• ProfilePal
  • Profile Script Functions
  • PowerShell Host (Console) Customization Functions
  • Bonus Functions

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ProfilePal is a free PowerShell module, made by Bryan Dady, to help set IT Pros up for early success with learning, mastering, and accelerating PowerShell.

ProfilePal module provides helpful functions for creating and customizing PowerShell profiles, and includes a couple 'bonus' functions for making PowerShell a bit easier to work with; intended to help new(er) PowerShell users more quickly discover the value of managing and customizing their own PowerShell Profile.

There are a few extra goodies thrown in, mostly thanks to the generous PowerShell profile tips previously provided by Fabrice ZERROUKI

Returns profile name, script path, and status (whether it's script file exists or not), for all, or for a specified PowerShell profile.

Creates a new PowerShell profile script, which customizes the console, and includes functions and tips to get more familiar about managing one's own profile customization and preferences.

This is the one that does the heavy lifting

If not specified via parameter, New-Profile will create the CurrentUserCurrentHost profile. The newly created profile will include calls to functions defined within the ProfilePal module, such as Set-WindowTitle, and prompt.

Initialize-Profile

Opens a specified PowerShell profile in the PowerShell_ISE, for editing Edit-Profile will attempt to open any existing PowerShell Profile scripts, and if none are found, will offer to invoke the New-Profile cmdlet to build one.

Edit-Profile, Get-Profile, and New-Profile can open any of the 4 default contexts of PowerShell profile scripts. For more information on profiles, run get-help about_Profiles

Suspends an active PowerShell profile by renaming (appending) the profile script filename. This can be helpful with testing or troubleshooting changes or potential conflicts between profiles. To reload a PowerShell session without the suspended profile, exit and restart the pertinent PowerShell host.

Resumes an suspended PowerShell profile, to be active in the next PowerShell session, by restoring a profile script file renamed by Suspend-Profile.

Simply reloads the current profile script (. $Profile), but 'reload' is not an approved PowerShell verb, so we call it Reset.

Returns active user's account name in the format of DOMAIN\AccountName

whoami

Overrides the default prompt, removing the pwd/path element, and conditionally adds an [ADMIN] indicator, in place of the default Administrator string in the window title bar. Customizing prompt is explained in detail in the PowerShell help file about_Prompts (try get-help about_Prompts)

Since I find I rarely need to know my current path, I write the starting path and date / time to the Window Title, and then simplify the prompt to reflect the current directory:PS .\>

When the PowerShell console is started with Administrative permissions (see also Open-AdminConsole), this function inserts an [ADMIN] indicator, to replace the default 'Administrator:' text which would otherwise be added to the Window Title: PS [ADMIN] .\>

Stores the PowerShell host window title, in support of Set-WindowTitle and Reset-WindowTitle functions

Customizes PowerShell host window title, to show PowerShell version, starting path, and start date/time. With the path in the title, we can leave it out of the prompt; customized in prompt function within this module.

Restores default PowerShell host window title, as captured by Get-WindowTitle

Launch a Windows Remote Desktop admin session to a specified computername, with either FullScreen, or sized window. Whenever I work in an environment that doesn't (yet) have PSRemoting enabled, I like to have Remote Desktop ready to run, with some handy presets. I often add an alias to this function, named rdp, in my own profile

Effectively a PowerShell-native alternative / replacement for telnet, to test IP port(s) of a remote computer. This comes in handy when working in an environment that disabled the Windows telnet client, in favor of security.

Test if the current host process is running with elevated, local admin, permissions; returns simple Boolean result.

Launch a new console window, with Admin permissions, thanks to the RunAs verb. This is commonly done by right-clicking the PowerShell icon, but this function makes it easy to achieve the same from the command line. There is a -NoProfile parameter, so that the Administrative console / host can be started in a clean / 'default' mode.