Command-Line Reference

Article
08/31/2016

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8

Use this topic to find the documentation resources and other technical information that you need to learn about the command shell, and to automate command-line tasks by using scripts or scripting tools.

To read introductory information about the command shell and command-line tools, see Feature description. To see a listing of new and deprecated command-line tools see New and deprecated functionality.

To find information about a specific command, in the following A-Z menu, click the letter that the command starts with, and then click the command name.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J| K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Prerequisites

The information that is contained in this overview applies to:

Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2003 R2
Windows Server 2003
Windows 8
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP

Feature description

New and deprecated functionality

Feature/functionality	New or Deprecated?	Description
Cluster	Deprecated	Create a new cluster or configure an existing cluster.
Dfscmd	Deprecated	Configure DFS folders and folder targets in a DFS namespace.
Dirquota	Deprecated	Creates and manages File Server Resource Manager quotas.
Filescrn	Deprecated	Create and manage file groups, file screens, file screen exceptions, and file screen templates that are used to configure general administrative options for screening files.
Fondue	New	Enable optional features in Windows by downloading required files from Windows Update or a source that Group Policy specifies.
PowerShell_Ise	New	Read, write, run, debug, and test Windows PowerShell scripts and modules in a friendly, graphic-assisted environment.
Servermanagercmd	Deprecated	Install or remove roles, role services, and features.
Shadow	Deprecated	Monitor an RD Session Host session.
Storrept	Deprecated	Create and manage storage reports and storage report tasks, and configure general administrative options for File Server Resource Manager.

Command shell overview

The command shell is a software program that provides direct communication between the user and the operating system. The non-graphical, command shell user interface provides the environment in which you run character-based applications and utilities. The command shell executes programs and displays their output on the screen by using individual characters similar to the MS-DOS command interpreter, Command.com. The command shell in the Windows Server operating system uses the command interpreter, Cmd.exe. Cmd.exe loads applications, directs the flow of information between applications, and translates user input into a form that the operating system understands.

You can use the command shell to create and edit scripts to automate routine tasks. For example, you can create simple scripts in batch (.bat) files to automate the management of user accounts or nightly backups. You can also use the command-line version of Windows Script Host to run more sophisticated scripts in the command shell. For more information, see Cscript or Wscript. You can perform operations more efficiently by using scripts than you can by using the user interface. Scripts accept all commands that are available at the command line.

Customize the Command Prompt window

You can change the properties for the Command Prompt window.

To configure the Command Prompt window

Open a Command Prompt window, click the upper-left corner of the Command Prompt window, and then click Properties. (Or to open Command Prompt Properties from the keyboard, press ALT+SPACEBAR+P.)
Click the Options tab.
In Command History, type or select 999 in Buffer Size, and then type or select 5 in Number of Buffers. By increasing the screen buffer size to 999, you enable scrolling through the Command Prompt window. By increasing the number of buffers to five, you increase the number of lines in the Command Prompt window to 5000.
In Edit Options, select the Quick Edit Mode and Insert Mode check boxes.
Click the Layout tab.
In Screen Buffer Size, type or select 2500 in Height.
To further customize your Command Prompt window settings, perform any of the following optional tasks:
- In Screen Buffer Size, increase Width.
- In Window Size, increase Height.
- In Window Size, increase Width.
- Clear the Let system position window check box, and then, in Window Position, change the values in Left and Top.
In the Apply Properties dialog box, click Save properties for future windows with same title.

Note

To enable or disable file and directory name completion on a computer or user logon session, run Regedit.exe and set the following REG_DWORD value: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\CompletionChar\REG_DWORD To set the REG_DWORD value, use the hexadecimal value of a control character for a particular function (for example, 0×9 is Tab and 0×08 is Backspace). User-specified settings take precedence over computer settings, and command-line options take precedence over registry settings.

Warning

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.