This is the built-in help made by Microsoft for the command 'ConvertTo-SecureString', in PowerShell version 3 - as retrieved from
Windows version 'Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Standard' PowerShell help files on 2016-06-23.
For PowerShell version 3 and up, where you have Update-Help, this command was run just before creating the web pages from the help files.
Converts encrypted standard strings to secure strings. It can also convert plain text to secure strings. It is used with ConvertFrom-SecureString and Read-Host.
ConvertTo-SecureString [-String] <String> [[-SecureKey] <SecureString>] [<CommonParameters>]
ConvertTo-SecureString [-String] <String> [[-AsPlainText] [<SwitchParameter>]] [[-Force] [<SwitchParameter>]] [<CommonParameters>]
ConvertTo-SecureString [-String] <String> [-Key <Byte[]>] [<CommonParameters>]
The ConvertTo-SecureString cmdlet converts encrypted standard strings into secure strings. It can also convert plain text to secure strings.
It is used with ConvertFrom-SecureString and Read-Host. The secure string created by the cmdlet can be used with cmdlets or functions that
require a parameter of type SecureString. The secure string can be converted back to an encrypted, standard string using the
ConvertFrom-SecureString cmdlet. This enables it to be stored in a file for later use.
If the standard string being converted was encrypted with ConvertFrom-SecureString using a specified key, that same key must be provided as
the value of the Key or SecureKey parameter of the ConvertTo-SecureString cmdlet.
<
Online Version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113291
ConvertFrom-SecureString
Read-Host
<
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 1 --------------------------
PS C:\> $secure = read-host -assecurestring
PS C:\>$secure
System.Security.SecureString
PS C:\>$encrypted = convertfrom-securestring -securestring $secure
PS C:\>$encrypted
01000000d08c9ddf0115d1118c7a00c04fc297eb010000001a114d45b8dd3f4aa11ad7c0abdae9800000000002000000000003660000a8000000100000005df63cea84bfb7d70bd
6842e7
efa79820000000004800000a000000010000000f10cd0f4a99a8d5814d94e0687d7430b100000008bf11f1960158405b2779613e9352c6d14000000e6b7bf46a9d485ff211b9b2a
2df3bd
6eb67aae41
PS C:\>$secure2 = convertto-securestring -string $encrypted
PS C:\>$secure2
System.Security.SecureString
This example shows how to create a secure string from user input, convert the secure string to an encrypted standard string, and then convert
the encrypted standard string back to a secure string.
The first command uses the AsSecureString parameter of the Read-Host cmdlet to create a secure string. After you enter the command, any
characters that you type are converted into a secure string and then saved in the $secure variable.
The second command displays the contents of the $secure variable. Because the $secure variable contains a secure string, Windows PowerShell
displays only the System.Security.SecureString type.
The third command uses the ConvertFrom-SecureString cmdlet to convert the secure string in the $secure variable into an encrypted standard
string. It saves the result in the $encrypted variable. The fourth command displays the encrypted string in the value of the $encrypted
variable.
The fifth command uses the ConvertTo-SecureString cmdlet to convert the encrypted standard string in the $encrypted variable back into a
secure string. It saves the result in the $secure2 variable. The sixth command displays the value of the $secure2 variable. The SecureString
type indicates that the command was successful.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 2 --------------------------
PS C:\> $secure = read-host -assecurestring
PS C:\>$encrypted = convertfrom-securestring -secureString $secure -key (1..16)
PS C:\>$encrypted | set-content encrypted.txt
PS C:\>$secure2 = get-content encrypted.txt | convertto-securestring -key (1..16)
This example shows how to create a secure string from an encrypted standard string that is saved in a file.
The first command uses the AsSecureString parameter of the Read-Host cmdlet to create a secure string. After you enter the command, any
characters that you type are converted into a secure string and then saved in the $secure variable.
The second command uses the ConvertFrom-SecureString cmdlet to convert the secure string in the $secure variable into an encrypted standard
string by using the specified key. The contents are saved in the $encrypted variable.
The third command uses a pipeline operator (|) to send the value of the $encrypted variable to the Set-Content cmdlet, which saves the value
in the Encrypted.txt file.
The fourth command uses the Get-Content cmdlet to get the encrypted standard string in the Encrypted.txt file. The command uses a pipeline
operator to send the encrypted string to the ConvertTo-SecureString cmdlet, which converts it to a secure string by using the specified key.
The results are saved in the $secure2 variable.
-------------------------- EXAMPLE 3 --------------------------
PS C:\> $secure_string_pwd = convertto-securestring "P@ssW0rD!" -asplaintext -force
This command converts the plain text string "P@ssW0rD!" into a secure string and stores the result in the $secure_string_pwd variable. To use
the AsPlainText parameter, the Force parameter must also be included in the command.