Import-Clixml
Imports a CLIXML file and creates corresponding objects in PowerShell.
Syntax
ByPath (Default)
Import-Clixml
[-Path] <String[]>
[-IncludeTotalCount]
[-Skip <UInt64>]
[-First <UInt64>]
[<CommonParameters>]
ByLiteralPath
Import-Clixml
-LiteralPath <String[]>
[-IncludeTotalCount]
[-Skip <UInt64>]
[-First <UInt64>]
[<CommonParameters>]
Description
The Import-Clixml cmdlet imports a Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) XML file with data that
represents Microsoft .NET Framework objects and creates the PowerShell objects. For more information
about CLI, see Language independence.
A valuable use of Import-Clixml on Windows computers is to import credentials and secure strings
that were exported as secure XML using Export-Clixml. For an example, see Example 2.
Import-Clixml uses the byte-order-mark (BOM) to detect the encoding format of the file. If the
file has no BOM, it assumes the encoding is UTF8.
Examples
Example 1: Import a serialized file and recreate an object
This example uses the Export-Clixml cmdlet to save a serialized copy of the process information
returned by Get-Process. Import-Clixml retrieves the serialized file's contents and recreates an
object that is stored in the $Processes variable.
Get-Process | Export-Clixml -Path .\pi.xml
$Processes = Import-Clixml -Path .\pi.xml
Example 2: Import a secure credential object
In this example, given a credential that you've stored in the $Credential variable by running the
Get-Credential cmdlet, you can run the Export-Clixml cmdlet to save the credential to disk.
Important
Export-Clixml only exports encrypted credentials on Windows. On non-Windows operating systems
such as macOS and Linux, credentials are exported in plain text.
$Credxmlpath = Join-Path (Split-Path $Profile) TestScript.ps1.credential
$Credential | Export-Clixml $Credxmlpath
$Credxmlpath = Join-Path (Split-Path $Profile) TestScript.ps1.credential
$Credential = Import-Clixml $Credxmlpath
The Export-Clixml cmdlet encrypts credential objects by using the Windows Data Protection API.
The encryption ensures that only your user account can decrypt the contents of the credential
object. The exported CLIXML file can't be used on a different computer or by a different user.
In the example, the file in which the credential is stored is represented by
TestScript.ps1.credential. Replace TestScript with the name of the script with which you're
loading the credential.
You send the credential object down the pipeline to Export-Clixml, and save it to the path,
$Credxmlpath, that you specified in the first command.
To import the credential automatically into your script, run the final two commands. Run
Import-Clixml to import the secured credential object into your script. This import eliminates the
risk of exposing plain-text passwords in your script.
Parameters
-First
Gets only the specified number of objects. Enter the number of objects to get.
Parameter properties
| Type: | UInt64 |
| Default value: | False |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-IncludeTotalCount
Reports the total number of objects in the data set followed by the selected objects. If the cmdlet
can't determine the total count, it displays Unknown total count. The integer has an
Accuracy property that indicates the reliability of the total count value. The value of
Accuracy ranges from 0.0 to 1.0 where 0.0 means that the cmdlet couldn't count the
objects, 1.0 means that the count is exact, and a value between 0.0 and 1.0 indicates an
increasingly reliable estimate.
Parameter properties
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Default value: | False |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-LiteralPath
Specifies the path to the XML files. Unlike Path, the value of the LiteralPath parameter is used exactly as it's typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes escape characters, enclose it in single quotation marks. Single quotation marks tell PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences.
Parameter properties
| Type: | String[] |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
| Aliases: | PSPath |
Parameter sets
ByLiteralPath
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | True |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | True |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-Path
Specifies the path to the XML files.
Parameter properties
| Type: | String[] |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
ByPath
| Position: | 0 |
| Mandatory: | True |
| Value from pipeline: | True |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | True |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-Skip
Ignores the specified number of objects and then gets the remaining objects. Enter the number of objects to skip.
Parameter properties
| Type: | UInt64 |
| Default value: | False |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
CommonParameters
This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutBuffer, -OutVariable, -PipelineVariable, -ProgressAction, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.
Inputs
String
You can pipeline a string that contains a path to Import-Clixml.
Outputs
PSObject
Import-Clixml returns objects that were deserialized from the stored XML files.
Notes
When specifying multiple values for a parameter, use commas to separate the values. For example,
<parameter-name> <value1>, <value2>.