Hey there Nick,

I'm glad you were able to root out the problem! I'm always glad to give a nudge when needed.

So with everyone's assistance I was able to get this to actually work, as expected, now I need to make this work on 500+ computers

(pre){#Set variable for registry query, where Any match of "HCI APS", Select property "UninstallString" – Working
$apsInst = Get-ChildItem -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall|
Get-ItemProperty | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -match "SLOOBAPP"}|
Select-Object -Property UninstallString

$uninst = "Silverlight.Configuration.exe -uninstallApp 165905322.SLOOBAPP.somewebsite.com"

ForEach ($aps in $apsInst) {

If ($aps.UninstallString){

Set-Location -Path "c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Silverlight\5.1.30514.0"

Start-Process -FilePath cmd.exe -ArgumentList '/c', $uninst -wait
}
} }(/pre)

You're passing formatted data (Format-Table) to Write-Host, which won't work. For example, this will work:

PS C:\Windows\system32> $paths = Get-ChildItem -path 'c:\scripts' | Sort-Object CreationTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 1 | Format-Table -Property CreationTime, LastWriteTime, FullName, Length
 
PS C:\Windows\system32> $paths
 
CreationTime                      LastWriteTime                     FullName                                                   Length
————                      ————-                     ——–                                                   ——
5/12/2015 7:28:54 PM              5/12/2015 7:48:32 PM              C:\scripts\cmerrlogBuild.csv                              8914923

But if you pass it to write host:

PS C:\Windows\system32> Write-Host $paths
Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.FormatStartData Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.GroupStartData Microsoft.P
owerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.FormatEntryData Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format.GroupEndData Microsoft.PowerShell.Com
mands.Internal.Format.FormatEndData

I'd recommend creating a PSCustomObject instead of formatting the data. It's a lot more flexible. Or better yet, build out your script as a function without limiting the data being passed and use Select-Object in the pipe naturally. But if you're looking for a report kind of script, then PSCustomObject is probably a better way to go.

$rootdir = "\\somenetworkpath\folder"
 
$directories =  @(
    "\somefolder1\TMP"
    "\somefolder2\Diff"
    "\somefolder3\Diff"
    "\somefolder4\Diff"
    "\somefolder5\Diff"
    "\somefolder6"
    "\somefolder7"
    "\somefolder8\differentdiff"
    "\somefolder9\Diff"
)
 
ForEach($directory in $directories) {
    Get-ChildItem -Path (Join-Path $rootdir $directory) |
    Sort-Object CreationTime -Descending |
    Select-Object -First 1 |
    Select-Object CreationTime, LastWriteTime, FullName, Length  
}

Format-Table turns the file system objects into a formatting object, which if you try to use Write-Host on converts to a very unhelpful string. If you replace Format-Table with Select-Object and then just let it fall out off the pipeline without catching it in a variable, you should get what you want. I also powershellerized the loop.

Your logic is a bit messed up. In your post you don't show what you are running the Format-Table against, but you are overwriting it each time. There are two methods of creating an object with all results, I like assigning the results to the for loop and the other appends data as it goes (currently remarked out):

$rootdir = "C:\Windows"
 
$directories =  @("\Diagnostics",
			      "\Debug",
                  "\Fonts")
 
$results = foreach ($directory in $directories) {
    Get-ChildItem -path ("{0}{1}" -f $rootdir, $directory) | Sort-Object CreationTime -Descending | Select -First 1
}
 
#$results = @() #Create a blank object (array) to add items to
#foreach ($directory in $directories) {
    #Add each result to the blank object (array)
#    $results += Get-ChildItem -path ("{0}{1}" -f $rootdir, $directory) | Sort-Object CreationTime -Descending | Select -First 1
#}
 
$results | Format-Table -Property CreationTime, LastWriteTime, FullName, Length

Awesome, it works like a dream. One month into my learning and i'm really proud i've done this by myself !!

