All posts by Thiyagu

Powershell demo

Application Pool Monitoring Automation – Powershell to check if an application pool has stopped

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Monitoring the App pool status manually is very difficult for all the time, and some times we may aware that App pool has stopped while browsing the URL so to avoid those type of scenario below PowerShell script will help of check the status of the application pool recycle and start if its stopped. So you can make integrate the below script in Task scheduler for specific interval time for checking the status of the App pool and start if it stopped. You may also include the email trigger if its stopped and started by the script.

Executed and Tested Version

OS : Windows 10
IIS : 10.0.15063.0
PowerShell version : 5.1.15063.1155

# Load IIS module:
Import-Module WebAdministration

# SET AppPool Name
$AppPoolName = "DefaultAppPool"

#Testing if a String is NULL or EMPTY.
if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($AppPoolName))
{
Write-Output "$AppPoolName does not exist"
}
else 
{
try {
#Determines whether all elements of a file or directory path exist.
if (Test-Path IIS:\AppPools\$AppPoolName){
# Start App Pool if stopped else restart
#Get the runtime state of the DefaultAppPool and checking the status
if ((Get-WebAppPoolState($AppPoolName)).Value -eq "Stopped"){
Write-Output "Starting IIS app pool"
#starting the App Pool
Start-WebAppPool $AppPoolName
}
else {
Write-Output "Application pool is Running successfully"
}
}
}
catch {
Write-Output $_.Exception.Message
throw
} 

}

 

What do you think?

I hope you have idea of how to check the application pool status and start using Powershell . I would like to have feedback from my posts readers. Your valuable feedback, question, or comments about this article are always welcome.

PowerShell

Create custom name self signed certificate using PowerShell

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During one of my client requirement, we received request for creating self-signed SSL certificate on IIS server for their play ground environment. so after  analyzing i had found it can be achievable using the New-SelfSignedCertificate cmdlet  which creates a self-signed certificate and its mainly using for testing purposes. Using the CloneCert parameter, a test certificate can be created based on an existing certificate with all settings copied from the original certificate except for the public key. The cmdlet creates a new key of the same algorithm and length.

In Manual, we need follow many steps to create the self signed certificate in IIS, but in powershell we can easily completed within single line of code (shown below).

New-SelfSignedCertificate -FriendlyName USProd_Certif -DnsName PRODCD-USCertificate -CertStoreLocation Cert:\LocalMachine\My

Note:  If you want to add more that one self-signed certificate, then all will be issued with same DNS name (which create in first).

 

 

What do you think?

I hope you have idea of how to Create custom name self signed certificate using PowerShell Script. I would like to have feedback from my posts readers. Your valuable feedback, question, or comments about this article are always welcome.

 

IIS

How to use appcmd.exe to renew a new certificate for Bulk HTTPS URLs (Bindings)

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While using multiple IIS server in a Load Balanced Environment, it will be a lot of work and challenge of changing/updating the certificate for large numbers of URLs bindings. In that type of scenario we can achieve simply by single line of command by using the appcmd.

Syntax

appcmd renew Binding /oldCert:oldcerthash /newCert:newcerthash

Execution STEPS

  1. Open old Certificate which need to replace with New installed certificate 
  2. Open Details Tab >> Go to Thumbprint >>Copy entire value and paste in notepad (see below image). Ensure removing the space in the Thumbprint
  3. Open New Certificate make a note of New Thumbprint and copy
  4. Open command prompt in administrator mode and Go to C:\windows\system32\inetsrv.
  5. Run below command

Ex : appcmd renew Binding /oldCert:‎f2a0d6168c1813158a850a098819704c369bb5da                        /newCert:‎B17v0d6168c1813158a850a098819704c369bb3dr

      

IIS

Exporting and Importing bulk website bindings in IIS

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While using multiple IIS servers in a Load Balanced Environment, it will be a lot of work to create all your website twice with the same settings on each webserver.  In this scenario, it will create more critical to create a large number of binding for each server, so there is possible to export and import your configuration from one webserver to the other by using the command.

