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Select-String

As explained in Practical Automation with PowerShell: Effective scripting from the console to the cloud

Select-String is a PowerShell cmdlet that searches text for matching strings or regular expression patterns.

Select-String searches file content for a literal string or regular expression pattern and returns matching lines. In cross-platform system-information automation, it extracts targeted records from Linux files and command output instead of processing every line. section 14.1.2

Extract total memory

Select-String -Path /proc/meminfo -Pattern 'MemTotal' | ForEach-Object { [regex]::Match($_.Line, "(\d+)").Value } returns the numeric memory value from the matching line.

How Practical Automation with PowerShell: Effective scripting from the console to the cloud covers it

How deep it goes
Demonstrates matching, pipeline extraction, regex processing, and date conversion without detailing cmdlet internals.
Examples
Uses /proc/meminfo, stat / output, and the reusable Get-SystemInfo function as operational examples.
What it assumes
Assumes familiarity with PowerShell pipelines, file paths, external commands, and basic regular expressions.
What you can do after
Builds pipeline-based extractions that isolate matching lines and transform their values for reusable system-information functions.
How it connects
Connects Select-String with regular expressions, pipelines, ForEach-Object, Get-Content, and ConvertFrom-StringData.
Cover of Practical Automation with PowerShell: Effective scripting from the console to the cloud
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This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Practical Automation with PowerShell: Effective scripting from the console to the cloud. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.