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Set-Alias
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NAME Set-Alias
SYNOPSIS
Creates or changes an alias for a cmdlet or other command element in the current Windows PowerShell session.
SYNTAX
Set-Alias [-Name] <String> [-Value] <String> [-Confirm] [-Description <String>] [-Force] [-Option {None | ReadOnly | Constant | Private | AllScope
| Unspecified}] [-PassThru] [-Scope <String>] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-Alias cmdlet creates or changes an alias (alternate name) for a cmdlet or for a command element, such as a function, a script, a file, or
other executable. You can also use Set-Alias to reassign a current alias to a new command, or to change any of the properties of an alias, such as
its description. Unless you add the alias to the Windows PowerShell profile, the changes to an alias are lost when you exit the session or close
Windows PowerShell.
PARAMETERS
-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]
Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value False
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Description <String>
Specifies a description of the alias. You can type any string. If the description includes spaces, enclose it quotation marks.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Force [<SwitchParameter>]
Indicates that the cmdlet will set a read-only alias. Use the Option parameter to create a read-only alias. The Force parameter cannot set a
constant alias.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value False
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Name <String>
Specifies the new alias. You can use any alphanumeric characters in an alias, but the first character cannot be a number.
Required? true
Position? 0
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? True (ByPropertyName)
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Option <ScopedItemOptions>
Sets the value of the Options property of the alias. The acceptable values for this parameter are:
- None. Sets no options. (None is the default.) - ReadOnly. Can be deleted. Cannot be not changed, except by using the Force parameter. -
Constant. Cannot be deleted or changed. - Private. The alias is available only in the current scope. - AllScope. The alias is copied to any
new scopes that are created. - Unspecified.
To see the Options property of all aliases in the session, type `get-alias | format-table -property name, options -autosize`.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-PassThru [<SwitchParameter>]
Returns an object representing the item with which you are working. By default, this cmdlet does not generate any output.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value False
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Scope <String>
Specifies the scope in which this alias is valid. The acceptable values for this parameter are:
- Global
- Local
- Script
- A number relative to the current scope (0 through the number of scopes, where 0 is the current scope and 1 is its parent).
Local is the default. For more information, see about_Scopes.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Value <String>
Specifies the name of the cmdlet or command element that is being aliased.
Required? true
Position? 1
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? True (ByPropertyName)
Accept wildcard characters? false
-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]
Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value False
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
<CommonParameters>
This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,
ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,
OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable. For more information, see
about_CommonParameters (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113216).
INPUTS
None
You cannot pipe input to this cmdlet.
OUTPUTS
None or System.Management.Automation.AliasInfo
When you use the PassThru parameter, Set-Alias generates a System.Management.Automation.AliasInfo object representing the alias. Otherwise,
this cmdlet does not generate any output.
NOTES
* An alias is an alternate name or nickname for a cmdlet or command element. To run the cmdlet, you can use its full name or any valid alias.
For more information, see about_Aliases. To create a new alias, use Set-Alias * or New-Alias. To delete an alias, use Remove-Item. A cmdlet
can have multiple aliases, but an alias can only be associated with one cmdlet at a time. If you use Set-Alias * to associate the alias with a
different cmdlet, it is no longer associated with the original cmdlet. You can create an alias for a cmdlet, but you cannot create an alias
for a command with parameters and values. For example, you can create an alias for Set-Location *, but you cannot create an alias for
`Set-Location C:\\Windows\\System32`. To create an alias for a command, create a function that includes the command, and then create an alias to
the function. To save the aliases from a session and use them in a different session, add the Set-Alias * command to your Windows PowerShell
profile. Profiles do not exist by default. To create a profile in the path stored in the $profile variable, type `New-Item -Type file -Force
$profile`. To see the value of the $profile variable, type `$profile`.
* You can also save your aliases by using Export-Alias to copy the aliases from the session to a file, and then use Import-Alias to add them
to the alias list for a new session. You can also refer to Set-Alias by its built-in alias, sal *. For more information, see about_Aliases.
Example 1: Create an alias for a Get-ChildItem
PS C:\\>Set-Alias -Name list -Value get-childitem
This command creates the alias list for the Get-ChildItem cmdlet. After you create the alias, you can use list in place of Get-ChildItem at the
command line and in scripts.
Example 2: Create an alias and omit parameter names
PS C:\\>Set-Alias list get-location
This command associates the alias list with the Get-Location cmdlet. If list is an alias for another cmdlet, this command changes its association
so that it now is the alias only for Get-Location .
