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David
David

Posted on • Originally published at azure-noob.com

50 Windows Commands Every Azure VM Admin Needs (PowerShell + Active Directory)

#azure #windows #powershell #sysadmin

Why This List Exists

Azure Portal is great until:

  • RDP is slow
  • You need to fix networking
  • Active Directory breaks
  • You're troubleshooting 50 VMs

Then you need actual Windows commands.

Network Troubleshooting

Check IP Configuration 

Get-NetIPAddress | Format-Table InterfaceAlias, IPAddress, PrefixLength
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Test DNS Resolution 

Resolve-DnsName azure-noob.com -Server 8.8.8.8
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Trace Route to Endpoint 

tracert 10.0.1.4
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Check Open Ports 

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 10.0.1.4 -Port 443
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Show Routing Table 

route print
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Flush DNS Cache 

ipconfig /flushdns
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Show Active Connections 

netstat -ano | findstr ESTABLISHED
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Active Directory Commands

Join Domain 

Add-Computer -DomainName contoso.com -Credential (Get-Credential) -Restart
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Verify Domain Join 

nltest /dsgetdc:contoso.com
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Check AD Replication 

repadmin /replsummary
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Find Domain Controllers 

Get-ADDomainController -Filter * | Select Name, IPv4Address
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Reset Computer Account 

Reset-ComputerMachinePassword -Server DC01 -Credential (Get-Credential)
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Test Domain Trust 

nltest /sc_query:contoso.com
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Disk Management

List All Disks 

Get-Disk | Format-Table Number, FriendlyName, Size, PartitionStyle
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Initialize New Disk 

Initialize-Disk -Number 2 -PartitionStyle GPT
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Create New Partition 

New-Partition -DiskNumber 2 -UseMaximumSize -DriveLetter F
Format-Volume -DriveLetter F -FileSystem NTFS -NewFileSystemLabel "Data"
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Extend Volume 

Resize-Partition -DriveLetter C -Size (Get-PartitionSupportedSize -DriveLetter C).SizeMax
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Check Disk Health 

Get-PhysicalDisk | Select FriendlyName, HealthStatus, OperationalStatus
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Service Management

List All Services 

Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"} | Format-Table Name, DisplayName
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Start/Stop Service 

Start-Service -Name "W32Time"
Stop-Service -Name "Spooler"
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Set Service Startup Type 

Set-Service -Name "wuauserv" -StartupType Manual
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Check Service Dependencies 

Get-Service -Name "W32Time" | Select -ExpandProperty DependentServices
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Performance & Monitoring

Check CPU Usage 

Get-Counter '\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time' -SampleInterval 1 -MaxSamples 5
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Check Memory Usage 

Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem | 
    Select @{N="FreeGB";E={[math]::Round($_.FreePhysicalMemory/1MB,2)}}
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Show Top CPU Processes 

Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select -First 10 Name, CPU, PM
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Check Disk I/O 

Get-Counter '\PhysicalDisk(_Total)\Disk Reads/sec','\PhysicalDisk(_Total)\Disk Writes/sec'
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Show Uptime 

(Get-Date) - (gcim Win32_OperatingSystem).LastBootUpTime
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Windows Updates

Check for Updates 

Get-WindowsUpdate
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Install Updates 

Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot
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Show Update History 

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_QuickFixEngineering | Select HotFixID, InstalledOn
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User & Permission Management

List Local Admins 

Get-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators"
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Add User to Local Admin 

Add-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" -Member "CONTOSO\john.doe"
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Show Logged-in Users 

query user
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Force Logoff User 

logoff 2 /server:localhost
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Check File Permissions 

Get-Acl C:\Important\File.txt | Format-List
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Firewall Management

Show Firewall Rules 

Get-NetFirewallRule | Where Enabled -eq True | Select Name, DisplayName
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Create Firewall Rule 

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Allow SQL" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 1433 -Action Allow
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Disable Firewall (Testing Only!) 

Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain,Public,Private -Enabled False
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Event Log Analysis

Show Recent Errors 

Get-EventLog -LogName System -EntryType Error -Newest 20
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Search Event Logs 

Get-EventLog -LogName Application | Where-Object {$_.Message -like "*SQL*"}
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Show Security Events 

Get-EventLog -LogName Security -InstanceId 4624 -Newest 10
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Azure-Specific Commands

Check Azure VM Agent 

Get-Service WindowsAzureGuestAgent
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Test Azure Metadata Service 

Invoke-RestMethod -Headers @{"Metadata"="true"} -Method GET -Uri "http://169.254.169.254/metadata/instance?api-version=2021-02-01"
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Show Azure VM Extensions 

Get-AzVMExtension -ResourceGroupName "RG-Prod" -VMName "VM-SQL-01"
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System Information

Show OS Version 

Get-ComputerInfo | Select WindowsProductName, WindowsVersion, OsBuildNumber
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Show Installed Programs 

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Select Name, Version
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Check System Drivers 

Get-WindowsDriver -Online
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Show Environment Variables 

set
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Quick Fixes

Reset Windows Update 

net stop wuauserv
del C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\*.* /s /q
net start wuauserv
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Clear Temp Files 

Remove-Item -Path "$env:TEMP\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
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Rebuild Windows Search Index 

Get-Service WSearch | Restart-Service
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Full Command Reference

Complete command library with parameters, examples, and troubleshooting guides:

👉 50 Windows Commands Complete Guide

Managing Azure VMs? Bookmark this. The Azure Portal can't do everything—sometimes you need actual Windows commands.

Top comments (1)

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Thomas •

Hi David.
This is very helpful. I work with Azure on a daily basic and this list can for sure make my work easier.