##Import App-V application

#Set Application details to add to SCCM from text template
$DefaultAppPath = "\\theaa.local\dfsdata\sccm\software\"

$Content = get-content "\\aa-cm002v\e$\scripts\AppV_Template.txt"
$App_DT_Name = $Content[3]
$App_Name = $Content[5]
$App_Source_Location = $Content[7]
$OptRef =
$Publisher = $Content[9]
$SoftVer = $Content[11]
$Folder = $Content[13]
$DPGroup = "All Distribution Points"

#Full location path
$LocationFull = "$DefaultAppPath"+"$App_Source_Location"

#Set Module, CMsite directory and revert back to orginal prompt
$ModulePath = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminConsole\bin"
$SetDriveStart = "set-location AAC:"
$SetDriveEnd = "set-location E:"

#Import module
Import-Module $ModulePath\ConfigurationManager.psd1

try {
#Set directory
Invoke-expression $SetDriveStart

#Create new application. "#" if the below command is required.
Try {
New-CMApplication -Name $App_Name -AutoInstall $true -Publisher $Publisher -SoftwareVersion $SoftVer | out-null
Write-Output "Created $App_Name succesfully" }
Catch {
Write-Output "Creating $App_Name failed" }

#Create New Application deployment file
Try {
Add-CMDeploymentType -ApplicationName $App_Name -DeploymentTypeName $App_DT_Name -AppV5xInstaller -ForceForUnknownPublisher $true -InstallationFileLocation $LocationFull | out-null
Write-Output "Created $App_DT_Name succesfully" }
Catch {
Write-Output "Creating $App_DT_Name failed" }

#Move Application to folder
Try {
$GetApp = Get-CMApplication -name $App_Name
Move-CMObject -FolderPath ".\Application\Publisher\$Folder" -InputObject $GetApp
Write-Output "Moved $App_Name to $Folder succesfully" }
Catch {
Write-Output "Moving $App_Name to $Folder failed" }

#Distribute application
Try {
Start-CMContentDistribution -ApplicationName $App_Name -DistributionPointGroupName $DPGroup
Write-Output "Distributed content to $DPGroup" }
Catch {
Write-Output "Failed to Distribute content to $DPGroup" }

#Set location back to E drive
Invoke-expression $SetDriveEnd

Write-Output "Virtual App created in SCCM and currently distributing"
exit 0 }
Catch {
Write-Output "Failed to Create Virtual App"
Exit 1001 }

Thank you guys!

Craig, yeah, true the "select-object" works, but the table is messed up like that, well, I get the data out at-least

Rob, your method works just like I need, thank you so much!

Hi guys,
recently I've ran into issues when DSC is installing Windows Features that require reboot. So in this case DSC starts applying MOF, then it show message "DSC requires reboot…" But when machine reboots, MOF does not continue to apply. It takes time for DSC to recognize this fact and resume MOF application. It might take up to 1 hour (30min is DSC configured period for node MOF update check). I have to invoke pull manually to speed up the process. I use WMF 4.0. Node is 2008R2 Ent. One of features that requires reboot is "RSAT features"

Can anyone either confrim or clarify this moment? Maybe there is a workaround for this.

Many thanks in advance!
Max

A lot of people see this. You're looking less at a DSC problem and more at the way the WindowsFeature module just works at the moment, I think. Keep in mind that DSC is a little like SCCM in that you're meant to be patient with it, not hurry it along. I think this'll likely get better going forward, but right now feature/software installation is definitely a point where the underlying OS sort of demands more patience. I'm not saying it's *acceptable*, mind you, just that it sort of is what it is right now.

Although frankly, this could also just be Windows' way of punishing you for installing GUI tools on a server. That sort of presumes you're also RDP-ing into the server to manage it. There's a reason the "R" in RSAT stands for "Remote." Slight grin here, but only a little ;).

As you learn Powershell, keep in mind that not indenting your code results in the death of kittens and puppies are kicked. As your experience grows, so will your scripts, so you need to learn indention to see the flow of the script and be able to troubleshoot. Also, there isn't really a need to specify "Write-Output" and in your first try\catch (under the main try catch), I updated your catch. You are capturing something failed, but not why. Minimally, grabbing the exception message will get you troubleshooting information. Would you rather have this "Failed to Create Virtual App" or "Failed to Create Virtual App. Access Denied." as your message? Which one can your troubleshoot faster?

