a variable. The MaximumSizeInBytes property is set to 1 gigabyte on the object. The SaveChanges method is called to push the change to the system inside of a try block to handle access violations. The Get-WinEvent cmdlet is called again on the Security log and piped to the Format-List cmdlet to verify that the MaximumSizeInBytes property has been saved on the machine.

Example 4: Get event logs from a server

This command only gets event logs on the local computer that contain events. It's possible for a log's RecordCount to be null or zero. The example uses the $_ variable. For more information, see about_Automatic_Variables.

Get-WinEvent -ListLog * -ComputerName localhost | Where-Object { $_.RecordCount }

LogMode   MaximumSizeInBytes RecordCount LogName
-------   ------------------ ----------- -------
Circular            15532032       14546 Application
Circular             1052672         117 Azure Information Protection
Circular             1052672        2990 CxAudioSvcLog
Circular             1052672           9 MSFTVPN Setup
Circular             1052672         282 OAlerts

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the computer. The ListLog parameter uses the asterisk (*) wildcard to display information about each log. The ComputerName parameter specifies to get the logs from the local computer, localhost. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Where-Object cmdlet. Where-Object uses $_.RecordCount to return only logs that contain data. $_ is a variable that represents the current object in the pipeline. RecordCount is a property of the object with a non-null value.

Example 5: Get event logs from multiple servers

This example gets objects that represent the Application event logs on three computers: Server01, Server02, and Server03. The ForEach keyword is used because the ComputerName parameter accepts only one value. For more information, see about_Foreach.

$S = 'Server01', 'Server02', 'Server03'
ForEach ($Server in $S) {
  Get-WinEvent -ListLog Application -ComputerName $Server |
    Select-Object LogMode, MaximumSizeInBytes, RecordCount, LogName,
      @{name='ComputerName'; expression={$Server}} |
    Format-Table -AutoSize
}

LogMode MaximumSizeInBytes RecordCount LogName     ComputerName
 ------- ------------------ ----------- -------     ------------
Circular           15532032       14577 Application Server01
Circular           15532032        9689 Application Server02
Circular           15532032        5309 Application Server03

The variable $S stores the names three servers: Server01, Server02, and Server03. The ForEach statement uses a loop to process each server, ($Server in $S). The script block in the curly braces ({ }) runs the Get-WinEvent command. The ListLog parameter specifies the Application log. The ComputerName parameter uses the variable $Server to get log information from each server.

The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Select-Object cmdlet. Select-Object gets the properties LogMode, MaximumSizeInBytes, RecordCount, LogName, and uses a calculated expression to display the ComputerName using the $Server variable. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Format-Table cmdlet to display the output in the PowerShell console. The AutoSize parameter formats the output to fit the screen.

Example 6: Get event log providers and log names

This command gets the event log providers and the logs to which they write.

Get-WinEvent -ListProvider *

Name     : .NET Runtime
LogLinks : {Application}
Opcodes  : {}
Tasks    : {}

Name     : .NET Runtime Optimization Service
LogLinks : {Application}
Opcodes  : {}
Tasks    : {}

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the computer. The ListProvider parameter uses the asterisk (*) wildcard to display information about each provider. In the output, the Name is the provider and LogLinks is the log that the provider writes to.

Example 7: Get all event log providers that write to a specific log

This command gets all of the providers that write to the Application log.

(Get-WinEvent -ListLog Application).ProviderNames

.NET Runtime
.NET Runtime Optimization Service
Application
Application Error
Application Hang
Application Management

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the computer. The ListLog parameter uses Application to get objects for that log. ProviderNames is a property of the object and displays the providers that write to the Application log.

Example 8: Get event log provider names that contain a specific string

This command gets the event log providers with names that include a specific string in the provider's name.

