Get-Acl

Get-Acl [-AllCentralAccessPolicies] [-Audit] [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Filter <String>] [-Include <String[]>]-InputObject* <PSObject> [-UseTransaction] [<CommonParameters>]

Get-Acl [-AllCentralAccessPolicies] [-Audit] [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Filter <String>] [-Include <String[]>][-LiteralPath <String[]>] [-UseTransaction] [<CommonParameters>]

Get-Acl [[-Path] <String[]>] [-AllCentralAccessPolicies] [-Audit] [-Exclude <String[]>] [-Filter <String>][-Include <String[]>] [-UseTransaction] [<CommonParameters>]

The Get-Acl cmdlet gets objects that represent the security descriptor of a file or resource. The security descriptor contains the access control lists (ACLs) of the resource. The ACL specifies the permissions that users and user groups have to access the resource.

Beginning with Windows PowerShell 3.0, you can use the InputObject parameter of Get-Acl to get the security descriptor of objects that do not have a path.

Parameters

-AllCentralAccessPolicies [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Gets information about all central access policies that are enabled on the computer.

Beginning in Windows Serverr 2012, administrators can use Active Directory and Group Policy to set central access policies for users and groups.

This parameter was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

-Audit [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Gets the audit data for the security descriptor from the system access control list (SACL).

-Exclude <String[]>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Omits the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as "*.txt". Wildcards are permitted.

-Filter <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a filter in the provider's format or language. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. The syntax of the filter, including the use of wildcards, depends on the provider. Filters are more efficient than other parameters, because the provider applies them when getting the objects, rather than having Windows PowerShell filter the objects after they are retrieved.

-Include <String[]>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Gets only the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Path parameter. Enter a path element or pattern, such as "*.txt". Wildcards are permitted.

-InputObject <PSObject>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Gets the security descriptor for the specified object. Enter a variable that contains the object or a command that gets the object.

You cannot pipe an object, other than a path, to Get-Acl . Instead, use the InputObject parameter explicitly in the command.

This parameter was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

-LiteralPath <String[]>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies the path to a resource. Unlike Path , the value of the LiteralPath parameter is used exactly as it is typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes escape characters, enclose it in single quotation marks. Single quotation marks tell Windows PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences.

This parameter was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

-Path <String[]>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies the path to a resource. Get-Acl gets the security descriptor of the resource indicated by the path. Wildcards are permitted. If you omit the Path parameter, Get-Acl gets the security descriptor of the current directory.

It is not necessary to type `Path` when you specify a value for this parameter.

-UseTransaction [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Includes the command in the active transaction. This parameter is valid only when a transaction is in progress.

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Inputs

System.String

You can pipe a string that contains a path to Get-Acl .

Outputs

System.Security.AccessControl

Get-Acl returns an object that represents the ACLs that it gets. The object type depends upon the ACL type.

Examples

Get the security descriptor for a folder:
```
PS C:\> Get-Acl C:\Windows
```
This command gets the security descriptor of the C:\Windows directory. The folder C:\Windows is understood as the value for the Path parameter, so it is not necessary to type `Path` at the command line.
Get security descriptors for a filtered list of files:
```
PS C:\> Get-Acl -Path "C:\Windows\k*.log" | Format-List -Property PSPath, Sddl
```
This command gets the Windows PowerShell path and SDDL for all of the .log files in the C:\Windows directory whose names begin with k.
The command uses the Get-Acl cmdlet to get objects representing the security descriptors of each log file. It uses a pipeline operator (|) to send the results to the Format-List cmdlet. The command uses the Property parameter of Format-List to display only the PsPath and SDDL properties of each security descriptor object.
Lists are often used in Windows PowerShell, because long values appear truncated in tables.
The SDDL values are valuable to system administrators, because they are simple text strings that contain all of the information in the security descriptor. As such, they are easy to pass and store, and they can be parsed when needed.
Get security descriptors and audit data for a filtered list of files:
```
PS C:\> Get-Acl -Path "C:/Windows/k*.log" -Audit | ForEach-Object { $_.Audit.Count }
```
This command gets the security descriptors of the .log files in the C:\Windows directory whose names begin with k. It uses the Audit parameter to get the audit records from the SACL in the security descriptor. Then it uses the ForEach-Object cmdlet to count the number of audit records associated with each file. The result is a list of numbers representing the number of audit records for each log file.
Get the security descriptor for a registry subkey:
```
PS C:\> Get-Acl -Path "HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control" | Format-List
```
This command uses the Get-Acl cmdlet to get the security descriptor of the Control subkey (HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control) of the registry.
The Path parameter specifies the Control subkey. The pipeline operator (|) passes the security descriptor that Get-Acl gets to the Format-List command, which formats the properties of the security descriptor into a list.
Get the security descriptor for a storage subsystem object:
```
PS C:\> Get-Acl -InputObject (Get-StorageSubsystem -Name S087)
```
This command uses the InputObject parameter of Get-Acl to get the security descriptor of a storage subsystem object.

Additional Notes

 By default, Get-Acl * displays the Windows PowerShell path to the resource (::), the 
 owner of the resource, and Access, a list (array) of the access control entries in the discretionary access 
 control list (DACL) for the resource. The DACL list is controlled by the resource owner.

 When you format the result as a list, ("`Get-Acl | Format-List`"), in addition to the path, owner, and access 
 list, Windows PowerShell displays the following properties and property values:

 - Group. The security group of the owner. - Audit. A list (array) of entries in the system access control list 
 (SACL). The SACL specifies the types of access attempts for which Windows generates audit records. - Sddl. The 
 security descriptor of the resource displayed in a single text string in Security Descriptor Definition 
 Language (SDDL) format. Windows PowerShell uses the GetSddlForm method of security descriptors to get this 
 data. Because Get-Acl is supported by the file system and registry providers, you can use Get-Acl * to view 
 the ACL of file system objects, such as files and directories, and registry objects, such as registry keys and 
 entries.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. It is attributed to Microsoft Corporation and can be found here.

PowerShell Commands