##Import App-V application
 
#Set Application details to add to SCCM from text template
 $DefaultAppPath = "\\theaa.local\dfsdata\sccm\software\"
 
$Content = get-content "\\aa-cm002v\e$\scripts\AppV_Template.txt"
$App_DT_Name = $Content[3]
$App_Name = $Content[5]
$App_Source_Location = $Content[7]
$OptRef =
$Publisher = $Content[9]
$SoftVer = $Content[11]
$Folder = $Content[13]
$DPGroup = "All Distribution Points"
 
#Full location path
$LocationFull = "$DefaultAppPath"+"$App_Source_Location"
 
#Set Module, CMsite directory and revert back to orginal prompt
$ModulePath = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Configuration Manager\AdminConsole\bin"
$SetDriveStart = "set-location AAC:"
$SetDriveEnd = "set-location E:"
 
#Import module
 Import-Module $ModulePath\ConfigurationManager.psd1
 
try {
     #Set directory
     Invoke-expression $SetDriveStart
 
    #Create new application. "#" if the below command is required.
     Try {
         New-CMApplication -Name $App_Name -AutoInstall $true -Publisher $Publisher -SoftwareVersion $SoftVer | out-null
         Write-Output "Created $App_Name succesfully" 
     }
     Catch {
        "Creating {0} failed. {1}" -f $App_Name, $_.Exception.Message
     }
 
    #Create New Application deployment file
     Try {
         Add-CMDeploymentType -ApplicationName $App_Name -DeploymentTypeName $App_DT_Name -AppV5xInstaller -ForceForUnknownPublisher $true -InstallationFileLocation $LocationFull | out-null
         Write-Output "Created $App_DT_Name succesfully" 
     }
     Catch {
         Write-Output "Creating $App_DT_Name failed" 
     }
 
    #Move Application to folder
     Try {
         $GetApp = Get-CMApplication -name $App_Name
         Move-CMObject -FolderPath ".\Application\Publisher\$Folder" -InputObject $GetApp
         Write-Output "Moved $App_Name to $Folder succesfully" 
     }
     Catch {
        Write-Output "Moving $App_Name to $Folder failed"
     }
 
    #Distribute application
     Try {
         Start-CMContentDistribution -ApplicationName $App_Name -DistributionPointGroupName $DPGroup
         Write-Output "Distributed content to $DPGroup"
     }
     Catch {
        Write-Output "Failed to Distribute content to $DPGroup" 
     }
 
    #Set location back to E drive
    Invoke-expression $SetDriveEnd
 
    Write-Output "Virtual App created in SCCM and currently distributing"
    exit 0 
 }
 Catch {
    Write-Output "Failed to Create Virtual App"
    Exit 1001 
}

I am trying to set a value for a web form. I have followed multiple tutorials with no success. I get the following error

Exception setting "value": "The property 'value' cannot be found on this object. Verify that the property exists and can be set."

Here is my code:

$ie = New-Object -Com "InternetExplorer.Application"
$ie.Navigate("https://*******************/ccmadmin/showHome.do")
$ie.Visible = $true
while($ie.ReadyState -ne 4) {start-sleep -m 100}
$ie.Document.getElementsByName("j_username").value = "aaaaa"

When I get the properties I get the following:

className                    : 
id                           : 
tagName                      : INPUT
parentElement                : System.__ComObject
style                        : System.__ComObject
onhelp                       : 
onclick                      : 
ondblclick                   : 
onkeydown                    : 
onkeyup                      : 
onkeypress                   : 
onmouseout                   : 
onmouseover                  : 
onmousemove                  : 
onmousedown                  : 
onmouseup                    : 
document                     : mshtml.HTMLDocumentClass
title                        : 
language                     : 
onselectstart                : 
sourceIndex                  : 75
recordNumber                 : 
lang                         : 
offsetLeft                   : 1
offsetTop                    : 2
offsetWidth                  : 142
offsetHeight                 : 19
offsetParent                 : System.__ComObject
innerHTML                    : 
innerText                    : 
outerHTML                    : 
outerText                    : 
parentTextEdit               : System.__ComObject
isTextEdit                   : True
filters                      : System.__ComObject
ondragstart                  : 
onbeforeupdate               : 
onafterupdate                : 
onerrorupdate                : 
onrowexit                    : 
onrowenter                   : 
ondatasetchanged             : 
ondataavailable              : 
ondatasetcomplete            : 
onfilterchange               : 
children                     : System.__ComObject
all                          : System.__ComObject
scopeName                    : HTML
onlosecapture                : 
onscroll                     : 
ondrag                       : 
ondragend                    : 
ondragenter                  : 
ondragover                   : 
ondragleave                  : 
ondrop                       : 
onbeforecut                  : 
oncut                        : 
onbeforecopy                 : 
oncopy                       : 
onbeforepaste                : 
onpaste                      : 
currentStyle                 : System.__ComObject
onpropertychange             : 
tabIndex                     : 0
accessKey                    : 
onblur                       : 
onfocus                      : 
onresize                     : 
clientHeight                 : 17
clientWidth                  : 140
clientTop                    : 1
clientLeft                   : 1
readyState                   : complete
onreadystatechange           : 
onrowsdelete                 : 
onrowsinserted               : 
oncellchange                 : 
dir                          : 
scrollHeight                 : 17
scrollWidth                  : 140
scrollTop                    : 0
scrollLeft                   : 0
oncontextmenu                : 
canHaveChildren              : False
runtimeStyle                 : System.__ComObject
behaviorUrns                 : System.__ComObject
tagUrn                       : 
onbeforeeditfocus            : 
isMultiLine                  : False
canHaveHTML                  : False
onlayoutcomplete             : 
onpage                       : 
onbeforedeactivate           : 
contentEditable              : inherit
isContentEditable            : True
hideFocus                    : False
disabled                     : False
isDisabled                   : False
onmove                       : 
oncontrolselect              : 
onresizestart                : 
onresizeend                  : 
onmovestart                  : 
onmoveend                    : 
onmouseenter                 : 
onmouseleave                 : 
onactivate                   : 
ondeactivate                 : 
onmousewheel                 : 
onbeforeactivate             : 
onfocusin                    : 
onfocusout                   : 
uniqueNumber                 : 1
uniqueID                     : ms__id1
nodeType                     : 1
parentNode                   : System.__ComObject
childNodes                   : System.__ComObject
attributes                   : System.__ComObject
nodeName                     : INPUT
nodeValue                    : 
firstChild                   : 
lastChild                    : 
previousSibling              : 
nextSibling                  : 
ownerDocument                : mshtml.HTMLDocumentClass
prefix                       : 
localName                    : 
namespaceURI                 : 
textContent                  : 
dataFld                      : 
dataSrc                      : 
dataFormatAs                 : 
role                         : 
ariaBusy                     : 
ariaChecked                  : 
ariaDisabled                 : 
ariaExpanded                 : 
ariaHaspopup                 : 
ariaHidden                   : 
ariaInvalid                  : 
ariaMultiselectable          : 
ariaPressed                  : 
ariaReadonly                 : 
ariaRequired                 : 
ariaSecret                   : 
ariaSelected                 : 
ie8_attributes               : 
ariaValuenow                 : 
ariaPosinset                 : 
ariaSetsize                  : 
ariaLevel                    : 
ariaValuemin                 : 
ariaValuemax                 : 
ariaControls                 : 
ariaDescribedby              : 
ariaFlowto                   : 
ariaLabelledby               : 
ariaActivedescendant         : 
ariaOwns                     : 
ariaLive                     : 
ariaRelevant                 : 
ie9_tagName                  : 
ie9_nodeName                 : 
onabort                      : 
oncanplay                    : 
oncanplaythrough             : 
onchange                     : 
ondurationchange             : 
onemptied                    : 
onended                      : 
onerror                      : 
oninput                      : 
onload                       : 
onloadeddata                 : 
onloadedmetadata             : 
onloadstart                  : 
onpause                      : 
onplay                       : 
onplaying                    : 
onprogress                   : 
onratechange                 : 
onreset                      : 
onseeked                     : 
onseeking                    : 
onselect                     : 
onstalled                    : 
onsubmit                     : 
onsuspend                    : 
ontimeupdate                 : 
onvolumechange               : 
onwaiting                    : 
constructor                  : 
onmspointerdown              : 
onmspointermove              : 
onmspointerup                : 
onmspointerover              : 
onmspointerout               : 
onmspointercancel            : 
onmspointerhover             : 
onmslostpointercapture       : 
onmsgotpointercapture        : 
onmsgesturestart             : 
onmsgesturechange            : 
onmsgestureend               : 
onmsgesturehold              : 
onmsgesturetap               : 
onmsgesturedoubletap         : 
onmsinertiastart             : 
onmstransitionstart          : 
onmstransitionend            : 
onmsanimationstart           : 
onmsanimationend             : 
onmsanimationiteration       : 
oninvalid                    : 
xmsAcceleratorKey            : 
spellcheck                   : False
onmsmanipulationstatechanged : 
oncuechange                  : 
type                         : text
value                        : 
name                         : j_username
status                       : False
form                         : System.__ComObject
size                         : 20
maxLength                    : 128
defaultValue                 : 
readOnly                     : False
indeterminate                : False
defaultChecked               : False
checked                      : False
border                       : 
vspace                       : 0
hspace                       : 0
alt                          : 
src                          : 
lowsrc                       : 
vrml                         : 
dynsrc                       : 
complete                     : False
loop                         : 1
align                        : 
width                        : 0
height                       : 0
start                        : fileopen
accept                       : 
useMap                       : 
selectionStart               : 
selectionEnd                 : 
ie8_src                      : 
ie8_lowsrc                   : 
ie8_vrml                     : 
ie8_dynsrc                   : 
min                          : 
max                          : 
step                         : 
valueAsNumber                :