Get-WinEvent -ListProvider *Policy*

Name     : Group Policy Applications
LogLinks : {Application}
Opcodes  : {}
Tasks    : {}

Name     : Group Policy Client
LogLinks : {Application}
Opcodes  : {}
Tasks    : {}

Name     : Group Policy Data Sources
LogLinks : {Application}
Opcodes  : {}
Tasks    : {}

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the computer. The ListProvider parameter uses the asterisk (*) wildcard to find Policy anywhere within the provider's name.

Example 9: Get Event Ids that the event provider generates

This command lists the Event Ids that the Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy event provider generates along with the event description.

(Get-WinEvent -ListProvider Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy).Events | Format-Table Id, Description

Id  Description
  --  -----------
1500  The Group Policy settings for the computer were processed successfully...
1501  The Group Policy settings for the user were processed successfully...
4115  Group Policy Service started.
4116  Started the Group Policy service initialization phase.
4117  Group Policy Session started.

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the computer. The ListProvider parameter specifies the provider, Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy. The expression is wrapped in parentheses and uses the Events property to get objects. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Format-Table cmdlet. Format-Table displays the Id and Description of the event objects.

Example 10: Get log information from event object properties

This example shows how to get information about a log's contents using event object properties. Event objects are stored in a variable and then grouped and counted by Event Id and Level.

$Event = Get-WinEvent -LogName 'Windows PowerShell'
$Event.Count
$Event | Group-Object -Property Id -NoElement | Sort-Object -Property Count -Descending
$Event | Group-Object -Property LevelDisplayName -NoElement

195

Count  Name
-----  ----
  147  600
   22  400
   21  601
    3  403
    2  103

Count  Name
-----  ----
    2  Warning
  193  Information

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet uses the LogName parameter to specify the Windows PowerShell event log. The event objects are stored in the $Event variable. The Count property of $Eventshows the total number of logged events.

The $Event variable is sent down the pipeline to the Group-Object cmdlet. Group-Object uses the Property parameter to specify the Id property and counts the objects by the event Id value. The NoElement parameter removes other properties from the objects output. The grouped objects are sent down the pipeline to the Sort-Object cmdlet. Sort-Object uses the Property parameter to sort the objects by Count. The Descending parameter displays the output by count, from highest to lowest. In the output, the Count column contains the total number of each event. The Name column contains the grouped event Id numbers.

The $Event variable is sent down the pipeline to the Group-Object cmdlet. Group-Object uses the Property parameter to specify the LevelDisplayName property and counts the objects by LevelDisplayName. The objects are grouped by the levels such as Warning and Information. The NoElement parameter removes other properties from the output. In the output, the Count column contains the total number of each event. The Name column contains the grouped LevelDisplayName.

Example 11: Get error events that have a specified string in their name

This example uses a comma-separated string of log names. The output is grouped by the level such as error or warning and the log name.

Get-WinEvent -LogName *PowerShell*, Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-WHEA* |
  Group-Object -Property LevelDisplayName, LogName -NoElement |
    Format-Table -AutoSize

Count  Name
-----  ----
    1  Error, PowerShellCore/Operational
   26  Information, Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-WHEA/Operational
  488  Information, Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational
   77  Information, PowerShellCore/Operational
 9835  Information, Windows PowerShell
   19  Verbose, PowerShellCore/Operational
  444  Warning, Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational
  512  Warning, PowerShellCore/Operational

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the computer. The LogName parameter uses a comma-separated string with the asterisk (*) wildcard to specify the log names. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Group-Object cmdlet. Group-Object uses the Property parameter to group the objects by LevelDisplayName and LogName. The NoElement parameter removes other properties from the output. The grouped objects are sent down the pipeline to the Format-Table cmdlet. Format-Table uses the AutoSize parameter to format the columns. The Count column contains the total number of each event. The Name column contains the grouped LevelDisplayName and LogName.

Example 12: Get events from an archived event log

Get-WinEvent can get event information from saved log files. This sample uses an archived PowerShell log that is stored on the local computer.

