Import-Counter
Applies To: Windows PowerShell 2.0
Imports performance counter log files (.blg, .csv, .tsv) and creates the objects that represent each counter sample in the log.
Syntax
Import-Counter [-Path] <string[]> [-Counter <string[]>] [-EndTime <DateTime>] [-MaxSamples <Int64>] [-StartTime <DateTime>] [<CommonParameters>]
Import-Counter [-Path] <string[]> -ListSet <string[]> [<CommonParameters>]
Import-Counter [-Path] <string[]> -Summary <switch> [<CommonParameters>]
Description
The Import-Counter cmdlet imports performance counter data from performance counter log files and creates objects for each counter sample in the file. The PerformanceCounterSampleSet objects that it creates are identical to the objects that Get-Counter returns when it collects performance counter data.
You can import data from comma-separated value (.csv), tab-separated value ( .tsv), and binary performance log (.blg) performance log files. If you are using .blg files, you can import multiple files (up to 32 different files) in each command. And, you can use the parameters of Import-Counter to filter the data that you import.
Along with Get-Counter and Export-Counter, this feature lets you collect, export, import, combine, filter, manipulate, and re-export performance counter data within Windows PowerShell.
Parameters
-Counter <string[]>
Imports data only for the specified performance counters. By default, Import-Counter imports all data from all counters in the input files. Enter one or more counter paths. Wildcards are permitted in the Instance part of the path.
Each counter path has the following format. Notice that the ComputerName value is required in the path, even on the local computer.
"\\<ComputerName>\<CounterSet>(<Instance>)\<CounterName>"
For example:
"\\Server01\Processor(2)\% User Time"
"\\Server01\Processor(*)\% Processor Time
Required? |
false |
Position? |
named |
Default Value |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
true |
-EndTime <DateTime>
Imports only counter data with a timestamp less than or equal to the specified date and time. Enter a DateTime object, such as one created by the Get-Date cmdlet. By default, Import-Counter imports all counter data in the files specified by the Path parameter.
Required? |
false |
Position? |
named |
Default Value |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
-ListSet <string[]>
Gets the performance counter sets that are represented in the exported files. Commands with this parameter do not import any data.
Enter one or more counter set names. Wildcards are permitted. To get all counter sets in the file, type "import-counter -listset *".
Required? |
true |
Position? |
named |
Default Value |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
true |
-MaxSamples <Int64>
Specifies the maximum number of samples of each counter to import. By default, Get-Counter imports all of the data in the files specified by the Path parameter.
Required? |
false |
Position? |
named |
Default Value |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
-Path <string[]>
Specifies the file paths of the files to be imported. This parameter is required.
Enter the path and file name of a, .csv,, .tsv, or .blg file that you exported by using the Export-Counter cmdlet. You can specify only one .csv or .tsv file, but you can specify multiple .blg files (up to 32) in each command. You can also pipe file path strings (in quotation marks) to Import-Counter.
Required? |
true |
Position? |
2 |
Default Value |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
true (ByValue) |
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
true |
-StartTime <DateTime>
Imports only counter data with a timestamp greater than or equal to the specified date and time. Enter a DateTime object, such as one created by the Get-Date cmdlet. By default, Import-Counter imports all counter data in the files specified by the Path parameter.
Required? |
false |
Position? |
named |
Default Value |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
-Summary <switch>
Gets a summary of the imported data, instead of getting individual counter data samples.
Required? |
true |
Position? |
named |
Default Value |
|
Accept Pipeline Input? |
false |
Accept Wildcard Characters? |
false |
<CommonParameters>
This command supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, OutBuffer, OutVariable, WarningAction, and WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.
Inputs and Outputs
The input type is the type of the objects that you can pipe to the cmdlet. The return type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet returns.
Inputs |
System.String You can pipe performance counter log paths to Import-Counter. |
Outputs |
Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetCounter.PerformanceCounterSampleSet, Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetCounter.CounterSet, Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetCounter.CounterFileInfo By default, Import-Counter returns a Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetCounter.PerformanceCounterSampleSet. If you use the ListSet parameter, Import-Command returns a Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetCounter.CounterSet object. If you use the Summary parameter, Import-Command returns a Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetCounter.CounterFileInfo object. |
Notes
The Import-Counter cmdlet does not have a ComputerName parameter. However, if the computer is configured for Windows PowerShell remoting, you can use the Invoke-Command cmdlet to run an Import-Counter command on a remote computer.
Example 1
C:\PS># Import-Counter
Description
-----------
This command imports all of the counter data from the ProcessorData.csv file into the $data variable.
C:\PS> $data = import-counter -path ProcessorData.csv
Example 2
C:\PS># Import-Counter
Description
-----------
This command imports only the Processor(_total)\Interrupts/sec counter data from the ProcessorData.blg file into the $i variable.
C:\PS> $i = import-counter -path ProcessorData.blg -counter "\\SERVER01\Processor(_Total)\Interrupts/sec"
Example 3
C:\PS># Import-Counter
Description
-----------
This example shows how to select data from a performance counter log file (.blg) and then export the selected data to a .csv file.
The first four commands get the counter paths from the file and save them in a variable. The last two commands import selected data and then export only the selected data.
The first command uses Import-Counter to import all of the performance counter data from the ProcessorData.blg files. The command saves the data in the $data variable.
C:\PS> $data = import-counter .\processordata.blg
The second command displays the counter paths in the $data variable. The display is shown in the command output.