Any thoughts on why I can't set the value?

The lack of indentation might be just be on the forums, because the OP didn't use the [ pre ] and [ /pre ] tags (which hopefully show up because I stuck in some extra whitespace.)

It's probably returning a collection class of some sort, and you want to set the value on an element in that collection. Try this, to be sure:

Get-Member -InputObject $ie.Document.getElementsByName("j_username")

I get the following:

TypeName: System.__ComObject#{3050f56b-98b5-11cf-bb82-00aa00bdce0b}
 
Name          MemberType Definition                          
—-          ———- ———-                          
ie8_item      Method     IHTMLElement2 ie8_item (int)        
ie8_namedItem Method     IHTMLElement2 ie8_namedItem (string)
item          Method     IDispatch item (Variant, Variant)   
namedItem     Method     IDispatch namedItem (string)        
tags          Method     IDispatch tags (Variant)            
toString      Method     string toString ()                  
urns          Method     IDispatch urns (Variant)            
constructor   Property   IDispatch constructor () {get}      
ie8_length    Property   int ie8_length () {get}             
length        Property   int length () {get} {set}

Hi Rob,

Great tip with the error output, wasn't aware of that.
Dave is right, i did indent the script but its not formatted very well when i pasted it.

Thanks everyone.

Yep, so you probably need to try something like this:

$ie.Document.getElementsByName("j_username").ie8_item(0).value = "aaaaa"

Kittens lives are at stake here, use your [ pre ] and [ /pre ] tags.

Error

Exception setting "value": "Cannot set the Value property for PSMemberInfo object of type "System.Management.Automation.PSMethod"."

Would there be an easy way to find the index or do I just need to keep trying numbers.

I will do in future…can't risk the kittens !

Don — yep, definitely just a "play-with-this" scenario in a local Hyper-V lab.

Trevor — does come up in a Get-DscResource call. And I can even generate a mof with it; should have been clearer above: I only get that exception when I do the Start-DscConfiguration call.