Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) is a powerful feature in the Windows operating system that allows for the collection and analysis of system and application events. The Save-EtwTraceSession cmdlet is used to save an ETW trace session to a file. In this article, we'll explore how to use Save-EtwTraceSession with practical PowerShell script examples.

Examples:

Example 1: Saving an ETW Trace Session to a File

This example demonstrates how to save an existing ETW trace session to a file using PowerShell.

# Define the name of the ETW trace session
$sessionName = "MyTraceSession"

# Define the path where the trace file will be saved
$traceFilePath = "C:\Traces\MyTraceSession.etl"

# Save the ETW trace session to the specified file
Save-EtwTraceSession -Name $sessionName -FilePath $traceFilePath

In this script:

• $sessionName specifies the name of the ETW trace session you want to save.
• $traceFilePath specifies the path where the trace file will be saved.
• Save-EtwTraceSession cmdlet is used to save the trace session to the specified file.

Example 2: Creating and Saving a New ETW Trace Session

This example shows how to create a new ETW trace session, start it, and then save it to a file.

# Define the name of the new ETW trace session
$sessionName = "NewTraceSession"

# Define the path where the trace file will be saved
$traceFilePath = "C:\Traces\NewTraceSession.etl"

# Create a new ETW trace session
New-EtwTraceSession -Name $sessionName

# Start the ETW trace session
Start-EtwTraceSession -Name $sessionName

# Perform some operations that you want to trace
# For example, opening a file or running an application

# Save the ETW trace session to the specified file
Save-EtwTraceSession -Name $sessionName -FilePath $traceFilePath

# Stop the ETW trace session
Stop-EtwTraceSession -Name $sessionName

# Remove the ETW trace session
Remove-EtwTraceSession -Name $sessionName

In this script:

• New-EtwTraceSession cmdlet creates a new ETW trace session.
• Start-EtwTraceSession cmdlet starts the trace session.
• Save-EtwTraceSession cmdlet saves the trace session to a file.
• Stop-EtwTraceSession cmdlet stops the trace session.
• Remove-EtwTraceSession cmdlet removes the trace session.

Example 3: Saving Multiple ETW Trace Sessions

This example demonstrates how to save multiple ETW trace sessions to different files.

# Define the names of the ETW trace sessions
$sessions = @("TraceSession1", "TraceSession2")

# Define the directory where the trace files will be saved
$traceDirectory = "C:\Traces"

# Loop through each session and save it to a file
foreach ($session in $sessions) {
    $traceFilePath = "$traceDirectory\$session.etl"
    Save-EtwTraceSession -Name $session -FilePath $traceFilePath
}

In this script:

• $sessions array contains the names of the ETW trace sessions.
• $traceDirectory specifies the directory where the trace files will be saved.
• A foreach loop iterates through each session and saves it to a file using Save-EtwTraceSession.

Conclusion

Using the Save-EtwTraceSession cmdlet in PowerShell allows you to effectively manage and save ETW trace sessions for later analysis. The examples provided demonstrate how to save individual and multiple trace sessions, as well as how to create, start, and stop trace sessions.