Windows PowerShell Quick Reference

Tracing and Debugging

The three facilities for tracing and debugging in PowerShell are the Set-PsDebug cmdlet, the Trace-Command cmdlet, and verbose cmdlet output.

The Set-PsDebug Cmdlet

The Set-PsDebug cmdlet allows you to control tracing, stepping, and strict mode in PowerShell.

Parameters of the Set-PsDebug cmdlet
Parameter	Description
Trace	Sets the amount of tracing detail that PowerShell outputs when running commands. A value of 1 outputs all lines as PowerShell evaluates them. A value of 2 outputs all lines as PowerShell evaluates them, along with information about variable assignments, function calls, and scripts. A value of 0 disables tracing.
Step	Enables and disables per-command stepping. When enabled, PowerShell prompts you before it executes a command.
Strict	Enables and disables strict mode. When enabled, PowerShell throws a terminating error if you attempt to reference a variable that you have not yet defined.
Off	Turns off tracing, stepping, and strict strict mode.

The Trace-Command Cmdlet

Trace-Command CommandDiscovery -PsHost { gci c:\ }

The Trace-Command cmdlet exposes diagnostic and support information for PowerShell commands. PowerShell groups its diagnostic information into categories called Trace Sources.

A full list of trace sources is available through the Get-TraceSource cmdlet.

For more information about the Trace-Command cmdlet, type Get-Help Trace-Command.

Verbose Cmdlet Output

<Cmdlet> -Verbose

PowerShell commands can generate verbose output using the Write-Verbose cmdlet ...