Get-WinEvent -Path 'C:\Test\Windows PowerShell.evtx'

ProviderName: PowerShell

TimeCreated              Id LevelDisplayName  Message
-----------              -- ----------------  -------
3/15/2019 13:54:13      403 Information       Engine state is changed from Available to Stopped...
3/15/2019 13:54:13      400 Information       Engine state is changed from None to Available...
3/15/2019 13:54:13      600 Information       Provider "Variable" is Started...
3/15/2019 13:54:13      600 Information       Provider "Function" is Started...
3/15/2019 13:54:13      600 Information       Provider "FileSystem" is Started...

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the computer. The Path parameter specifies the directory and file name.

Example 13: Get a specific number of events from an archived event log

These commands get a specific number of events from an archived event log. Get-WinEvent has parameters that can get a maximum number of events or the oldest events. This sample uses an archived PowerShell log that is stored in C:\Test\PowerShellCore Operational.evtx.

Get-WinEvent -Path 'C:\Test\PowerShellCore Operational.evtx' -MaxEvents 100

ProviderName: PowerShellCore

TimeCreated                 Id   LevelDisplayName  Message
-----------                 --   ----------------  -------
3/15/2019 09:54:54        4104   Warning           Creating Scriptblock text (1 of 1):...
3/15/2019 09:37:13       40962   Information       PowerShell console is ready for user input
3/15/2019 07:56:24        4104   Warning           Creating Scriptblock text (1 of 1):...
...
3/7/2019 10:53:22        40961   Information       PowerShell console is starting up
3/7/2019 10:53:22         8197   Verbose           Runspace state changed to Opening
3/7/2019 10:53:22         8195   Verbose           Opening RunspacePool

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the computer. The Path parameter specifies the directory and filename. The MaxEvents parameter specifies that 100 records are displayed, from newest to oldest.

Example 14: Event Tracing for Windows

Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) writes events to the log as events occur. The events are stored in the order of oldest to newest. An archived ETW file is saved as an .etl such as TraceLog.etl. The events are listed in the order in which they are written to the log, so the Oldest parameter is required.

Get-WinEvent -Path 'C:\Tracing\TraceLog.etl' -Oldest |
  Sort-Object -Property TimeCreated -Descending |
    Select-Object -First 100

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the archived file. The Path parameter specifies the directory and file name. The Oldest parameter is used to output events in the order they are written, oldest to newest. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Sort-Object cmdlet Sort-Object sorts the objects in descending order by the value of the TimeCreated property. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Select-Object cmdlet that displays the 100 newest events.

Example 15: Get events from an event trace log

This example shows how to get the events from an event trace log file (.etl) and an archived Windows PowerShell log file (.evtx). You can combine multiple file types in a single command. Because the files contain the same type of .NET Framework object, EventLogRecord, you can filter them with the same properties. The command requires the Oldest parameter because it is reading from an .etl file, but the Oldest parameter applies to each file.

Get-WinEvent -Path 'C:\Tracing\TraceLog.etl', 'C:\Test\Windows PowerShell.evtx' -Oldest |
  Where-Object { $_.Id -eq '403' }

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information from the archived files. The Path parameter uses a comma-separated list to specify each files directory and file name. The Oldest parameter is used to output events in the order they are written, oldest to newest. The objects are sent down the pipeline to the Where-Object cmdlet. Where-Object uses a script block to find events with an Id of 403. The $_ variable represents the current object in the pipeline and Id is the Event Id property.

Example 16: Filter event log results

This example shows a variety of methods to filter and select events from an event log. All of these commands get events that occurred in the last 24-hours from the Windows PowerShell event log. The filter methods are more efficient than using the Where-Object cmdlet. Filters are applied as the objects are retrieved. Where-Object retrieves all of the objects, then applies filters to all of the objects.

