New-TemporaryFile

New-TemporaryFile
    [-WhatIf]
    [-Confirm]
    [<CommonParameters>]

This cmdlet creates temporary files that you can use in scripts.

The New-TemporaryFile cmdlet creates an empty file that has the .tmp file name extension. This cmdlet names the file tmp<NNNN>.tmp, where <NNNN> is a random hexadecimal number. The cmdlet creates the file in your TEMP folder.

This cmdlet uses the Path.GetTempPath() method to find your TEMP folder. This method checks for the existence of environment variables in the following order and uses the first path found:

• On Windows platforms:

  1. The path specified by the TMP environment variable.
  2. The path specified by the TEMP environment variable.
  3. The path specified by the USERPROFILE environment variable.
  4. The Windows directory.

• On non-Windows platforms: Uses the path specified by the TMPDIR environment variable.

$TempFile = New-TemporaryFile

This command generates a .tmp file in your temporary folder, and then stores a reference to the file in the $TempFile variable. You can use this file later in your script.

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.

This cmdlet returns a FileInfo object that represents the temporary file.