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Get-Acl

  • Reference
Module:
Microsoft.PowerShell.Security

Gets the security descriptor for a resource, such as a file or registry key.

Syntax

Get-Acl
   [[-Path] <String[]>]
   [-Audit]
   [-Filter <String>]
   [-Include <String[]>]
   [-Exclude <String[]>]
   [<CommonParameters>]
Get-Acl
   -InputObject <PSObject>
   [-Audit]
   [-Filter <String>]
   [-Include <String[]>]
   [-Exclude <String[]>]
   [<CommonParameters>]
Get-Acl
   [-LiteralPath <String[]>]
   [-Audit]
   [-Filter <String>]
   [-Include <String[]>]
   [-Exclude <String[]>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

This cmdlet is only available on the Windows platform.

The Get-Acl cmdlet gets objects that represent the security descriptor of a file or resource. The security descriptor contains the access control lists (ACLs) of the resource. The ACL specifies the permissions that users and user groups have to access the resource.

Beginning in Windows PowerShell 3.0, you can use the InputObject parameter of Get-Acl to get the security descriptor of objects that do not have a path.

Examples

Example 1- Get an ACL for a folder

This example gets the security descriptor of the C:\Windows directory.

Get-Acl C:\Windows

Example 2 - Get an ACL for a folder using wildcards

This example gets the PowerShell path and SDDL for all of the .log files in the C:\Windows directory whose names begin with s.

Get-Acl C:\Windows\s*.log | Format-List -Property PSPath, Sddl

The command uses the Get-Acl cmdlet to get objects representing the security descriptors of each log file. It uses a pipeline operator (|) to send the results to the Format-List cmdlet. The command uses the Property parameter of Format-List to display only the PsPath and SDDL properties of each security descriptor object.

Lists are often used in PowerShell, because long values appear truncated in tables.

The SDDL values are valuable to system administrators, because they are simple text strings that contain all of the information in the security descriptor. As such, they are easy to pass and store, and they can be parsed when needed.

Example 3 - Get count of Audit entries for an ACL

This example gets the security descriptors of the .log files in the C:\Windows directory whose names begin with s.

Get-Acl C:\Windows\s*.log -Audit | ForEach-Object { $_.Audit.Count }

It uses the Audit parameter to get the audit records from the SACL in the security descriptor. Then it uses the ForEach-Object cmdlet to count the number of audit records associated with each file. The result is a list of numbers representing the number of audit records for each log file.

Example 4 - Get an ACL for a registry key

This example uses the Get-Acl cmdlet to get the security descriptor of the Control subkey (HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control) of the registry.

Get-Acl -Path HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control | Format-List

The Path parameter specifies the Control subkey. The pipeline operator (|) passes the security descriptor that Get-Acl gets to the Format-List command, which formats the properties of the security descriptor as a list so that they are easy to read.

Example 5 - Get an ACL using **InputObject**

This example uses the InputObject parameter of Get-Acl to get the security descriptor of a storage subsystem object.

Get-Acl -InputObject (Get-StorageSubSystem -Name S087)

Parameters

-Audit

Gets the audit data for the security descriptor from the system access control list (SACL).

Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Exclude

Omits the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as *.txt. Wildcards are permitted.

Type:String[]
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:True

-Filter

Specifies a filter in the provider's format or language. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. The syntax of the filter, including the use of wildcards, depends on the provider. Filters are more efficient than other parameters, because the provider applies them when getting the objects, rather than having PowerShell filter the objects after they are retrieved.

Type:String
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:True

-Include

Gets only the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as *.txt. Wildcards are permitted.

Type:String[]
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:True

-InputObject

Gets the security descriptor for the specified object. Enter a variable that contains the object or a command that gets the object.

You cannot pipe an object, other than a path, to Get-Acl. Instead, use the InputObject parameter explicitly in the command.

This parameter is introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

Type:PSObject
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:True
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-LiteralPath

Specifies the path to a resource. Unlike Path, the value of the LiteralPath parameter is used exactly as it is typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes escape characters, enclose it in single quotation marks. Single quotation marks tell PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences.

This parameter is introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

Type:String[]
Aliases:PSPath
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:True
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Path

Specifies the path to a resource. Get-Acl gets the security descriptor of the resource indicated by the path. Wildcards are permitted. If you omit the Path parameter, Get-Acl gets the security descriptor of the current directory.

The parameter name ("Path") is optional.

Type:String[]
Position:1
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:True
Accept wildcard characters:True

Inputs

String

You can pipe a string that contains a path to Get-Acl.

Outputs

System.Security.AccessControl.FileSecurity, System.Security.AccessControl.DirectorySecurity, System.Security.AccessControl.RegistrySecurity

Get-Acl returns an object that represents the ACLs that it gets. The object type depends upon the ACL type.

Notes

This cmdlet is only available on Windows platforms.

By default, Get-Acl displays the PowerShell path to the resource (<provider>::<resource-path>), the owner of the resource, and "Access", a list (array) of the access control entries in the discretionary access control list (DACL) for the resource. The DACL list is controlled by the resource owner.

When you format the result as a list, (Get-Acl | Format-List), in addition to the path, owner, and access list, PowerShell displays the following properties and property values:

  • Group: The security group of the owner.
  • Audit: A list (array) of entries in the system access control list (SACL). The SACL specifies the types of access attempts for which Windows generates audit records.
  • Sddl: The security descriptor of the resource displayed in a single text string in Security Descriptor Definition Language format. PowerShell uses the GetSddlForm method of security descriptors to get this data.

Because Get-Acl is supported by the file system and registry providers, you can use Get-Acl to view the ACL of file system objects, such as files and directories, and registry objects, such as registry keys and entries.