Powershell ForEach-Object output - powershell

Question

More of a basic question but I can't seem to get the syntax correct. I am trying to go through a list and then output the Computer Name and BDE status with it.
Get-Content 'C:\Users\Test\Test\IT\Lists\LaptopList.txt' | ForEach-Object { write-host "***" | manage-bde -status }
Is there something I need to put where the *'s are so that it correlates with the computer/object and the status?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Is there something I need to put where the *'s are so that it correlates with the computer/object and the status?
Yes! You're looking for $_:
Get-Content 'C:\Users\Test\Test\IT\Lists\LaptopList.txt' | ForEach-Object {
Write-Host $_
}
As the name indicates, Write-Host writes output directly to the host application - in the case of powershell.exe it writes directly to the screen buffer - which means it doesn't output anything to downstream cmdlets in a pipeline statement like the one you've constructed.
You'll therefore want two separate statements:
Get-Content 'C:\Users\Test\Test\IT\Lists\LaptopList.txt' | ForEach-Object {
Write-Host $_
manage-bde -status
}
Now, manage-bde is not a PowerShell cmdlet - it's a windows executable, and it doesn't support managing remote computers.
So we need something in PowerShell that can run manage-bde on the remote machine - my choice would be Invoke-Command:
Get-Content 'C:\Users\Test\Test\IT\Lists\LaptopList.txt' | ForEach-Object {
Write-Host "Remoting into $_ to fetch BitLocker Drive Encryption status
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $_ -ScriptBlock { manage-bde -status }
}
Here, we instruct Invoke-Command to connect to the computer with whatever name is currently assigned to $_, and then execute manage-bde -status on the remote machine and return the resulting output, if any. Assuming that WinRM/PowerShellRemoting is configured on the remote machines, and the user executing this code locally is a domain account with local admin privileges on the remote computers, this will work as-is.
Further reading:
about_Remote
about_Remote_Requirements
about_Remote_Troubleshooting