A system administrator is writing a Windows PowerShell script (`.ps1`) to automate user en… — CompTIA A+ (Core 1 & Core 2)

A system administrator is writing a Windows PowerShell script (`.ps1`) to automate user environment auditing. The script needs to retrieve the built-in system environment variable for the logged-in username and display it to the console. Which of the following code snippets uses the correct syntax to reference an environment variable in PowerShell?

Write-Output $env:USERNAMEAnswer
B
Write-Output %USERNAME%
C
Write-Output $USER
D
Write-Output %env:USERNAME%

Answer

The command line using 'Write-Output $env:USERNAME' correctly references an environment variable in PowerShell.

In Windows PowerShell, system environment variables are accessed via the environment drive provider using the '

env:' prefix followed by the variable name (such as

env:USERNAME).

Step-by-Step Solution

Identify the target scripting runtime environment

The administrative task requires a native Windows PowerShell (.ps1) script construct.

Different scripting engines use distinct syntax rules for variable declaration and environment variable retrieval.

Apply PowerShell environment variable syntax rules

PowerShell exposes environment variables through the 'env:' drive namespace, which requires a leading dollar sign ($env:VariableName).

Using the $env: scope allows PowerShell to read directly from the system's environment variable table.

Key Concept

PowerShell Environment Variable Syntax

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