PowerShell on macOS - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of this PowerShell command on macOS?

Consider this command run in PowerShell on macOS:

Get-ChildItem -Path ~ -File | Where-Object { $_.Length -gt 1000 } | Select-Object -First 1 -Property Name, Length

What does this command output?

PowerShell

Get-ChildItem -Path ~ -File | Where-Object { $_.Length -gt 1000 } | Select-Object -First 1 -Property Name, Length

A An empty list because no files are returned

B An error saying 'Where-Object' is not recognized

C An object showing the Name and Length of the first file in the home directory larger than 1000 bytes

D A list of all files in the home directory regardless of size

💡 Hint

Think about filtering files by size and selecting only the first match.

The command lists files in the home directory, filters those larger than 1000 bytes, then selects the first one showing its name and size.

📝 Syntax

intermediate

Which PowerShell syntax correctly sets an environment variable on macOS?

You want to set an environment variable named MY_VAR with value 'hello' in PowerShell on macOS. Which option is correct?

A env MY_VAR='hello'

B $env:MY_VAR = 'hello'

C export MY_VAR='hello'

D set MY_VAR=hello

💡 Hint

PowerShell uses a special variable prefix for environment variables.

In PowerShell, environment variables are accessed and set using the $env: prefix.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this PowerShell script fail on macOS?

This script is intended to list all running processes and filter those using more than 100 MB of memory:

Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.WorkingSet -gt 100MB }

Why does it fail?

PowerShell

Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.WorkingSet -gt 100MB }

A '100MB' is not a valid number; PowerShell does not recognize 'MB' as a unit, causing a syntax error.

B Get-Process is not available on macOS PowerShell.

C The property 'WorkingSet' does not exist on process objects on macOS.

D Where-Object cannot filter numeric properties.

💡 Hint

Check how PowerShell handles numeric values with units.

PowerShell does not parse '100MB' as a number; it must be expressed as an integer number of bytes.

🚀 Application

advanced

How to schedule a PowerShell script to run daily on macOS?

You want to run a PowerShell script located at /Users/username/scripts/backup.ps1 every day at 2 AM on macOS. Which approach is correct?

A Use Windows Task Scheduler to schedule the script

B Create a cron job with: 0 2 * * * pwsh /Users/username/scripts/backup.ps1

C Add the script to /etc/init.d to run daily

D Use launchd with a plist file to schedule the script

💡 Hint

macOS uses launchd for scheduled tasks, not cron by default.

macOS uses launchd and plist files to schedule tasks; cron is deprecated but still works, however launchd is preferred.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

What is the main difference when running PowerShell scripts on macOS compared to Windows?

Choose the best explanation for a key difference when running PowerShell scripts on macOS versus Windows.

A PowerShell on macOS uses a different shell executable and has limited access to Windows-specific cmdlets and APIs.

B PowerShell scripts run identically on macOS and Windows with no differences.

C PowerShell on macOS cannot run scripts at all, only commands interactively.

D PowerShell on macOS requires scripts to be written in Bash syntax.

💡 Hint

Think about platform-specific features and cmdlets.

PowerShell Core on macOS runs on .NET Core and lacks Windows-only cmdlets and APIs, so some scripts need adjustment.