Executed and Tested Version

OS : Windows 10
IIS : 10.0.15063.0

To Export the website/IIS Bindings:

Macking backup of IIS configuration is as simple as copying the directory into a backup directory, so you don’t need anything special to do it.  Just execute the below command in the Command prompt to make the backup copy in “C” drive with the file name Import_ProdBindings.xml

%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd list site /config /xml > C:\Import_ProdBindings.xml

To Import the website/IIS Bindings:

As like Backup, it very simple to add the config to the IIS by using below command.

%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd add site /in < C:\Import_ProdBindings.xml

OUTPUT:

Error :

I had faced the below error while exporting the config to the IIS. This error is due to the presence of “Default Web Site” in the targeted IIS.  So you can delete the existing one before executing the new config OR you can change the name of “Default Web Site” in the config and start the import from backup.

Pretty easy, eh?  Except for the dirty little secret everyone knows…remembering to do a backup before starting the Import! 

“ERROR ( message:Failed to add duplicate collection element “Default Web Site”. )”

PowerShell

Powershell : How to get Application and Systems Logs From Event Viewer

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I would like to show how-to work with events under Applications and system Logs using Powershell. Whether it’s an error report, a warning, or just an informational log, one of the most common places for Windows to write logging information is to the event logs. Let we some of the reason to view the window’s log,

  • Checking for errors after an unexpected restart.
  • To check the reason for service stop.

The Get-Eventlog cmdlet is a powerful and flexible way of pulling data out of the event logs, both in interactive sessions and in scripts. The below code will execute and output the system and application error from the local computer

Example:

#Get log detail using Get-Eventlog cmdlet and here we filter by System Log.
#The -Newest 50 parameter, will get first 50 recent entries from a specific event log on the local computer.
$sysEvent = Get-Eventlog -Logname system -Newest 50 | where-object { $_.createddate -lt (get-date)}
# Filter only Error logs using EntryType parameter.
$sysError = $sysEvent | Where {$_.entryType -Match "Error"}
Write-Output "*******************************************************"
Write-Host "Event Log - System errors"
Write-Output "*******************************************************"
$sysError | Sort-Object EventID |
Format-Table EventID, Source, TimeWritten, Message -auto

#Filtering only by Application keyword for Application errors alone. 
$applicationEvent = Get-Eventlog -Logname application -Newest 50 | where-object { $_.createddate -lt (get-date)}
$applicationEvent = $applicationEvent | Where {$_.entryType -Match "Error"}
Write-Output "*******************************************************"
Write-Host "Event Log - Application errors"
Write-Output "*******************************************************"
$applicationEvent | Sort-Object EventID |
Format-Table EventID, Source, TimeWritten, Message -auto

OUTPUT:

Get-EventLog cmdlet :

Get-EventLog : Gets the events in an event log, or a list of the event logs, on the local or remote computers.

Syntax:

Get-EventLog [-LogName] <String> [-ComputerName <String[]>] [-Newest <Int32>] [-After <DateTime>]
             [-Before <DateTime>] [-UserName <String[]>] [[-InstanceId] <Int64[]>] [-Index <Int32[]>]
             [-EntryType <String[]>] [-Source <String[]>] [-Message <String>] [-AsBaseObject]
             [<CommonParameters>]

Execution on Remote Computers:

We don’t have credential parameter in the Get-EventLog. So Instead of the  Get-EventLog you may use the Get-WinEvent ,which support param the -Credential or use the  Get-WmiObject and class Win32_NTLogEvent

EX :

Get-EventLog -LogName "Windows PowerShell" -ComputerName "localhost", "TFS-Server1", "TFS-Server2"

 

 

PowerShell

Add Binding To IIS – PowerShell

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Hi Guys, today we are going to disuses about how to add the binding to IIS using Powershell. In most case, during the deployments, the one of the painful activity is adding binding for new sites. So this below posts will help those members to one step towards of Automation.

The New-WebBinding cmdlet adds a new binding to an existing website.

