PowerShell on macOS - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to display the current directory path in PowerShell on macOS.

PowerShell

Get-Location | Select-Object -ExpandProperty [1]

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

APath

BName

CFullName

DDirectory

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'Name' or 'FullName' which do not exist on the object returned by Get-Location.

Using 'Directory' which is not a property of the location object.

The Path property of the object returned by Get-Location shows the current directory path as a string.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to list all files in the current directory on macOS using PowerShell.

PowerShell

Get-ChildItem -File | [1] Name

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

ASort-Object

BSelect-Object

CWhere-Object

DMeasure-Object

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using Where-Object which filters items but does not select properties.

Using Sort-Object which sorts but does not select properties.

Select-Object Name selects and displays only the file names from the list of files.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to create a new directory named 'TestFolder' on macOS using PowerShell.

PowerShell

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Name [1]

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

ATestFolder

B'TestFolder'

C-TestFolder

D/TestFolder

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Including quotes inside the blank which causes the name to be a string literal with quotes.

Using a path format like '/TestFolder' which is not needed here.

The -Name parameter expects the folder name as a string without quotes in PowerShell scripts. Quotes are optional but not required here.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to filter files larger than 1MB and display their names in PowerShell on macOS.

PowerShell

Get-ChildItem -File | Where-Object { $_.[1] [2] 1MB } | Select-Object Name

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

ALength

B>

C<

DSize

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'Size' which is not a property of file objects in PowerShell.

Using '<' instead of '>' which filters smaller files.

The Length property gives the file size in bytes. Using > filters files larger than 1MB.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a hashtable of file names and their sizes for files modified in the last 7 days on macOS PowerShell.

PowerShell

$recentFiles = @(); foreach ([2] in (Get-ChildItem -File | Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -gt (Get-Date).AddDays(-7) })) { $recentFiles += @{ [1] = $[2].Name; [3] = $[2].Length } }

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

AName

Bfile

CSize

Ditem

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using inconsistent variable names in the loop and hashtable.

Using 'Length' as a key instead of 'Size'.

The variable item is used in the loop. The hashtable keys are Name and Size, and values come from item.Name and item.Length.

Practice

1. Which command do you use to start PowerShell on macOS after installation?

easy

A. pwsh

B. powershell

C. ps

D. shell

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall the PowerShell command on macOS

   On macOS, PowerShell is started using the pwsh command, not powershell which is used on Windows.

2. Step 2: Identify the correct command

   Among the options, only pwsh is the correct command to launch PowerShell on macOS.

3. Final Answer:

   pwsh -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   PowerShell on macOS starts with pwsh [OK]

Hint: Remember: macOS uses 'pwsh' to start PowerShell [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Typing 'powershell' instead of 'pwsh' on macOS
• Using 'ps' which lists processes, not PowerShell
• Assuming 'shell' starts PowerShell

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to run a PowerShell script named script.ps1 on macOS terminal?

easy

A. ./script.ps1

B. run script.ps1

C. pwsh script.ps1

D. powershell -file script.ps1

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand how to run scripts in PowerShell on macOS

   On macOS, you run PowerShell scripts by calling pwsh followed by the script name.

2. Step 2: Check each option

   ./script.ps1 tries to run the script directly, which may fail without execution permission and PowerShell context. powershell -file script.ps1 uses Windows syntax. run script.ps1 is invalid. pwsh script.ps1 correctly runs the script with PowerShell.

3. Final Answer:

   pwsh script.ps1 -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Run scripts with 'pwsh script.ps1' on macOS [OK]

Hint: Use 'pwsh script.ps1' to run scripts on macOS [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Trying to run script directly without 'pwsh'
• Using Windows PowerShell syntax on macOS
• Using 'run' command which doesn't exist

3. What will be the output of this PowerShell command run on macOS terminal?

pwsh -Command "Write-Output 'Hello macOS'"

medium

A. Hello macOS

B. Write-Output 'Hello macOS'

C. pwsh: command not found

D. Error: Invalid command

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the command structure

   The command uses pwsh -Command to run a PowerShell command inline, which outputs the string 'Hello macOS'.

2. Step 2: Predict the output

   The Write-Output cmdlet prints the string to the terminal, so the output will be exactly 'Hello macOS'.

3. Final Answer:

   Hello macOS -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Write-Output prints text to terminal [OK]

Hint: Write-Output prints text; expect exact string output [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing command string with output
• Assuming 'pwsh' is not installed
• Expecting error due to quotes

4. You try to run a PowerShell script on macOS with pwsh ./myscript.ps1 but get a permission denied error. What is the most likely fix?

medium

A. Use sudo pwsh ./myscript.ps1 to run as admin

B. Run chmod +x myscript.ps1 to add execute permission

C. Rename the script to myscript.sh

D. Reinstall PowerShell on macOS

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify cause of permission denied

   On macOS, scripts need execute permission to run. Without it, you get a permission denied error.

2. Step 2: Fix permission issue

   Using chmod +x myscript.ps1 adds execute permission, allowing the script to run.

3. Final Answer:

   Run chmod +x myscript.ps1 to add execute permission -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Permission denied? Add execute permission with chmod [OK]

Hint: Add execute permission with chmod +x before running script [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Trying to run script without execute permission
• Renaming script to .sh which doesn't help PowerShell
• Using sudo unnecessarily
• Reinstalling PowerShell instead of fixing permissions

5. You want to automate listing all files in your Documents folder on macOS using PowerShell and save the output to a text file named files.txt. Which command correctly does this?

hard

A. Get-ChildItem ~/Documents > files.txt

B. ls ~/Documents > files.txt

C. pwsh -Command "ls" ~/Documents > files.txt

D. pwsh -Command "Get-ChildItem ~/Documents | Out-File files.txt"

Solution

1. Step 1: Use PowerShell cmdlet to list files

   Get-ChildItem lists files and folders in PowerShell. Using ~/Documents targets the Documents folder.

2. Step 2: Redirect output to a file in PowerShell

   PowerShell uses Out-File to save output to a file. The command runs inside pwsh -Command to execute from macOS terminal.

3. Final Answer:

   pwsh -Command "Get-ChildItem ~/Documents | Out-File files.txt" -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Use Get-ChildItem with Out-File inside pwsh [OK]

Hint: Use Get-ChildItem piped to Out-File inside pwsh command [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using shell redirection > inside PowerShell command incorrectly
• Using 'ls' which is not a PowerShell cmdlet
• Running PowerShell cmdlets outside pwsh context
• Omitting Out-File to save output