This command uses the same format as the command in the previous example, but it omits the optional parameter names, Name and Value . When you
omit parameter names, the values of those parameters must appear in the specified order in the command. In this case, the value of Name ( list )
must be the first parameter and the value of Value (get-location) must be the second parameter.
Example 3: Make an alias read-only
PS C:\\>Set-Alias scrub Remove-Item -Option ReadOnly -Passthru | Format-List
This command associates the alias scrub with the Remove-Item cmdlet. It uses the ReadOnly option to prevent the alias from being deleted or
assigned to another cmdlet.
The PassThru parameter directs Windows PowerShell to pass an object that represents the new alias through the pipeline to the Format-List cmdlet.
If the PassThru parameter were omitted, there would be no output from this cmdlet to display (in a list or otherwise).
Example 4: Create an alias for Notepad.exe
PS C:\\>Set-Alias np c:\\windows\\notepad.exe
This command associates the alias, np , with the executable file for Notepad. After the command completes, to open Notepad from the Windows
PowerShell command line, just type `np`.
This example demonstrates that you can create aliases for executable files and elements other than cmdlets.
To make the command more generic, you can use the Windir environment variable (${env:windir}) to represent the C\\Windows directory. The generic
version of the command is `Set-Alias np ${env:windir}\\notepad.exe`.
Example 5: Create an alias for a command with parameters
PS C:\\>function CD32 {set-location c:\\windows\\system32}
PS C:\\>Set-Alias go cd32
These commands show how to assign an alias to a command with parameters, or even to a pipeline of many commands.
You can create an alias for a cmdlet, but you cannot create an alias for a command that consists of a cmdlet and its parameters. However, if you
place the command in a function or a script, then you can create a useful function or script name and you can create one or more aliases for the
function or script.
In this example, the user wants to create an alias for the command `Set-Location C:\\windows\\system32`, where Set-Location is a cmdlet and
C:\\Windows\\System32 is the value of the Path parameter.
To do this, the first command creates a function called CD32 that contains the Set-Location command.
The second command creates the alias go for the CD32 function. Then, to run the Set-Location command, the user can type either `CD32` or `go`.
RELATED LINKS
Online Version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=821857
Export-Alias
Get-Alias
Import-Alias
New-Alias
SYNOPSIS
Creates or changes an alias for a cmdlet or other command element in the current Windows PowerShell session.
SYNTAX
Set-Alias [-Name] <String> [-Value] <String> [-Confirm] [-Description <String>] [-Force] [-Option {None | ReadOnly | Constant | Private | AllScope
| Unspecified}] [-PassThru] [-Scope <String>] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]
DESCRIPTION
The Set-Alias cmdlet creates or changes an alias (alternate name) for a cmdlet or for a command element, such as a function, a script, a file, or
other executable. You can also use Set-Alias to reassign a current alias to a new command, or to change any of the properties of an alias, such as
its description. Unless you add the alias to the Windows PowerShell profile, the changes to an alias are lost when you exit the session or close
Windows PowerShell.
PARAMETERS
-Confirm [<SwitchParameter>]
Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value False
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Description <String>
Specifies a description of the alias. You can type any string. If the description includes spaces, enclose it quotation marks.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Force [<SwitchParameter>]
Indicates that the cmdlet will set a read-only alias. Use the Option parameter to create a read-only alias. The Force parameter cannot set a
constant alias.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value False
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Name <String>
Specifies the new alias. You can use any alphanumeric characters in an alias, but the first character cannot be a number.
Required? true
Position? 0
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? True (ByPropertyName)
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Option <ScopedItemOptions>
Sets the value of the Options property of the alias. The acceptable values for this parameter are:
- None. Sets no options. (None is the default.) - ReadOnly. Can be deleted. Cannot be not changed, except by using the Force parameter. -
Constant. Cannot be deleted or changed. - Private. The alias is available only in the current scope. - AllScope. The alias is copied to any
new scopes that are created. - Unspecified.
To see the Options property of all aliases in the session, type `get-alias | format-table -property name, options -autosize`.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-PassThru [<SwitchParameter>]
Returns an object representing the item with which you are working. By default, this cmdlet does not generate any output.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value False
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Scope <String>
Specifies the scope in which this alias is valid. The acceptable values for this parameter are:
- Global
- Local
- Script
- A number relative to the current scope (0 through the number of scopes, where 0 is the current scope and 1 is its parent).
Local is the default. For more information, see about_Scopes.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
-Value <String>
Specifies the name of the cmdlet or command element that is being aliased.
