Powershell send-mailmessage attachment different than source file after calling function - powershell

Question

#robocopy backup scripts on each server copy their log files to one of two locations: \\backup_server\backup\logs\success if the backup is
#successful, or \\backup_server\backup\logs\fail if the backup fails. This script looks at those two locations to check for failures or
#missing log files, then reports them to the helpdesk.
Function test-servers {
param ($serverlist)
foreach($server in $serverlist){
if(test-path \\backup_server\backup\logs\success\$server){
add-content -path \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt -value $server -force
add-content -path \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt -value $success -force
}
elseif(test-path \\backup_server\backup\logs\fail\$server){
add-content -path \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt -value $server -force
add-content -path \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt -value $failure -force
}
else{
add-content -path \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt -value $server -force
add-content -path \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt -value $missing -force
}
}
}
$date = get-date
$loglocation = "The log file archive can be found in \\backup_server\backup\logs\archive\"
$filename = (get-date).tostring("MM-dd-yyyy")
$success = "Error log found, backup was successful."
$failure = "Error log found, backup was completed with errors."
$missing = "Error log not found, check server."
[System.Collections.ArrayList]$Serverlist = Get-Content \\backup_server\backup\logs\serverloglist.txt
remove-item \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt
new-item -path \\backup_server\backup\logs\ -name "errorlog.txt" -itemtype "file"
add-content -path \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt -value $date -force
test-servers -serverlist $serverlist
add-content -path \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt -value $loglocation -force
#email out log file and clean up file system
send-mailmessage -from "no-reply#example.com" -to "helpdesk#example.com" -smtpserver "mail.example.com" -port 25 -subject "Nightly Robocopy Log Files" -Attachments "\\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt" -body "Nightly server backup completed, see attachment for details"
exit
Background: I work for a small company IT department and we’re managing around 2 dozen generic file servers which perform simple robocopy batch backups every night. No problems there. In an effort to limit the number of “Server_1 has completed its nightly backup” tickets to our helpdesk, I’ve written a quick-and-dirty script that we use to confirm the completion of our nightly backups. All of the log files from our nightly backups are copied to a “success” or “fail” folder, and this script checks each location and notes which files are in which folder and emails a single ticket. Then the backup logs that failed are copied to an archive folder for the current date and a copy of the primary log file copied along with them. This system works fantastically, the attached log file has all of the proper information about which server failed or succeeded.
So here is my dilemma. The log file that is attached to the send-mailmessage email isn’t the same log file as the source file! The log file left over in the \\backup_server\backup\logs\ directory has the current date and time (although a few seconds after the log file sent via email) on line 1 as does the copy sent by send-mailmessage, but says that every server’s nightly log is missing (see image). So somewhere along the line, 2 log files are being created, with the exact same file name and file path, the correct log first, and the incorrect log seconds later. The only way I can see this happening is if there’s a problem with my function. But it’s only called once, so I don’t see how it could write two different files. The script is called by the Task Scheduler on the server, and is running only once each day according to the task history, reinforced by the fact that we only receive one email from the script each day.
For the sake of brevity, I’ve removed the end of the script where the old logs are copied and cleaned up, which consists of a few lines of copy- and remove-item. I’ve gone over the man pages for each cmdlet in the script and delved into most every post involving send-mailmessage and use of functions on SE.
How can a script that only calls the new-item cmdlet once to create a single file instead create two separate instances of the file? Is it an issue with my function, or does send-mailmessage have unknown-to-me effects on its attachments?
As this is my first post on the SE network, I understand it may not conform to all of the rules. I’ve done my best to go over the FAQs and keep the post on topic. If the question can be improved in any way, your advice is welcome.
Log File Example, on the left is the file we receive as the email attachment, the right is the file left \\backup_server\backup\logs\errorlog.txt
Edit: I updated the script, removing the function at the beginning and simply placing the foreach loop where the function was being called to confirm it was not an issue with the function call within the script.

Answer 1

I adjusted the script a bit, and the task ran in the morning as scheduled, issue persists. But after running the script manually for a few tests, both the log in the archive and the emailed log were the same! So it appears the error was not with the script itself, but with the way I am calling it in the task scheduler. As scheduling a task to run a powershell script is a completely different question, I'll consider this one resolved. I'll leave the question up for a week and then delete, in case any of the 3 people who have seen it are interested in the solution.
Edit: So it appears it was entirely user error! And the worst kind of user error. I had the task set up on 2 different servers, one running a slightly older version of the script, running on the same schedule. So the tasks ran, one overwrote the logs from the other, and I was left with the aforementioned headache. Deleted the second task and now everything works properly! Hooray for stupid mistakes.