SQL Server 2014 with PowerShell v5 Cookbook

Reading an event log

In this recipe, we will read the event log.

How to do it...

Let's take a look at how we can read the Windows event log from PowerShell:

1. Open PowerShell ISE as an administrator.
2. Add the following script and run it:

   Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Newest 20 -EntryType Error

How it works...

Reading the event log is straightforward in PowerShell. We can do this using the Get-EventLog cmdlet. This cmdlet accepts a few switches that includes LogName and EntryType:

Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Newest 20 -EntryType Error

Some of the possible LogName values are follows:

• Application
• HardwareEvents
• Internet Explorer
• Security
• System
• Windows PowerShell

You can alternatively pass the name of a custom log that is available in your system to it. ...