Required? true
Position? 1
Default value None
Accept pipeline input? True (ByPropertyName)
Accept wildcard characters? false
-WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>]
Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.
Required? false
Position? named
Default value False
Accept pipeline input? False
Accept wildcard characters? false
<CommonParameters>
This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,
ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,
OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable. For more information, see
about_CommonParameters (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113216).
INPUTS
None
You cannot pipe input to this cmdlet.
OUTPUTS
None or System.Management.Automation.AliasInfo
When you use the PassThru parameter, Set-Alias generates a System.Management.Automation.AliasInfo object representing the alias. Otherwise,
this cmdlet does not generate any output.
NOTES
* An alias is an alternate name or nickname for a cmdlet or command element. To run the cmdlet, you can use its full name or any valid alias.
For more information, see about_Aliases. To create a new alias, use Set-Alias * or New-Alias. To delete an alias, use Remove-Item. A cmdlet
can have multiple aliases, but an alias can only be associated with one cmdlet at a time. If you use Set-Alias * to associate the alias with a
different cmdlet, it is no longer associated with the original cmdlet. You can create an alias for a cmdlet, but you cannot create an alias
for a command with parameters and values. For example, you can create an alias for Set-Location *, but you cannot create an alias for
`Set-Location C:\\Windows\\System32`. To create an alias for a command, create a function that includes the command, and then create an alias to
the function. To save the aliases from a session and use them in a different session, add the Set-Alias * command to your Windows PowerShell
profile. Profiles do not exist by default. To create a profile in the path stored in the $profile variable, type `New-Item -Type file -Force
$profile`. To see the value of the $profile variable, type `$profile`.
* You can also save your aliases by using Export-Alias to copy the aliases from the session to a file, and then use Import-Alias to add them
to the alias list for a new session. You can also refer to Set-Alias by its built-in alias, sal *. For more information, see about_Aliases.
Example 1: Create an alias for a Get-ChildItem
PS C:\\>Set-Alias -Name list -Value get-childitem
This command creates the alias list for the Get-ChildItem cmdlet. After you create the alias, you can use list in place of Get-ChildItem at the
command line and in scripts.
Example 2: Create an alias and omit parameter names
PS C:\\>Set-Alias list get-location
This command associates the alias list with the Get-Location cmdlet. If list is an alias for another cmdlet, this command changes its association
so that it now is the alias only for Get-Location .
This command uses the same format as the command in the previous example, but it omits the optional parameter names, Name and Value . When you
omit parameter names, the values of those parameters must appear in the specified order in the command. In this case, the value of Name ( list )
must be the first parameter and the value of Value (get-location) must be the second parameter.
Example 3: Make an alias read-only
PS C:\\>Set-Alias scrub Remove-Item -Option ReadOnly -Passthru | Format-List
This command associates the alias scrub with the Remove-Item cmdlet. It uses the ReadOnly option to prevent the alias from being deleted or
assigned to another cmdlet.
The PassThru parameter directs Windows PowerShell to pass an object that represents the new alias through the pipeline to the Format-List cmdlet.
If the PassThru parameter were omitted, there would be no output from this cmdlet to display (in a list or otherwise).
Example 4: Create an alias for Notepad.exe
PS C:\\>Set-Alias np c:\\windows\\notepad.exe
This command associates the alias, np , with the executable file for Notepad. After the command completes, to open Notepad from the Windows
PowerShell command line, just type `np`.
This example demonstrates that you can create aliases for executable files and elements other than cmdlets.
To make the command more generic, you can use the Windir environment variable (${env:windir}) to represent the C\\Windows directory. The generic
version of the command is `Set-Alias np ${env:windir}\\notepad.exe`.
Example 5: Create an alias for a command with parameters
PS C:\\>function CD32 {set-location c:\\windows\\system32}
PS C:\\>Set-Alias go cd32
These commands show how to assign an alias to a command with parameters, or even to a pipeline of many commands.
You can create an alias for a cmdlet, but you cannot create an alias for a command that consists of a cmdlet and its parameters. However, if you
place the command in a function or a script, then you can create a useful function or script name and you can create one or more aliases for the
function or script.
In this example, the user wants to create an alias for the command `Set-Location C:\\windows\\system32`, where Set-Location is a cmdlet and
C:\\Windows\\System32 is the value of the Path parameter.
To do this, the first command creates a function called CD32 that contains the Set-Location command.
The second command creates the alias go for the CD32 function. Then, to run the Set-Location command, the user can type either `CD32` or `go`.
RELATED LINKS
Online Version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=821857
Export-Alias
Get-Alias
Import-Alias
New-Alias