PowerShell script to get logged in user

Question

I am looking to run a script on a remote machine using an automation tool that runs the scripts in the system context.

What I have so far:

$userId = Get-Process -IncludeUserName explorer | % username | sort Username -Unique
Write-Host $userid.ToLower()

Results:

Get-Process : A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name
'IncludeUserName'.
At line:1 char:39
+ $userId = Get-Process -IncludeUserName <<<<  explorer | % username | sort Username -Unique
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-Process], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NamedParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetProcessCommand

ToLower : You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
At line:2 char:27
+ Write-Host $userid.ToLower <<<< ()
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (ToLower:String) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvokeMethodOnNull

Any ideas how to help this script? Or the cause of the errors?

I'd suspect you're using PowerShell v3 or older. Apparently the parameter -IncludeUserName was introduced with PowerShell v4. — Ansgar Wiechers
If you can't upgrade to PowerShell v4 or newer use WMI to work around the issue. — Ansgar Wiechers

Frode F. Frode F. · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-02T21:17:21

The error says it all; the switch -IncludeUserName is not available on your computer. That's because it requires PowerShell 4.0 or above like Ansgar mentioned.

One solution is to install the latest Windows Mangement Framework (WMF) which includes the latest version of PowerShell.

You can also use the WMI-class Win32_Process to get the user and/or domain by calling the object's GetOwner()-method. Ex:

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Process -Filter "Name = 'explorer.exe'" |
ForEach-Object { $_.GetOwner() | % { "$($_.Domain)\$($_.User)" } } |
Sort-Object -Unique

PowerShell script to get logged in user

1 Answers