C:\PS> $data[0].countersamples | format-table path
Path
----
\\SERVER01\Processor(_Total)\DPC Rate
\\SERVER01\Processor(1)\DPC Rate
\\SERVER01\Processor(0)\DPC Rate
\\SERVER01\Processor(_Total)\% Idle Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(1)\% Idle Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(0)\% Idle Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(_Total)\% C3 Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(1)\% C3 Time
...
The third command gets the counter paths that end in "Interrupts/sec" and saves the paths in the $IntCtrs variable.
C:\PS> $IntCtrs = $data[0].countersamples | where {$_.path -like "*interrupts/sec"} | foreach {$_.path}
The fourth command displays the selected counter paths.
C:\PS> $IntCtrs
\\SERVER01\Processor(_Total)\Interrupts/sec
\\SERVER01\Processor(1)\Interrupts/sec
\\SERVER01\Processor(0)\Interrupts/sec
The fifth command uses the Import-Counter cmdlet to import the data. It uses the Counter parameter with the $IntCtrs variable to import only data for the counter paths in $IntCtrs.
C:\PS> $i = import-counter -path .\processordata.blg -counter $intCtrs
The sixth command uses the Export-Counter cmdlet to export the data.
C:\PS> $i | export-counter -path .\interrupts.csv -format CSV
Example 4
C:\PS># Import-Counter
Description
-----------
This example shows how to display all the counter paths in a group of imported counter sets.
The first command uses the ListSet parameter to get all of the counter sets that are represented in a counter data file.
C:\PS> import-counter -path processordata.csv -listset *
CounterSetName : Processor
MachineName : \\SERVER01
CounterSetType : MultiInstance
Description :
Paths : {\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\DPC Rate, \\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% Idle Time, \\SERVER01
\Processor(*)\% C3 Time, \\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% Interrupt Time...}
PathsWithInstances : {\\SERVER01\Processor(_Total)\DPC Rate, \\SERVER01\Processor(1)\DPC Rate, \\SERVER01
\Processor(0)\DPC Rate, \\SERVER01\Processor(_Total)\% Idle Time...}
Counter : {\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\DPC Rate, \\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% Idle Time, \\SERVER01
\Processor(*)\% C3 Time, \\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% Interrupt Time...}
The second command gets all of the counter paths from the list set.
C:\PS> import-counter -path processordata.csv -listset * | foreach {$_.paths}
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\DPC Rate
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% Idle Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% C3 Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% Interrupt Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% C2 Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% User Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% C1 Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% Processor Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\C1 Transitions/sec
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% DPC Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\C2 Transitions/sec
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\% Privileged Time
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\C3 Transitions/sec
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\DPCs Queued/sec
\\SERVER01\Processor(*)\Interrupts/sec
Example 5
C:\PS># Import-Counter
Description
-----------
This example imports only the counter data that has a time stamp between the starting an ending ranges specified in the command.
The first command lists the time stamps of all of the data in the ProcessorData.blg file.
C:\PS> import-counter -path .\disk.blg | format-table timestamp
The second and third commands save particular time stamps in the $start and $end variables. The strings are cast to DateTime objects.
C:\PS> $start = [datetime]"7/9/2008 3:47:00 PM"
C:\PS> $end = [datetime]"7/9/2008 3:47:59 PM"
The fourth command uses Import-Counter to get only counter data that has a time stamp between the start and end times (inclusive). The command uses the StartTime and EndTime parameters to specify the range.
C:\PS> import-counter -path disk.blg -starttime $start -endtime $end
Example 6
C:\PS># Import-Counter
Description
-----------
This example shows how to import the five oldest and five newest samples from a performance counter log file.
The first command uses the Import-Counter cmdlet to import data from the Disk.blg file. The command uses the MaxSamples parameter to limit the import to five counter samples. This command gets the first (oldest) five samples in the file.
C:\PS> import-counter -path disk.blg -maxSamples 5
The second command uses array notation and the Windows PowerShell range operator (..) to get the last five counter samples from the file. These are the five newest samples.
C:\PS> (import-counter -path disk.blg)[-1 .. -5]
Example 7
C:\PS># Import-Counter
Description
-----------
This command uses the Summary parameter to get a summary of the counter data from the Memory.blg file.
C:\PS> import-counter D:\Samples\memory.blg -summary
OldestRecord NewestRecord SampleCount
------------ ------------ -----------
7/10/2008 2:59:18 PM 7/10/2008 3:00:27 PM 1000
Example 8
C:\PS># Import-Counter
Description
-----------
This example updates a performance counter log file.
The first command uses the ListSet parameter of Import-Counter to get the counters in OldData.blg, an existing counter log file. The command uses a pipeline operator (|) to send the data to a Foreach-Object command that gets only the values of the PathsWithInstances property of each object.
C:\PS> $counters = import-counter olddata.blg -ListSet * | foreach {$_.PathsWithInstances}
The second command uses those same counters in a new Get-Counter command to get a current sample, and export it to the NewData.blg file.
C:\PS> get-counter -counter $counters -maxSamples 20 | export-counter c:\Logs\newdata.blg
Example 9
C:\PS># Import-Counter
Description
-----------
This command imports performance log data from two logs and saves the data in the $counters variable. The command uses a pipeline operator to send performance log paths to Import-Counter.
C:\PS> $counters = "d:\test\pdata.blg", "d:\samples\netlog.blg" | import-counter
Notice that each path is enclosed in quotation marks and that the paths are separated from each other by a comma.