Get-Random

Get-Random
    [[-Maximum] <Object>]
    [-SetSeed <Int32>]
    [-Minimum <Object>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Get-Random
    [-InputObject] <Object[]>
    [-SetSeed <Int32>]
    [-Count <Int32>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

The Get-Random cmdlet gets a randomly selected number. If you submit a collection of objects to Get-Random, it gets one or more randomly selected objects from the collection.

Without parameters or input, a Get-Random command returns a randomly selected 32-bit unsigned integer between 0 (zero) and Int32.MaxValue (0x7FFFFFFF, 2,147,483,647).

You can use the parameters of Get-Random to specify a seed number, minimum and maximum values, and the number of objects returned from a submitted collection.

This command gets a random integer between 0 (zero) and Int32.MaxValue.

Get-Random

3951433

Get-Random -Maximum 100

47

Get-Random -Minimum -100 -Maximum 100

56

This command gets a random floating-point number greater than or equal to 10.7 and less than 20.92.

Get-Random -Minimum 10.7 -Maximum 20.93

18.08467273887

This command gets a randomly selected number from the specified array.

1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 | Get-Random

8

This command gets three randomly selected numbers in random order from an array.

1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 | Get-Random -Count 3

3
1
13

This command returns the entire collection in random order.

The value of the Count parameter is the MaxValue static property of integers.

To return an entire collection in random order, enter any number that is greater than or equal to the number of objects in the collection.

1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 | Get-Random -Count ([int]::MaxValue)

2
3
5
1
8
13

This command returns a random value from a non-numeric collection.

"red", "yellow", "blue" | Get-Random

yellow

This example shows the effect of using the SetSeed parameter.

Because SetSeed produces non-random behavior, it is typically used only to reproduce results, such as when debugging or analyzing a script.

# Commands with the default seed are pseudorandom
Get-Random -Maximum 100 -SetSeed 23
Get-Random -Maximum 100
Get-Random -Maximum 100
Get-Random -Maximum 100

74
56
84
46

# Commands with the same seed are not random
Get-Random -Maximum 100 -SetSeed 23
Get-Random -Maximum 100 -SetSeed 23
Get-Random -Maximum 100 -SetSeed 23

74
74
74

# SetSeed results in a repeatable series
Get-Random -Maximum 100 -SetSeed 23
Get-Random -Maximum 100
Get-Random -Maximum 100
Get-Random -Maximum 100

74
56
84
46

These commands get a randomly selected sample of 50 files from the C: drive of the local computer.

$Files = Get-ChildItem -Path C:\* -Recurse
$Sample = $Files | Get-Random -Count 50

This example rolls a fair die 1200 times and counts the outcomes. The first command, For-EachObject repeats the call to Get-Random from the piped in numbers (1-6). The results are grouped by their value with Group-Object and formatted as a table with Select-Object.

1..1200 | ForEach-Object {
    1..6 | Get-Random
} | Group-Object | Select-Object Name,Count

Name Count
---- -----
1      206
2      199
3      196
4      226
5      185
6      188

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.

You can pipe one or more objects. Get-Random selects values randomly from the piped objects.

Get-Random returns an integer or floating-point number, or an object selected randomly from a submitted collection.

Get-Random sets a default seed for each session based on the system time clock when the session starts.

Beginning in Windows PowerShell 3.0, Get-Random supports 64-bit integers. In Windows PowerShell 2.0, all values are cast to System.Int32.