Web Farm Framework 2.0 for IIS 7 cmdlets for Windows PowerShell

Article
03/21/2022

by Randall DuBois

You can use the Web Farm Framework cmdlets for Windows PowerShell to configure and manage your server farm. You must have Windows PowerShell installed on the web farm controller.

To use the Web Farm Framework cmdlets for Windows PowerShell

On the controller server, open a command prompt.
To start the PowerShell console, enter the following command:
```
PowerShell
```
At the PowerShell prompt, enter the following command:
```
Add-PSSnapin WebFarmSnapin
```
The Web Farm Framework snapin for Windows PowerShell is loaded.
At the PowerShell prompt, type the following command to display a list of the available WFF cmdlets:
```
Get-Command WebFarmSnapin\*
```

The list is displayed as in the following image:

Screenshot shows Windows Power Shell with the following command entered, Get Command Web Farm Snap in.

Viewing cmdlet Syntax and Help

To get help for each cmdlet, enter get-Help <cmdletName> -full. For example, to get help for the Get-ActiveOperation cmdlet, enter the following command.

Get-Help Get-ActiveOperation -full

Screenshot shows Windows Power Shell with the following command entered, Get Help Get Active Operation full.

Managing Servers Using the cmdlets

You can perform management tasks for the server farm or a specific server in the farm using the cmdlets. The following table lists the cmdlets for these tasks.

cmdlet Name	Description
Get-ActiveOperation	Returns the operations currently running on the server or server farm.
Get-AvailableOperation	Returns the operations available on the server or server farm.
Get-Server	Returns a list of servers in the farm, or, if you specify a signal server, it returns the specified server.
Get-ServerProcess	Returns a list of the processes currently running on the server or server farm.
Get-ServerRequest	Returns a list of the requests currently being processed on the server or server farm.
Get-TraceMessage	Returns a list of the trace messages from the server or server farm.
Get-WeNbFarm	Returns the name of the server farm or farms available.
Install-ServerProduct	Installs the specified product on the server or server farm.
New-CredentialStoreTarget	Adds a new target to the Windows credential store.
New-MiniDump	Returns dump information from the server.
New-Server	Adds a server to an existing server farm.
New-WebFarm	Creates a new server farm.
Remove-CredentialStoreTarget	Removes a target from the Windows credential store.
Remove-Server	Removes a server from the server farm.
Remove-WebFarm	Removes a server farm.
Run-Operation	Executes the specified operation on the server or server farm.
Start-Server	Starts the specified server.
Stop-Server	Stops the specified server.

Creating a Server Farm Using the cmdlets

To create a server farm, at the PowerShell prompt, enter the following cmdlet:

New-WebFarm

Provide the name of the new web farm and your credentials as prompted.

Screenshot that shows the Windows Power Shell Credential Request dialog box. New Web Farm is entered on the command line in Power Shell.

To verify the server farm was created, use the Get-WebFarm cmdlet, as follows:

Get-WebFarm

Screenshot that shows Windows Power Shell. Get Web Farm is entered on the command line.

Adding a Server to a Server Farm Using the cmdlets

To add a server to an existing server farm, at the PowerShell prompt, enter the following command:

New-Server

Provide the name of the web farm and server address as prompted.

To verify that the server was added, use the Get-Server Nmdlet as follows:

Get-Server

The servers in the farm are displayed.

Screenshot that shows Windows Power Shell. Get Server is entered on the command line.

Adding Credentials to Windows Credential Store

Using Window's credential store, users can store passwords and access credential stored password information via the command-line. This is very useful if you want keep your password from showing up in any log files that may capture command line input. The credential store saves a target along with your user name and password. The target is a string that is used to identify the credential information.

To add a new target to an existing server farm, at the PowerShell prompt, enter the following command:

New-CredentialStoreTarget

Provide the target and your credentials as prompted.

Screenshot that shows the Windows Power Shell Credential Request dialog box. New Credential Store Target is entered on the command line in Power Shell.

Removing Credentials from Windows Credential Store

To remove an existing target (and therefore the associated credentials), at the PowerShell prompt, enter the following command:

Remove-CredentialStoreTarget

Provide the target to be removed as prompted.

Screenshot that shows Windows Power Shell. Remove Credential Store Target is entered on the command line.