Providers

What is a Provider?

• Makes data in specialized storage look like a drive.

• Access via paths like a file system.

• Can use built-in, third-party, or custom providers.

  

Example:

PS C:\WINDOWS\System32> Get-PSProvider #Lists all available providers

Name                 Capabilities                                            Drives
----                 ------------                                            ------
Registry             ShouldProcess, Transactions                             {HKLM, HKCU}
Alias                ShouldProcess                                           {Alias}
Environment          ShouldProcess                                           {Env}
FileSystem           Filter, ShouldProcess, Credentials                      {C}
Function             ShouldProcess                                           {Function}
Variable             ShouldProcess                                           {Variable}

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Modules and Providers

• Providers come from modules.

  PS C:\Users\PavanKumarBandaru> Get-PSDrive
  
  Name           Used (GB)     Free (GB) Provider      Root                                                                                                                                       CurrentLocation
  ----           ---------     --------- --------      ----                                                                                                                                       ---------------
  Alias                                  Alias
  C                 216.06        259.29 FileSystem    C:\                                                                                                                                Users\PavanKumarBandaru
  Cert                                   Certificate   \
  Env                                    Environment
  Function                               Function
  HKCU                                   Registry      HKEY_CURRENT_USER
  HKLM                                   Registry      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
  Variable                               Variable
  WSMan                                  WSMan
  
  PS C:\Users\PavanKumarBandaru> Get-PSDrive -Name C
  
  Name           Used (GB)     Free (GB) Provider      Root                                                            CurrentLocation
  ----           ---------     --------- --------      ----                                                            ---------------
  C                 216.06        259.29 FileSystem    C:\                                                     Users\PavanKumarBandaru

• Load a provider:

  Import-Module Microsoft.PowerShell.Management

• Remove a provider (or its drive):

  NOTE: Remove-PSDrive cmdlet removes any drive from the current session. This data on the drive is not affected, but the drive is no longer available in that session.

  Remove-PSDrive -Name Z

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File System Provider

• Works with files and directories.
• Common commands:
  • Get-ChildItem → list files/folders
  • Copy-Item → copy files/folders
  • New-Item → create files/folders
  • Remove-Item → delete files/folders

Examples:

Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Temp-Recurse #List all files/folders recursively
New-Item -Path C:\Temp\MyFile.txt -ItemType File
Copy-Item -Path C:\Temp\MyFile.txt -Destination C:\Backup
Remove-Item -Path C:\Temp\MyFile.txt

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Working Directory / Current Location

• PowerShell has a current location like File Explorer.
• Can use relative or full paths.

Examples:

Set-Location C:\Temp  # Change working directory
Get-ChildItem . # List items in current directory

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✅ Key Idea: Providers = “drives” for any data type. Use location + item + content cmdlets to navigate and manage data easily.

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