Clear-EventLog - PowerShell command help and examples

Deletes all entries from specified event logs on the local or remote computers. (Clear-EventLog)

... Examples      
 NAME
 
    Clear-EventLog 

 SYNOPSIS
 
    Deletes all entries from specified event logs on the local or remote computers. 

 SYNTAX
 
    Clear-EventLog [-LogName] <string[]> [[-ComputerName] <string[]>] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>] 

 DESCRIPTION
 
    The Clear-EventLog cmdlet deletes all of the entries from the specified event logs on the local computer or on remote computers. To use Clear-EventLog, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the affected computer. 

    The cmdlets that contain the EventLog noun (the EventLog cmdlets) work only on classic event logs. To get events from logs that use the Windows Event Log technology in Windows Vista and later versions of Windows, use Get-WinEvent. 

 PARAMETERS
 
    -ComputerName <string[]> 
        Specifies a remote computer. The default is the local computer. 

        Type the NetBIOS name, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, or a fully qualified domain name of a remote computer. To specify the local computer, type the computer name, a dot (.), or "localhost". 

        This parameter does not rely on Windows PowerShell remoting. You can use the ComputerName parameter of Get-EventLog even if your computer is not configured to run remote commands. 

        Required?                    false 
        Position?                    2 
        Default value                Local computer 
        Accept pipeline input?       true (ByPropertyName) 
        Accept wildcard characters?  false 

    -LogName <string[]> 
        Specifies the event logs. Enter the log name (the value of the Log property; not the LogDisplayName) of one or more event logs, separated by commas.  Wildcard characters are not permitted. This parameter is required. 

        Required?                    true 
        Position?                    1 
        Default value 
        Accept pipeline input?       true (ByPropertyName) 
        Accept wildcard characters?  false 

    -Confirm [<SwitchParameter>] 
        Prompts you for confirmation before executing the command. 

        Required?                    false 
        Position?                    named 
        Default value 
        Accept pipeline input?       false 
        Accept wildcard characters?  false 

    -WhatIf [<SwitchParameter>] 
        Describes what would happen if you executed the command without actually executing the command. 

        Required?                    false 
        Position?                    named 
        Default value 
        Accept pipeline input?       false 
        Accept wildcard characters?  false 

    <CommonParameters> 
        This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, 
        ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable, 
        OutBuffer and OutVariable. For more information, type, 
        "get-help about_commonparameters". 

 INPUTS
 
    None 
        You cannot pipe objects to Clear-EventLog. 

 OUTPUTS
 
    None 
        This cmdlet does not generate any output. 

 NOTES
 

        To use Clear-EventLog on Windows Vista and later versions of Windows, start Windows PowerShell with the "Run as administrator" option. 

 Examples
    
EXAMPLE 1
 

    C:\PS>clear-eventlog "Windows PowerShell"

     Description
 
    ----------- 
    This command deletes the entries from the "Windows PowerShell" event log on the local computer. 

    
EXAMPLE 2
 

    C:\PS>clear-eventlog -logname ODiag, OSession -computername localhost, Server02 

     Description
 
    ----------- 
    This command deletes all of the entries in the Microsoft Office Diagnostics (ODiag) and Microsoft Office Sessions (OSession) logs on the local computer and the Server02 remote computer. 

    
EXAMPLE 3
 

    C:\PS>clear-eventlog -log application, system -confirm 

     Description
 
    ----------- 
    This command prompts you for confirmation before deleting the entries in the specified event logs. 

    
EXAMPLE 4
 

    C:\PS>function clear-all-event-logs ($computerName="localhost") 
    { 
        $logs = get-eventlog -computername $computername -list | foreach {$_.Log} 
        $logs | foreach {clear-eventlog -comp $computername -log $_ } 
        get-eventlog -computername $computername -list 
    } 

    C:\PS> clear-all-event-logs -comp Server01 

      Max(K) Retain OverflowAction        Entries Log 
      ------ ------ --------------        ------- --- 
      15,168      0 OverwriteAsNeeded           0 Application 
      15,168      0 OverwriteAsNeeded           0 DFS Replication 
         512      7 OverwriteOlder              0 DxStudio 
      20,480      0 OverwriteAsNeeded           0 Hardware Events 
         512      7 OverwriteOlder              0 Internet Explorer 
      20,480      0 OverwriteAsNeeded           0 Key Management Service 
      16,384      0 OverwriteAsNeeded           0 Microsoft Office Diagnostics 
      16,384      0 OverwriteAsNeeded           0 Microsoft Office Sessions 
      30,016      0 OverwriteAsNeeded           1 Security 
      15,168      0 OverwriteAsNeeded           2 System 
      15,360      0 OverwriteAsNeeded           0 Windows PowerShell 

     Description
 
    ----------- 
    This function clears all event logs on the specified computers and then displays the resulting event log list. 

    Notice that a few entries were added to the System and Security logs after the logs were cleared but before they were displayed. 

RELATED LINKS 
    Online version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135198 
    Get-EventLog 
    Limit-EventLog 
    New-EventLog 
    Remove-EventLog 
    Show-EventLog 
    Write-EventLog 
    Get-WinEvent 

C:\Windows>powershell get-help Write-EventLog -full 

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