In this recipe, we will read the event log.
Let's take a look at how we can read the Windows event log from PowerShell:
Open PowerShell ISE as an administrator.
Add the following script and run it:
Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Newest 20 -EntryType Error
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.
The EntryType can be of the following types:
Error
FailureAudit
Information
SuccessAudit
Warning
In this recipe, we also use the –Newest switch to filter only for the newest 20 error events.
An alternative way of using Get-EventLog is Get-WinEvent. Many administrators...