-ErrorAction
-ErrorAction is a PowerShell common parameter that controls how a command or function responds to nonterminating errors.
Practical Automation with PowerShell: Effective scripting from the console to the cloud
ErrorAction is a PowerShell common parameter that specifies how a command responds to non-terminating errors.
- How it is used
- Directs command failures into structured handling for resilient PowerShell automation and logging.
- How deep it goes
- Explains Stop and SilentlyContinue through service and action-script workflows, deferring broader logging treatment.
- Examples
- Uses missing-service lookups and file-moving action scripts with logging to demonstrate error responses.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via PowerShell commands to route expected and unexpected failures through appropriate handling paths.
Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches: Fourth Edition, Covers Windows, Linux, and macOS
-ea is a PowerShell parameter alias for -ErrorAction.
- How it is used
- Guides command-level decisions about continuing, stopping, suppressing, or recording PowerShell errors.
- How deep it goes
- Explains alias discovery, suppression risks, remote-processing choices, ErrorVariable, and Try/Catch, but not parameter implementation internals.
- Examples
- Uses Get-Process, Remove-Item, remote PSSession creation, service-state checks, and a remote uptime function.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via PowerShell commands to choose deliberate error behavior and build logging or Try/Catch handling.
Learn PowerShell Scripting in a Month of Lunches, Second Edition: Write and organize scripts and tools
ErrorAction is a PowerShell common parameter that controls how a command or function responds to errors.
- How it is used
- Controls per-command responses to nonterminating errors during PowerShell automation.
- How deep it goes
- Defines five practical response choices and recommends command-level control, while warning against indiscriminate suppression.
- Examples
- Uses missing-service lookups, Remove-Item suppression, and a DNS wrapper that catches .NET exceptions.
- What you can do after
- Apply it per command to continue, suppress, prompt, ignore, or catch selected failures.
Related concepts
- Remove-Itemconfigures · Remove-Item is a PowerShell cmdlet that deletes specified files, directories, and other provider items, including their contents when applicable.
- try-catch statementconfigures · A try-catch statement is a control-flow construct that executes code under exception handling and transfers control to a matching handler when an exception is raised.
- aliaskind of · An alias is an alternative name by which an entity, command, parameter, or resource can be referred to.
- CmdletBinding attributeconfigured by · The CmdletBinding attribute is a PowerShell declaration that enables cmdlet-like behavior and advanced features for a script or function.
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