Build a PowerShell Tool for Windows Event and Text Log Analysis

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Build a PowerShell Tool for Windows Event and Text Log Analysis

In this lab, you’ll practice building a PowerShell tool to analyze Windows event logs and text files. When you’re finished, you’ll have a functioning script to scan activity in a given timeframe.

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Lab Info

Level

Beginner

Last updated

Oct 02, 2025

Duration

2h 0m

Challenge

Brainstorm and Sketch Out a Tool

You will start to create a PowerShell script to audit a server.
Challenge

Use Get-WinEvent to Query Window Event Logs

Explore the full event logs, and then gradually apply filters to retrieve specific logs, understanding why filtering is crucial.
Challenge

Find Local Storage Volumes

Learn how to filter local drives by root paths, and search recursively for specific file types within those drives.
Challenge

Search all Local Storage Volumes for Log Files

Using Get-ChildItem, learn how to interrogate text log files on your local storage volumes.
Challenge

Add Script Parameters

Make the tool more dynamic by creating a holistic script that runs together with parameters.
Challenge

Add CSV Output

In this challenge, you will learn to export the records found into a CSV file, rather than just outputting them via the console. Saving to a CSV file will allow you to quickly parse and share the results of your script with others.
Challenge

Add Simple Error Handling

In this final challenge, you will learn to incorporate basic error handling into your tool. You’ll learn about the $Error variable, non-terminating and terminating errors.

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