How to Open the Command Shell from Windows PowerShell

You can open the Virtual Machine Manager command shell from within the Windows PowerShell command shell.

Note

You can open multiple command shells at the same time. For example, you might want to read help topic examples in one window and run those examples in another window.

To open the Virtual Machine Manager command shell from Windows PowerShell

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Windows PowerShell 1.0, and then click Windows PowerShell.

    Confirm that the menu from which you open Windows PowerShell also includes the following documentation about Windows PowerShell:

    • Getting Started
    • Quick Reference
    • Release Notes
    • User Guide

    For a comprehensive introduction to Windows PowerShell, review each of those documents.

  2. When the Windows PowerShell command shell opens:

    1. Add the Virtual Machine Manager snap-in so that you can load the Virtual Machine Manager cmdlets by typing the following command at the command prompt:

      Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager 
      
    2. View a list of all Windows PowerShell snap-ins by typing the following command at the command prompt:

      Get-PSSnapin
      
    3. Confirm that the Virtual Machine Manager snap-in has loaded by typing the following command at the command prompt:

      Get-Help New-VM
      

      If a help topic about the Virtual Machine Manager cmdlet New-VM is displayed, the Virtual Machine Manager snap-in is loaded. (You can substitute any Virtual Machine Manager cmdlet for New-VM.)

    4. Confirm that you can view a list of all Virtual Machine Manager cmdlets by typing the following command (all on one line) at the command prompt:

      Get-Command -PSSnapin Microsoft.SystemCenter.VirtualMachineManager
      

See Also

Concepts

How to Open the Command Shell from the All Programs Menu