Configuration drift detection in PowerShell - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to get the current configuration of a service named 'Spooler'.

PowerShell

Get-Service -Name [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AW32Time

BDhcp

CBITS

DSpooler

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using a wrong service name that does not exist.

Forgetting to specify the -Name parameter.

The 'Spooler' service manages print jobs. Using Get-Service with -Name 'Spooler' retrieves its current status.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to compare the current service status with the expected status stored in $expectedStatus.

PowerShell

$currentStatus = (Get-Service -Name 'Spooler').Status; if ($currentStatus -eq [1]) { Write-Output 'No drift detected' } else { Write-Output 'Configuration drift detected' }

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A$expectedStatus

B'Stopped'

C'Paused'

D'Running'

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Comparing to a hardcoded string instead of the variable.

Using quotes around the variable name.

We compare the current status to the expected status stored in the variable $expectedStatus to detect drift.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code that checks if the 'Spooler' service is running.

PowerShell

if ((Get-Service -Name 'Spooler').Status -eq [1]) { Write-Output 'Service is running' } else { Write-Output 'Service is not running' }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A'Running'

BRunning

Crunning

D'running'

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using unquoted strings causing errors.

Using lowercase 'running' which does not match the exact status.

The Status property returns a string, so the comparison value must be a string literal with quotes, like 'Running'.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a hashtable that stores service names as keys and their expected statuses as values.

PowerShell

$expectedConfig = @{ 'Spooler' = [1]; 'W32Time' = [2] }

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A'Running'

B'Stopped'

C'Paused'

D'Disabled'

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using unquoted status values.

Mixing up the expected statuses for each service.

The 'Spooler' service is expected to be 'Running' and 'W32Time' expected to be 'Stopped' in this example.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a script that detects configuration drift by comparing current service statuses to expected ones.

PowerShell

$expectedConfig = @{ 'Spooler' = 'Running'; 'W32Time' = 'Stopped' }
foreach ($service in $expectedConfig.Keys) {
  $currentStatus = (Get-Service -Name $service).[1]
  if ($currentStatus -ne $expectedConfig[$service]) {
    Write-Output "$service has drifted: current status is [2], expected is [3]"
  }
}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AStatus

B$currentStatus

C$expectedConfig[$service]

DName

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using wrong property names like 'Name' instead of 'Status'.

Not using variables correctly in the output string.

We get the current service Status property, then compare it to the expected status from the hashtable, and output both values if they differ.