Azure Runbook (workflow) output result to Table - powershell

Question

I'm recreating an Azure Runbook to coincide with a Logic App functionality. Long story short, I want the Logic App to initiate the Runbook, grab the results from the Runbook and use them for the next steps in the Logic App.
Initially I wanted to grab the JSON output of starting some VMs, where I ended up with the output being like this:
{
"MyVM2": true
}
{
"MyVM1": true
}
I was then going to Parse the JSON to be used in the Runbook, but soon realising that I would not have a consisted number of results (maybe 2 VMs, or 20) I had found the Parse JSON schema to only Parse what I set the schema to be (2, in my case, so anything more would be missed).
Now I figure I could put my output to a table, then use that to allow the Logic App to look inside that table to pull my VM names and success results from. So, here is the Runbook that I've been mutilating:
workflow ShutDownStartByTagasdf
{
Param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[String]
$TagName,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[String]
$TagValue,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[Boolean]
$Shutdown
)
$connectionName = "AzureRunAsConnection";
try
{
# Get the connection "AzureRunAsConnection "
$servicePrincipalConnection=Get-AutomationConnection -Name $connectionName
# Logging in to Azure
$null = Add-AzureRmAccount `
-ServicePrincipal `
-TenantId $servicePrincipalConnection.TenantId `
-ApplicationId $servicePrincipalConnection.ApplicationId `
-CertificateThumbprint $servicePrincipalConnection.CertificateThumbprint
}
catch {
if (!$servicePrincipalConnection)
{
$ErrorMessage = "Connection $connectionName not found."
throw $ErrorMessage
} else{
Write-Error -Message $_.Exception
throw $_.Exception
}
}
$vms = Find-AzureRmResource -TagName $TagName -TagValue $TagValue | where {$_.ResourceType -like "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines"}
Foreach -Parallel ($vm in $vms){
if($Shutdown){
$StopRtn = Stop-AzureRmVm -Name $vm.Name -ResourceGroupName $vm.ResourceGroupName -Force;
$objOut = [PSCustomObject]#{
VM = $vm.Name
Success = $StartRtn.IsSuccessStatusCode
}
}
else {
$StartRtn = Start-AzureRmVm -Name $vm.Name -ResourceGroupName $vm.ResourceGroupName;
$objOut = New-Object psobject -Property #{
VM = $vm.Name
Success = $StartRtn.IsSuccessStatusCode
}
}
$outPut = InlineScript {
$Using:objOut | Format-Table Vm,Success
}
}
}
Ignore the $objOut = [PSCustomObject]#{ part, that's just history of my JSON messing about, and I'm leaving it there for now because I'm not using the $Shutdwon = $True, only $False, which is the very last part after else {
this bit:
else {
$StartRtn = Start-AzureRmVm -Name $vm.Name -ResourceGroupName $vm.ResourceGroupName;
$objOut = New-Object psobject -Property #{
VM = $vm.Name
Success = $StartRtn.IsSuccessStatusCode
}
}
$outPut = InlineScript {
$Using:objOut | Format-Table Vm,Success
}
}
I was trying to implement something along the lines of what is already described here: Create Table with Variables in PowerShell
But there is no Output into the Azure Runbook console, but it does boot the VMs.
A very long winded explanation, but does anyone know how I could output to a Formatted Table inside a Workflow (Runbook) that will yield all my results in one table?

Answer 1

I ended up using an array to capture the info:
workflow ShutDownStartByTagasdf
{
Param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[String]
$TagName,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[String]
$TagValue,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[Boolean]
$Shutdown
)
$connectionName = "AzureRunAsConnection";
try
{
# Get the connection "AzureRunAsConnection "
$servicePrincipalConnection=Get-AutomationConnection -Name $connectionName
# "Logging in to Azure..."
$null = Add-AzureRmAccount `
-ServicePrincipal `
-TenantId $servicePrincipalConnection.TenantId `
-ApplicationId $servicePrincipalConnection.ApplicationId `
-CertificateThumbprint $servicePrincipalConnection.CertificateThumbprint
}
catch {
if (!$servicePrincipalConnection)
{
$ErrorMessage = "Connection $connectionName not found."
throw $ErrorMessage
} else{
Write-Error -Message $_.Exception
throw $_.Exception
}
}
$result_array = #()
$vms = Find-AzureRmResource -TagName $TagName -TagValue $TagValue | where {$_.ResourceType -like "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines"}
Foreach -Parallel ($vm in $vms) {
if($Shutdown){
# Write-Output "Stopping $($vm.Name)";
$StopRtn = Stop-AzureRmVm -Name $vm.Name -ResourceGroupName $vm.ResourceGroupName -Force;
$objOut = New-Object -TypeName psobject -Property #{
VM = $vm.Name
Success = $StopRtn.IsSuccessStatusCode
}
}
else {
# Write-Output "Starting $($vm.Name)";
$StartRtn = Start-AzureRmVm -Name $vm.Name -ResourceGroupName $vm.ResourceGroupName;
$objOut = New-Object -TypeName psobject -Property #{
VM = $vm.Name
Success = $StartRtn.IsSuccessStatusCode
}
}
$workflow:result_array += $objOut
}
$result_array | ConvertTo-Json
}
The last bit $result_array | ConvertTo-Json allowed me to get a better output which I hope to use in the Logic App. The output:
[
{
"VM": "MyVM2",
"Success": true,
"PSComputerName": "localhost",
"PSShowComputerName": true,
"PSSourceJobInstanceId": "dadd87ad-1de1-432c-92b1-4c501c9a7ce8"
},
{
"VM": "MyVM1",
"Success": true,
"PSComputerName": "localhost",
"PSShowComputerName": true,
"PSSourceJobInstanceId": "dadd87ad-1de1-432c-92b1-4c501c9a7ce8"
}
]
I don't like how it's an array of objects, cos now I gotta figure out how to get some braces around it { } within the Logic App to utilise it better.