You can easily manage system services using Windows PowerShell by just typing some simple Cmdlets. Below are some of the examples that help you to manage system services using Windows PowerShell.
Getting all Services (Running and Stopped)
To get all the services ( Running and Stopped services), use Get-Service
Example
PS C:\> Get-Service
[ This Cmdlet returns all the services (Running and Stopped) ]
Note
If you look at BITS service, it is currently in “Stopped” Status
Starting a Service
As you know , BITS service is currently in a stopped state. To start this service, use Start-Service Cmdlet add the name of the service using -Name parameter
Example
PS C:\> Start-Service -Name BITS
[ As you can notice above, Now BITS service is up and Running ]
Stopping a Service
To stop the BITS Service, use Stop-Service Cmdlet add the name of the service using -Name parameter
Example
PS C:\> Stop-Service -Name BITS
Note
We successfully stopped BITS service.
Suspending a Service
To suspend or pause a service, use Suspend-Service Cmdlet
Example
PS C:\> Suspend-Service -Name BITS
Oops...! It gave me an error “BITS service cannot be suspended because this service does not support being suspended or resume”
Let us look at BITS Service object and figure out why we cannot suspend this service
Example
PS C:\> Get-Service BITS | Select *
Note
CanPauseAndContinue Property value is False, so it cannot be suspended.
Note
We can only suspend a service if it has CanPauseAndContinue value TRUE. So let us look at other services that have CanPauseAndContinue value TRUE.
Example
PS C:\ > Get-Service | Where {$_. CanPauseAndContinue}
As you see above, there are four services that have CanPauseAndContinue value TRUE. So let us Suspend one of these services
Example
PS C:\ >Suspend-Service - Name DNS
If you notice in the above screenshot, we successfully suspended or paused DNS service
Restarting a Service
To Restart a Suspended or Paused service, use Restart-Service Cmdlet. In this example I am going to restart DNS service, as we know we just suspended it.
Example
PS C:\> Restart-Service -Name DNS
As you can see above, DNS service is now Running.