Monitoring System Performance with PowerShell: A Simple Script for IT Professionals

As an IT professional, keeping track of system performance is crucial for maintaining a healthy and efficient computing environment. PowerShell provides an excellent platform for creating custom monitoring solutions. In this post, we’ll explore a PowerShell script that monitors key system metrics and logs them for analysis.

The Problem: You need to regularly monitor CPU usage, available memory, and disk space across multiple systems, but manually checking these metrics is time-consuming and inefficient.

The Solution: A PowerShell script that collects system performance data, logs it to a file, and can be easily scheduled to run at regular intervals.

Here’s the script:

# Define the output file path
$logFile = "C:\Logs\SystemPerformance_$(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd').log"

# Ensure the log directory exists
$logDir = Split-Path $logFile -Parent
if (!(Test-Path -Path $logDir)) {
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $logDir | Out-Null
}

# Function to get CPU usage
function Get-CpuUsage {
    $cpu = (Get-WmiObject Win32_Processor | Measure-Object -Property LoadPercentage -Average).Average
    return [math]::Round($cpu, 2)
}

# Function to get available memory
function Get-AvailableMemory {
    $memory = Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem
    $availableMemory = [math]::Round(($memory.FreePhysicalMemory / 1MB), 2)
    return $availableMemory
}

# Function to get free disk space
function Get-FreeDiskSpace {
    $disk = Get-WmiObject Win32_LogicalDisk -Filter "DeviceID='C:'"
    $freeSpace = [math]::Round(($disk.FreeSpace / 1GB), 2)
    return $freeSpace
}

# Collect system information
$computerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
$timestamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"
$cpuUsage = Get-CpuUsage
$availableMemory = Get-AvailableMemory
$freeDiskSpace = Get-FreeDiskSpace

# Create the log entry
$logEntry = "{0},{1},{2},{3},{4},{5}" -f $timestamp, $computerName, $cpuUsage, $availableMemory, $freeDiskSpace, $env:USERNAME

# Append the log entry to the file
Add-Content -Path $logFile -Value $logEntry

Write-Host "Performance data logged to $logFile"

How it works:

1. We define a log file path with a date-stamped filename.
2. The script includes functions to collect CPU usage, available memory, and free disk space.
3. It gathers system information, including the computer name and current user.
4. A log entry is created with all the collected data.
5. The entry is appended to the log file.

To use this script:

1. Copy the script into a new .ps1 file.
2. Modify the $logFile variable if you want to change the log location.
3. Run the script in PowerShell.

To schedule this script:

1. Open Task Scheduler.
2. Create a new task.
3. Set the action to “Start a program”.
4. In the “Program/script” field, enter: powershell.exe
5. In the “Add arguments” field, enter: -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File “C:\Path\To\Your\Script.ps1”
6. Set the trigger to run on a schedule that suits your needs.

This script provides a foundation for system monitoring that you can easily expand. For example, you could add more metrics, implement threshold alerts, or create a dashboard to visualize the data.

Remember to run PowerShell scripts with appropriate permissions, especially when accessing system information.

By leveraging PowerShell for system monitoring, you can create custom, flexible solutions that fit your specific IT environment. Happy monitoring!