Capturing errors in this Powershell script

Question

I have this test script to change the Administrator password on a list of servers. I have set the script to log errors if the server can't be ping'd or account can't be found etc. However in addtion to this i'd like to capture any other errors that take place and also add those to the log file. I know you can use the "Try and Catch" for error handling but havn't had any luck so far.

Would someone be kind enough to show how to do it?

Here is the script

    $date = Get-Date
$user = "Administrator"
$newpwd = "MyPassword"

     $servers = gc C:\servers.txt

foreach ($server in $servers) 
{ 


  $ping = new-object System.Net.NetworkInformation.Ping

  $Reply = $null 
  $Reply = $ping.send($server)


  if($Reply.status -like 'Success')
    {

    $Admin=[adsi]("WinNT://" + $server + "/$user, user")

    if($?) 
      {
       $Admin.SetPassword($newpwd)

     if($?)

      {Add-Content -path C:\Audit\logs\servers-reset.csv -Value "$server,  Succsess the $user password was changed. , $date"}

      else
        {Add-Content -path C:\Audit\logs\servers-reset.csv -Value "$server, Error: FAILED to change the password. , $date"}
      }  
      else
      {
      Add-Content -path C:\Audit\logs\servers-reset.csv -Value "$server, Error: The $user user account was not found on the server. , $date"}
      }    
      else
      {
      Add-Content -path C:\Audit\logs\servers-reset.csv -Value "$server, Error: Ping FAILED could not connect. , $date"
      }

Frode F. · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-24 14:26:16Z

2

If you want to write exceptions to the log right after they were thrown, you could use a trap. Add something like this to you script:

trap [Exception] {

    #Add message to log
    Add-Content -Path test.csv -Value "$server, $($_.Exception.Message), $(Get-Date)"

    #Continue script
    continue; 
}

That will log all exceptions (not all errors).

If you want all errors, you can access them using $Error. It's an arraylist containing every error during your sessions(script). The first item $Error[0] is the latest error. This however, is not something that fits directly into an csv file without formatting it.

edited Jan 24, 2013 at 14:26

answered Jan 24, 2013 at 14:06

Frode F.

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5 Comments

user1890242 Over a year ago

Thankyou could you show me where to place this within the script?

user1890242 Over a year ago

I'd like to capture the exceptions errors if the other errors arn't true and include those in the log so i know what went wrong.

Frode F. Over a year ago

I didn't understand the last one there. To use the trap, place the code in your script, I'd prefer to put it on the start, right after param() if you have that. Before you start using cmdlets like Get-Date, Get-Content

user1890242 Over a year ago

ok thanks i'll have a a try....don't have param() set, the script is just as posted.

user1890242 Over a year ago

Ok i manged to get it sorted for my needs. Thanks again Graimer

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