Develop Reference

When creating a virtual directory and converting it to a WebApplication, why does the output show two entries

I created a PowerShell script to create a Virtual Directory and convert it to a WebApplication, with an existing physical path.
It works but I find it strange that the output shows two entries, when converting it to a WebApplication.
Name PhysicalPath
---- ------------
v2 E:\inetpub\MyWebsite\v2
v2 E:\inetpub\MyWebsite\v2
I tried different ways of creating the Virtual Folder and the WebApplication.
function Create-VirtualDirectory-With-AppPool {
Param (
[string] $WebSiteName,
[string] $VirtualFolderName,
[string] $AppPoolName
)
$PhysicalPathWebSite = (Get-Website -Name $WebSiteName | Select-Object).PhysicalPath
$PhysicalPathVirtDir = "$PhysicalPathWebSite\$VirtualFolderName"
Write-Host "The following will be created:"
Write-Host "- Virtual folder: $WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName with physical path: $PhysicalPathVirtDir"
Write-Host "- Application: IIS:\Sites\$WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName"
Read-Host "Press enter to continue (Ctrl-c to abort)"
New-WebVirtualDirectory -Site $WebSiteName -Name $VirtualFolderName -PhysicalPath $PhysicalPathVirtDir
# Other attempt, same result:
#New-Item "IIS:\Sites\$WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName" -type VirtualDirectory -physicalPath $PhysicalPathVirtDir
ConvertTo-WebApplication "IIS:\Sites\$WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName"
# Other attempt, same result:
#New-Item "IIS:\Sites\$WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName" -type Application -physicalPath $PhysicalPathVirtDir
# Set AppPool
Set-ItemProperty "IIS:\Sites\$WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName" -name applicationPool -value $AppPoolName
Write-Host "Done."
}
Am I doing something wrong?
Is there some caching?

It is indeed as Mathias mentioned.
When playing around with piping to | Out-Null for both the Virtual directory and Converting to a WebApplication, I saw the separate outputs.
So, there are two options: discard the output or place the output in a variable and add some text. I choose the last one.
function Create-VirtualDirectory-With-AppPool {
Param (
[string] $WebSiteName,
[string] $VirtualFolderName,
[string] $AppPoolName
)
$PhysicalPathWebSite = (Get-Website -Name $WebSiteName | Select-Object).PhysicalPath
$PhysicalPathVirtDir = "$PhysicalPathWebSite\$VirtualFolderName"
Write-Host "The following will be created:"
Write-Host "- Virtual folder: $WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName with physical path: $PhysicalPathVirtDir"
Write-Host "- Application: IIS:\Sites\$WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName"
Read-Host "Press enter to continue (Ctrl-c to abort)"
$OutputNewvDir = New-WebVirtualDirectory -Site $WebSiteName -Name $VirtualFolderName -PhysicalPath $PhysicalPathVirtDir
$OutputConvertApp = ConvertTo-WebApplication "IIS:\Sites\$WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName"
# Set AppPool
Set-ItemProperty "IIS:\Sites\$WebSiteName\$VirtualFolderName" -name applicationPool -value $AppPoolName
Write-Host "New Virtual directory: $($OutputNewvDir | Format-List | Out-String)"
Write-Host "Convert to Application: $($OutputConvertApp | Format-List | Out-String)"
Write-Host "Done."
}
New Virtual directory:
Name : V2
PhysicalPath : C:\inetpub\wwwroot\MyWebsite\V2
Convert to Application:
Path : /V2
ApplicationPool : DefaultAppPool
EnabledProtocols : http
PhysicalPath : C:\inetpub\wwwroot\MyWebsite\V2
One strange thing is that both commands have a different number of parameters, but some are shown when output together (as shown in my original question).
But I can live with that, will research that later.

How to update url stored in Sharepoint add-in app file?