#Assigining the URL which need to bind
$_WebsiteUrl = "www.dotnet-helpers.com"
#Name of the WEB SITE name created under Sites Folder(IIS)
$_TargetIISWebsite ="Default Web site"
#It has a method IsNullOrEmpty() which returns true if the passed string is null or empty.
if([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($_TargetIISWebsite))
{     
  write-host "website not created." 
}   
else    
{       
  #TRIM: Removes all leading and trailing white-space characters from the current String object
  $WebsiteUrl = $_WebsiteUrl.Trim(' ')
}
foreach ($Website in $_WebsiteUrl)
{
  #We are adding the SSL binding to the Default Web Site using New-WebBinding cmdlets
  New-WebBinding -Name $web -IPAddress "*" -Port 80 -protocol http -HostHeader $Website -sslflags
  New-WebBinding -Name $web -IPAddress "*" -Port 443 -protocol https -HostHeader $Website -sslflags  
  write-host $Website "Binding created successfully on" $_TargetIISWebsite   
}
}

Explanation:

The New-WebBinding cmdlet adds a new binding to an existing website.

New-WebBinding -Name $web -IPAddress “*” -Port 80 -protocol http -HostHeader $Website -sslflags 0

-Name The name of the Web site on which the new binding is created.
-IPAddress The IP address of the new binding.
-Port The port used for the binding.
-Protocol The protocol to be used for the Web binding (usually HTTP, HTTPS, or FTP).
-HostHeader The host header of the new binding.
-SslFlags Indicates what type of certificate OR certificate storage the new website supports. Only the below values are valid:

0 (Regular certificate in Windows certificate storage),
1 (SNI certificate),
2 (central certificate store),
3 (SNI certificate in central certificate store).

 

 

What do you think?

I hope you have idea of how to add the binding to IIS using Powershell Script. I would like to have feedback from my posts readers. Your valuable feedback, question, or comments about this article are always welcome.

PowerShell

Import-Module : The specified module ‘ServerManager’ was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directory

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Error: Import-Module : The specified module ‘ServerManager’ was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directory.

While importing a module you may receive an error message :

Import-Module : The specified module 'ServerManager' was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directory.
At line:1 char:1
+ Import-Module ServerManager
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ResourceUnavailable: (ServerManager:String) [Import-Module], FileNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : Modules_ModuleNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ImportModuleCommand

Reason and Resoultion

This error happens when you are using a 64 bit version of powershell/powershell ISE, and trying to import a 32 bit module or you are using a 32 bit version of powershell/Powershell ISE, and trying to import a 64 bit module.

Note: This type of error is possible on multiple modules, not only servermanager .

 

What do you think?

I hope you have idea of how to resolve “The specified module ‘ServerManager’ was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directory. I would like to have feedback from my posts readers. Your valuable feedback, question, or comments about this article are always welcome.

PowerShell

Powershell Script for Website Availability Monitoring with Excel Report as output

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In our previous post we already discussed about “How to check response code from a website using PowerShell“ by using single URL in example. Here let we discuss how to read the list of URLs from the text file and validate the list of URL . Finally script will generate the Excel file with the output result.

$URLListFile = "D:\PowerShell\URLList.txt"
#Reading the list of URLs from the URLList.txt file 
$URLList = Get-Content $URLListFile -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
#Declaring Array
$Result = @()
$FormatGenerater = "<HTML><BODY background-color:grey><font color =""black""><H2> snfcms cert </H2>
</font><Table border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><TR bgcolor=gray align=center><TD><B>URL</B>
</TD><TD><B>StatusCode</B></TD></TR>"
   
Foreach($URL in $URLList) 
{ 
  $time = try{ 
      $request = $null 
      #Measure-Command : Measures the time it takes to run script blocks and cmdlets.
      $response = Measure-Command { $request = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $URL } 
      $response.TotalMilliseconds 
  }  
  catch 
  { 
   $request = $_.Exception.Response 
   $time = -1 
  }   
  $result += [PSCustomObject] @{ 
  Time = Get-Date; 
  Uri = $URL; 
  StatusCode = [int] $request.StatusCode; 
  } 
} 

if($result -ne $null) 
{  
    Foreach($Entry in $Result) 
    { 
        if($Entry.StatusCode -ne "200") 
        { 
            $FormatGenerater += "<TR bgcolor=grey>" 
        } 
        else 
        { 
            $FormatGenerater += "<TR bgcolor=lightgreen>" 
        } 
        $FormatGenerater += "<TD>$($Entry.uri)</TD><TD align=center>$($Entry.StatusCode)</TD></TR>" 
    } 
    $FormatGenerater += "</Table></BODY></HTML>" 
}  
$FormatGenerater | out-file D:\PowerShell\SiteValidation_Results.xls

OUTPUT Excel File:

 

What do you think?

