New-WebApplication fails using network path in physicalpath parameter in powershell - powershell

Question

We are trying to create list of applications in a particular site,
For this we have a csv which contains required information for site creation. Below is the format:
Below is the script which we are using to create application in IIS:
foreach($app in $apps){
$appname = $app.path.TrimStart("/")
New-WebApplication -Name $appname -Site $app.Site -PhysicalPath $app.PhysicalPath -ApplicationPool $app.applicationPool -Verbose
}
Problem is application whose code is stored on some network path like \\network\Webapps\appname are giving below error:
New-WebApplication : A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'physicalPath'.
whereas application folder located on same server are being created without any issue,
Have also done test-path \\network\webapps\appname it results in true
What is the issue and how to rectify it?

Answer 1

Issue got resolved, I didn't got what was the exact reason behind that, Have updated my script, basically have assigned values to specific variable than was able to create application.
Updated Script
foreach($app in $apps){
$appname = $app.path.TrimStart("/")
$appSite = $app.Site
$appPath = $app.PhysicalPath
$appPool = $app.applicationPool
New-WebApplication -Name $appname -Site $appSite -PhysicalPath $appPath -ApplicationPool $appPool -Verbose
}
Thanks

Answer 2

First of all, you have to make sure that powershell has permission to access the server corresponding to the network path when creating the site.
When using powershell to create a site, if the physical path of the site is a file in the local disk, you can use New-WebApplication, if it is a UNC path, you should use New-Item.
Under normal circumstances, the UNC path will not be used as the physical path of the main site, but will be added as a virtual directory. Because the domain name of the main site points to the local machine and the UNC points to the remote IP address, the two will conflict because a server error occurred when I created the site through IIS Manager.
$siteName = 'Default Web Site'
$virtualDirectoryName = 'Test'
$physicalPath = '\\UNC-path'
## Init
$virtualDirectoryPath = "IIS:\Sites\$siteName\$virtualDirectoryName"
## Create Virtual Directory where physicalpath is an UNC-path (New-WebVirtualDirectory
wont do)
New-Item $virtualDirectoryPath -type VirtualDirectory -physicalPath $physicalPath

Answer 3

Any chance it's this? That error sounds like it's an issue with the cmdlet and not the data you're feeding it.
https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/3e0cb076-6ad4-4b03-bb59-c912174266b0/container-with-iis-cant-create-application-using-powershell-physicalpath-parameter-not-found?forum=windowscontainers
specifically:
You need to import the WebAdministration module. If you're in the container through docker exec simply use:
Import-Module WebAdministration