Split strings into multiple columns in PowerShell

Question

I have data in a one column in a CSV file that looks like this:

backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin

I want to split it into multiple columns, splitting each value using colon symbol(:) delimiter and add customize headers. Output should look like this:

USERNAME   X   UID   GID   DESCRIPTION  HOMEDIR      SHELL 
----------
backup     x   34    34    backup      /var/backups  /usr/sbin/nologin

Thank you in advance.

Import-CSV cmdlet supports custom headers and delimiters.

vonPryz
– vonPryz

2021-10-29 10:14:08 +00:00
Commented Oct 29, 2021 at 10:14 — vonPryz
– vonPryz, Commented Oct 29, 2021 at 10:14

Mathias R. Jessen · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-29 10:24:04Z

4

The string value backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin can itself be thought of as a CSV record with : as delimiters, so you can use ConvertFrom-Csv:

PS ~> $string = 'backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin'
PS ~> $string |ConvertFrom-Csv -Delimiter ':' -Header USERNAME,X,UID,GID,DESCRIPTION,HOMEDIR,SHELL |Format-Table

USERNAME X UID GID DESCRIPTION HOMEDIR      SHELL
-------- - --- --- ----------- -------      -----
backup   x 34  34  backup      /var/backups /usr/sbin/nologin

answered Oct 29, 2021 at 10:24

Mathias R. Jessen

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1 Comment

RobJose Over a year ago

Thank you for this @mathias. But upon opening the csv file in Excel, all values are in one column.

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