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Invoke-History

  • Reference
Module:
Microsoft.PowerShell.Core

Runs commands from the session history.

Syntax

Invoke-History
      [[-Id] <String>]
      [-WhatIf]
      [-Confirm]
      [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Invoke-History cmdlet runs commands from the session history. You can pass objects representing the commands from Get-History to Invoke-History, or you can identify commands in the current history by using their Id number. To find the identification number of a command, use the Get-History cmdlet.

The session history is managed separately from the history maintained by the PSReadLine module. Both histories are available in sessions where PSReadLine is loaded. This cmdlet only works with the session history. For more information see, about_PSReadLine.

Examples

Example 1: Run the most recent command in the history

This example runs the last, or most recent, command in the session history. You can abbreviate this command as r, the alias for Invoke-History.

Invoke-History

Example 2: Run the command that has a specified ID

This example runs the command in the session history with Id 132. Because the name of the Id parameter is optional, you can abbreviate this command as the following: Invoke-History 132, ihy 132, or r 132.

Invoke-History -Id 132

Example 3: Run the most recent command by using the command text

This example runs the most recent Get-Process command in the session history. When you type characters for the Id parameter, Invoke-History runs the first command that it finds that matches the pattern, starting with the most recent commands.

Invoke-History -Id get-pr

Note

Pattern matching is case-insensitive, but the pattern matches the beginning of the line.

Example 4: Run a sequence of commands from the history

This example runs commands 16 through 24. Because you can list only one Id value, the command uses the ForEach-Object cmdlet to run the Invoke-History command one time for each Id value.

16..24 | ForEach-Object {Invoke-History -Id $_ }

Example 5

This example runs the seven commands in the history that end with command 255 (249 through 255). It uses the Get-History cmdlet to retrieve the commands. Because you can list only one Id value, the command uses the ForEach-Object cmdlet to run the Invoke-History command once for each Id value.

Get-History -Id 255 -Count 7 | ForEach-Object {Invoke-History -Id $_.Id}

Parameters

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:cf
Position:Named
Default value:False
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Id

Specifies the Id of a command in the history. You can type the Id number of the command or the first few characters of the command.

If you type characters, Invoke-History matches the most recent commands first. If you omit this parameter, Invoke-History runs the last, or most recent, command. To find the Id number of a command, use the Get-History cmdlet.

Type:String
Position:0
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:True
Accept wildcard characters:False

-WhatIf

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:wi
Position:Named
Default value:False
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

Inputs

String

You can pipe a history Id to this cmdlet.

Outputs

None

This cmdlet returns no output of its own, but the commands it runs may return their own output.

Notes

PowerShell includes the following aliases for Invoke-History:

  • All platforms:
    • ihy
    • r

The session history is a list of the commands entered during the session. The session history represents the order of execution, the status, and the start and end times of the command. As you enter each command, PowerShell adds it to the history so that you can reuse it. For more information about the session history, see about_History.