How to send curl update request with -d parameter? - powershell

Question

I need to send a curl request from powershell, using box api reference for help (I'm looking the the section called Update User, but I'm having some trouble:
curl https://api.box.com/2.0/users/11111 -H #{"Authorization" = "token"} -d '{"name": "bob"}' -X PUT
Should update the user's name, but I get:
Invoke-WebRequest : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '{"name": "bob"}'.
At G:\IT\bassie\Box\GetUsers.ps1:5 char:1
+ curl https://api.box.com/2.0/users/892861590 -H #{"Authorization" = " ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Invoke-WebRequest], ParameterBindingException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.InvokeWebRequestCommand
I tried re-arranging it to
-d #{"name" = "bob"}
but the error changed to
Invoke-WebRequest : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument 'System.Collections.Hashtable'.
At G:\IT\bassie\Box\GetUsers.ps1:5 char:1
+ curl https://api.box.com/2.0/users/892861590 -H #{"Authorization" = " ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Invoke-WebRequest], ParameterBindingException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.InvokeWebRequestCommand
What do I need to put into the -d parameter?

Answer 1

curl is an alias for PowerShell - Invoke-WebRequest, hence the error.
# Get parameters, example, full and Online help for a cmdlet or function
(Get-Command -Name Invoke-WebRequest).Parameters
Get-help -Name Invoke-WebRequest -Examples
Get-help -Name Invoke-WebRequest -Full
Get-help -Name Invoke-WebRequest -Online
Get-Alias -Definition Invoke-WebRequest | Format-Table -AutoSize -Wrap
CommandType Name Version Source
----------- ---- ------- ------
Alias curl -> Invoke-WebRequest
Alias iwr -> Invoke-WebRequest
Alias wget -> Invoke-WebRequest
If you are trying to use real curl in PowerShell, then you must use curl.exe, or remove the curl alias from Invoke-WebRequest.
The errors are because passing parameters/arguments that Invoke-WebRequest has no idea what they are or what to do with the.
If you are trying to use external tools in PowerShell, then you have to fully qualify the UNC and name including the externtion, to them and remember that using external tools with PowerShell, this must be approached in a defined way.
For example:
See Using Windows PowerShell to run old command line tools (and their weirdest parameters)
'https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/josebda/2012/03/03/using-windows-powershell-to-run-old-command-line-tools-and-their-weirdest-parameters'
See also this post regarding trying to use real curl with PowerShell.
How to use the curl command in PowerShell?
Am using the curl command in PowerShell to post the comment in
bit-bucket pull request page through a Jenkins job. I used the below
PowerShell command to execute the curl command, but am getting the
error mentioned below. Could anyone please help me on this to get it
worked?
How to use the curl command in PowerShell?

Answer 2

I managed to do what I needed with
$url = "https://api.box.com/2.0/users/111111111"
$headers = #{"Authorization" = "Bearer TOKEN"}
$body = '{"status": "inactive"}'
$contentType = "application/json"
Invoke-WebRequest $url -Headers $headers -ContentType $contentType -Body $body -Method PUT
So it seems that not only did I need to replace the -D parameter with -Body, but I also had to specify the ConteType as application/json in order to use that format.