I created an High-Trust add-in for SharePoint 2013 with custom ribbon action and custom menu action.
For this, I have an ASP.NET MVC WebSite with the methods in the controller which match with the virtual urls put as custom action url. So, in the different elements.xml files, I filled action urls using the token 'remoteUrl', so no problem with the mapping.
When i create a package with VS2013, I write the url of my website which is on VM reachable from SP Server, and the client ID (I got from SP while registring my app). When I click on 'Finish', VS2013 generates a file '.app' which can be imported in SP online store or SP internal store.
Here is my problem, if I need to change the address of my website (which is stored in the app file, VS2013 just replaces the token 'RemoteUrl' with the url I give to it), is there any clean way to update the app file or may be if possible, directly the app stored in the SP application store (local to the server) ?
I found nothing for this problem. I saw few things about updating app with events and web services, but I didn't understood.
[EDIT] : I didn't understood that I have to change app version each time I need to update it that's why It didn't worked. Also, it seems that there is no other way to update the url in app file than modifying the AppManifest.xml in app file (which is a zip).

In one of my projects we used to do it with the following PowerShell script. It extracted the app file (it's just a ZIP) and modified multiple nodes in the manifest XML.
For packaging it uses a local copy of 7zip.
function ModifyAppPackage($appPackagePath, $applicationUrl, $clientId){
[Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.IO.Compression.FileSystem");
$item = get-item $appPackagePath;
$zipFilePath = Join-Path $item.Directory.FullName $($item.BaseName + ".zip");
Copy-Item $item $zipFilePath;
$unzipDirectory = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot "\Temp";
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $unzipDirectory;
if (Test-Path -Path $unzipDirectory\*)
{
Remove-Item $unzipDirectory\* -Force -Confirm:$false -Recurse:$true;
}
[System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::ExtractToDirectory($zipFilePath, $unzipDirectory);
$modifiedFile = Join-Path $unzipDirectory "modified.txt"
if (Test-Path -Path $modifiedFile)
{
$modifiedContent = Get-Content $modifiedFile
if ($modifiedContent -eq $applicationUrl)
{
Remove-Item $unzipDirectory -Confirm:$false -Recurse:$true;
Remove-Item $zipFilePath;
return;
}
Remove-Item $modifiedFile;
}
$modifiedFileContent = $applicationUrl;
$modifiedFileContent >> $modifiedFile;
$manifestFileName = "AppManifest.xml";
$manifestFilePath = Join-Path $unzipDirectory $manifestFileName;
$manifestXml = [xml](get-content $manifestFilePath);
$nameSpaceManager = New-Object System.Xml.XmlNamespaceManager($manifestXml.NameTable);
$nameSpaceManager.AddNamespace("ns", $manifestXml.DocumentElement.NamespaceURI);
$startPageElement = $manifestXml.SelectSingleNode("/ns:App/ns:Properties/ns:StartPage", $nameSpaceManager);
$StartPage = $applicationUrl + "?{StandardTokens}"
$startPageElement.'#text' = $StartPage
$InstalledEventEndpointElement = $manifestXml.SelectSingleNode("/ns:App/ns:Properties/ns:InstalledEventEndpoint", $nameSpaceManager);
$InstalledEventEndpoint = $applicationUrl + "/Services/AppEventReceiver.svc"
$InstalledEventEndpointElement.'#text' = $InstalledEventEndpoint
$clientIdElement = $manifestXml.SelectSingleNode("/ns:App/ns:AppPrincipal/ns:RemoteWebApplication", $nameSpaceManager);
$clientIdElement.ClientId = $clientId;
$manifestXml.Save($manifestFilePath);
if (Test-Path -Path $zipFilePath)
{
Remove-Item $zipFilePath;
}
$pathToZipExe = $("$PSScriptRoot\7za.exe");
[Array]$arguments = "a", "-tzip", "$zipFilePath", "$unzipDirectory\*.*", "-r";
& $pathToZipExe $arguments;
# Cleanup
Remove-Item $unzipDirectory -Confirm:$false -Recurse:$true;
Remove-Item $appPackagePath -Confirm:$false;
# Rename new zip to .app
Rename-Item $zipFilePath $appPackagePath -Force -Confirm:$false;
return $true;
}

I think it would be possible to store the url in one of custom list in the app. Refer the url from the list. Whenever you need to change the url it can be done from the app itself.