# Using the Where-Object cmdlet:
$Yesterday = (Get-Date) - (New-TimeSpan -Day 1)
Get-WinEvent -LogName 'Windows PowerShell' | Where-Object { $_.TimeCreated -ge $Yesterday }

# Using the FilterHashtable parameter:
$Yesterday = (Get-Date) - (New-TimeSpan -Day 1)
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{ LogName='Windows PowerShell'; Level=3; StartTime=$Yesterday }

# Using the FilterXML parameter:
$xmlQuery = @'
<QueryList>
  <Query Id="0" Path="Windows PowerShell">
    <Select Path="System">*[System[(Level=3) and
        TimeCreated[timediff(@SystemTime) <= 86400000]]]</Select>
  </Query>
</QueryList>
'@
Get-WinEvent -FilterXML $xmlQuery

# Using the FilterXPath parameter:
$XPath = '*[System[Level=3 and TimeCreated[timediff(@SystemTime) <= 86400000]]]'
Get-WinEvent -LogName 'Windows PowerShell' -FilterXPath $XPath

Example 17: Use FilterHashtable to get events from the Application log

This example uses the FilterHashtable parameter to get events from the Application log. The hash table uses key/value pairs. For more information about the FilterHashtable parameter, see Creating Get-WinEvent queries with FilterHashtable. For more information about hash tables, see about_Hash_Tables.

$Date = (Get-Date).AddDays(-2)
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{ LogName='Application'; StartTime=$Date; Id='1003' }

The Get-Date cmdlet uses the AddDays method to get a date that is two days before the current date. The date object is stored in the $Date variable.

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information. The FilterHashtable parameter is used to filter the output. The LogName key specifies the value as the Application log. The StartTime key uses the value stored in the $Date variable. The Id key uses an Event Id value, 1003.

Example 18: Use FilterHashtable to get application errors

This example uses the FilterHashtable parameter to find Internet Explorer application errors that occurred within the last week.

$StartTime = (Get-Date).AddDays(-7)
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{
  Logname='Application'
  ProviderName='Application Error'
  Data='iexplore.exe'
  StartTime=$StartTime
}

The Get-Date cmdlet uses the AddDays method to get a date that is seven days before the current date. The date object is stored in the $StartTime variable.

The Get-WinEvent cmdlet gets log information. The FilterHashtable parameter is used to filter the output. The LogName key specifies the value as the Application log. The ProviderName key uses the value, Application Error, which is the event's Source. The Data key uses the value iexplore.exe The StartTime key uses the value stored in $StartTime variable.

Example 19: Use SuppressHashFilter to filter application errors

Like Example 16 above, this example uses the FilterHashtable parameter to get events from the Application log. However, we add the SuppressHashFilter key to filter out Information level events.

$Date = (Get-Date).AddDays(-2)
$filter = @{
  LogName='Application'
  StartTime=$Date
  SuppressHashFilter=@{Level=4}
}
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable $filter

In this example, Get-WinEvent gets all events from the Application log for the last two days except those that have a Level of 4 (Information).

Parameters

-ComputerName

-Credential

-FilterHashtable

-FilterXml

-FilterXPath

-Force

-ListLog

-ListProvider

-LogName

-MaxEvents

-Oldest

-Path

-ProviderName

Inputs

String

You can pipe a LogName (string) to this cmdlet.

XmlDocument

You can pipe a FilterXML query to this cmdlet.

Hashtable

You can pipe a FilterHashtable query to this cmdlet.

Outputs

EventLogConfiguration

With the ListLog parameter, this cmdlet returns EventLogConfiguration objects.

EventLogRecord

By default, this cmdlet returns EventLogRecord objects.

ProviderMetadata

With the ListProvider parameter, this cmdlet returns ProviderMetadata objects.

Notes

Get-WinEvent is designed to replace the Get-EventLog cmdlet on computers running Windows Vista and later versions of Windows. Get-EventLog gets events only in classic event logs. Get-EventLog is retained for backward compatibility.

The Get-WinEvent and Get-EventLog cmdlets are not supported in Windows Pre-installation Environment (Windows PE).

Related Links

• about_Automatic_Variables
• about_Foreach
• about_Hash_Tables
• Creating Get-WinEvent queries with FilterHashtable
• Format-Table
• Group-Object
• Sort-Object
• Where-Object