PowerShell:
Creating a temporary file

How to:

To whip up a temporary file in PowerShell, you use New-TemporaryFile. This cmdlet creates a temporary file in your temp folder. Here’s the magic spell:

$tempFile = New-TemporaryFile

This line summons a brand new temporary file from the digital ether. Want to know where it lives? Just type:

$tempFile.FullName

And bam! It’ll tell you the file’s path. When you’re done and want to clear up, just remove it:

Remove-Item $tempFile.FullName

The file vanishes, leaving no trace.

Deep Dive

Now, let’s get under the hood. Historically, temp files have been used since the dawn of computing, mainly because RAM was scarce and costly. These transitory files were a workaround for limited memory.

When it comes to alternatives, some devs handcraft their temporary file paths using [System.IO.Path]::GetTempFileName() which works across different .NET-supported languages and gives you more control.

In PowerShell, New-TemporaryFile is actually a sleek wrapper around this .NET method. It creates a file at a path like C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Temp\tmpXXXX.tmp (XXXX is a random number). The extension .tmp is a convention, signaling a temporary nature.

Remember, temp files should be disposed of properly. If you’re creating lots of them or handling sensitive data, you should scrub them securely to prevent data leakage.

See Also

• For more on New-TemporaryFile, check the docs.
• Dive into System.IO.Path class methods on Microsoft Docs.