Powershell Log file - powershell

Question

Firstly I want to point out that I'm a PowerShell ScrapBooker and not really terribly knowledgeable about PowerShell.
I've been working on a script that installs BGInfo ... I have the actual install and uninstall working perfectly, and now I'm moving on to getting the logging sorted out nicely.
I found this article "Create Log File in Powershell" which was wonderful and have incorporated this Function into my script.
Function Write-Log {
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$False)]
[ValidateSet("LABEL","INFO","WARN","ERROR","FATAL","DEBUG")]
[String]
$Level = "INFO",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
[string]
$Message,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$False)]
[string]
$logfile
)
$Stamp = (Get-Date).toString("yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss")
IF ($Level -eq "LABEL") {
$Line = "$Message"
}
ELSE {
$Line = "$Stamp $Level $Message"
}
If($logfile) {
Add-Content $logfile -Value $Line
}
Else {
Write-Output $Line
}
}
What I need to know is how to use this to log output from commands.
For Example:
In My script I have this command:
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run' -Name BgInfo -Value """$InstPath\Bginfo.exe"" $InstPath\$BGTemplateFile $InstOptions" -PropertyType 'String' -Force
or this one:
Copy $SourcePath\Bginfo.exe $InstPath
What I would like to know is how I can use my function to capture ANY output from that command and log it in my log file.
I guess that I would also like to use this information and apply it to any other commands where I want to log something.
Hopefully that's all clear and makes sense and that someone can help me out.
Cheers,
Dave.
:)

Answer 1

I believe you are referring to this function:
function Write-Log
{
[CmdletBinding()]
Param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[Alias("LogContent")]
[string]$Message,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[Alias('LogPath')]
[string]$Path='C:\Logs\PowerShellLog.log',
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[ValidateSet("Error","Warn","Info")]
[string]$Level="Info",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
[switch]$NoClobber
)
Begin
{
# Set VerbosePreference to Continue so that verbose messages are displayed.
$VerbosePreference = 'Continue'
}
Process
{
# If the file already exists and NoClobber was specified, do not write to the log.
if ((Test-Path $Path) -AND $NoClobber) {
Write-Error "Log file $Path already exists, and you specified NoClobber. Either delete the file or specify a different name."
Return
}
# If attempting to write to a log file in a folder/path that doesn't exist create the file including the path.
elseif (!(Test-Path $Path)) {
Write-Verbose "Creating $Path."
$NewLogFile = New-Item $Path -Force -ItemType File
}
else {
# Nothing to see here yet.
}
# Format Date for our Log File
$FormattedDate = Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"
# Write message to error, warning, or verbose pipeline and specify $LevelText
switch ($Level) {
'Error' {
Write-Error $Message
$LevelText = 'ERROR:'
}
'Warn' {
Write-Warning $Message
$LevelText = 'WARNING:'
}
'Info' {
Write-Verbose $Message
$LevelText = 'INFO:'
}
}
# Write log entry to $Path
"$FormattedDate $LevelText $Message" | Out-File -FilePath $Path -Append
}
End
{
}
}
Usage:
Write-Log -Message 'My log Error Message' -Path c:\Logs\Script.log -Level Error
Write-Log -Message 'My log Warning message' -Level Warn
Note: By default its storing in C:\logs\PowershellLog.log. You can change it on the fly during using also and you can hardcode it in function itself.
Hope it helps.