I hope you have idea of how to check the Website Availability Monitoring with Excel Report as output. I would like to have feedback from my posts readers. Your valuable feedback, question, or comments about this article are always welcome.

PowerShell

How to get the array as input using Powershell

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To read an array into Read-Host (get the array as input), you would need to put it in a loop because anything entered into Read-Host will be interpreted as a string. To make output in new line we can use $OFS, which is a special variable in PowerShell . OFS stands for Output field separator . You would use this to separate object/Array.

The .split() method is self explanatory, the .trim() method will simply remove leading and trailing spaces and leading and trailing line breaks

Example #1 : Getting Value as an Array by Looping

$arrayInput = @()
do {
$input = (Read-Host "Please enter the Array Value")
if ($input -ne '') {$arrayInput += $input}
}
#Loop will stop when user enter 'END' as input
until ($input -eq 'end')

$arrayInput

OUTPUT:

Example 2# : Alternative approach for handling the multiple inputs without loop.

#Set New line using OFS special Powershell variable
$OFS = "`n"
#Externally set input value as string
[string[]] $_ServerList= @()
#Get the input from the user
$_ServerList = READ-HOST "Enter List of Servers"
#splitting the list of input as array by Comma & Empty Space
$_ServerList = $_ServerList.Split(',').Split(' ')
$OFS + $_ServerList

Output:

PowerShell, Powershell demo

How to move files from one location to another location using PowerShell

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In this article, Let me show you how to move files from one location to another location using PowerShell script. The Move-Item cmdlet moves an item, including its properties, contents, and child items, from one location to another location. The locations must be supported by the same provider.

Move-Item : Cannot create a file when that file already exists.

Example:1 Moving single files/folders

In the PowerShell window, type the command below and press ENTER. After the –path parameter, type the path of the file on your local PC that you want to copy, and after the –destination parameter, type the path of the destination folder. In the example below, I’m moving a file called URL_List.txt from the Source File Path folder to the Destination File Path folder.

$_SourcePath = "D:\BLOG\Power Shell\Examples\Source File Path\URL_List.txt"
$_DestinationPath = "D:\BLOG\Power Shell\Examples\Destination File Path"

Move-item –path $_SourcePath –destination $_DestinationPath

OR we can directly mention the path of files location without -path Keyword

Move-item $_SourcePath $_DestinationPath

Example:2 Moving all the item which created today.

From below code, we getting all files and folder which created today and move from “Source File Path” folder to “Destination File Path” folder.

get-childitem -Path "D:\BLOG\Power Shell\Examples\Source File Path" -Recurse |
Where-Object {$_.CreationTime -gt (Get-date).Date} |
move-item -destination "D:\BLOG\Power Shell\Examples\Destination File Path"

Also, by default, Get-ChildItem does not move hidden files. To move hidden files, use the Force parameter with Get-ChildItem.

Example:3 Moving the files based on File Type (extension)

I had created $_FileType array which contains the list of file types that need to move. After execution, all .html and .txt files will move from source to destination folder. Please refer to the snapshots to under stand the before and after the script execution

#location of starting directory
$_sourcePath ="C:\Users\dotnet-helpers\Desktop\SourcePath"
#location where files will be copied to 
$_destinationPath = "C:\Users\dotnet-helpers\Desktop\DestinationPath";
#Array of extension that need to move from source path
$_FileType= @("*html*", "*.*txt")

Get-ChildItem -recurse ($_sourcePath) -include ($_FileType) | move-Item -Destination ($_destinationPath)

OUTPUT:

Before Execution: Source Folder/Destination Folder

After Execution: Source Folder/Destination Folder

 

What do you think?

I hope you have an idea of how to move the files from one location to another location using the Powershell script. I would like to have feedback from the readers of my posts. Your valuable feedback, question, or comments about this article are always welcome.