Azure, Increase Worker Count Programatically, Management API / Cmdlets? (without reboot) [duplicate]

Is it possible to update the value of a setting in an Azure Cloud Service with Azure Powershell?

So far there is no way to update just a single setting (the Service Management API does not allow it - it only accepts the whole service configuration). So, in order to update a single setting, you will have to update the entire configuration. And you can do this with PowerShell:
# Add the Azure Account first - this will create a login promppt
Add-AzureAccount
# when you have more then one subscription - you have explicitly select the one
# which holds your cloud service you want to update
Select-AzureSubscription "<Subscription name with spaces goes here>"
# then Update the configuration for the cloud service
Set-AzureDeployment -Config -ServiceName "<cloud_service_name_goes_here>" `
-Configuration "D:/tmp/cloud/ServiceConfiguration.Cloud.cscfg" `
-Slot "Production"
For the the `-Configuration' parameter I have provided full local path to the new config file I want to use with my cloud service.
This is verified and working solution.

As astaykov says, you can't update a single cloud config value using Powershell.
But you can read all of the settings, update the one you wish to change, save it to a temp file, and then set all the settings again, like so:
UpdateCloudConfig.ps1:
param
(
[string] $cloudService,
[string] $publishSettings,
[string] $subscription,
[string] $role,
[string] $setting,
[string] $value
)
# param checking code removed for brevity
Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile $publishSettings -ErrorAction Stop | Out-Null
function SaveNewSettingInXmlFile($cloudService, [xml]$configuration, $setting, [string]$value)
{
# get the <Role name="Customer.Api"> or <Role name="Customer.NewsletterSubscription.Api"> or <Role name="Identity.Web"> element
$roleElement = $configuration.ServiceConfiguration.Role | ? { $_.name -eq $role }
if (-not($roleElement))
{
Throw "Could not find role $role in existing cloud config"
}
# get the existing AzureServiceBusQueueConfig.ConnectionString element
$settingElement = $roleElement.ConfigurationSettings.Setting | ? { $_.name -eq $setting }
if (-not($settingElement))
{
Throw "Could not find existing element in cloud config with name $setting"
}
if ($settingElement.value -eq $value)
{
Write-Host "No change detected, so will not update cloud config"
return $null
}
# update the value
$settingElement.value = $value
# write configuration out to a file
$filename = $cloudService + ".cscfg"
$configuration.Save("$pwd\$filename")
return $filename
}
Write-Host "Updating setting for $cloudService" -ForegroundColor Green
Select-AzureSubscription -SubscriptionName $subscription -ErrorAction Stop
# get the current settings from Azure
$deployment = Get-AzureDeployment $cloudService -ErrorAction Stop
# save settings with new value to a .cscfg file
$filename = SaveNewSettingInXmlFile $cloudService $deployment.Configuration $setting $value
if (-not($filename)) # there was no change to the cloud config so we can exit nicely
{
return
}
# change the settings in Azure
Set-AzureDeployment -Config -ServiceName $cloudService -Configuration "$pwd\$filename" -Slot Production
# clean up - delete .cscfg file
Remove-Item ("$pwd\$filename")
Write-Host "done"

Usage of powerShell.AddCommand

I would like to execute this event using c#.
Get-WinEvent -Path 'D:\Events\myevents.evt' -Oldest | Select-Object
-Property * | ForEach-Object {$_ | ConvertTo-Json}
I have written upto
path = "D:\\Events\\myevents.evt";
var powerShell = PowerShell.Create();
powerShell.AddCommand("Get-WinEvent");
powerShell.AddParameter("Path");
powerShell.AddArgument(path);
powerShell.AddParameter("Oldest");
powerShell.AddCommand("Select-Object");
powerShell.AddParameter("Property");
powerShell.AddArgument("*");
I am stuck on writing for ForEach-Object {$_ | ConvertTo-Json}. Let me know how to proceed.
Appreciate help.

Keith's answer is totally valid if Path come from trusted source.
Otherwise, it can be vulnerable for script injection. (demo https://gist.github.com/vors/528faab6411db74869d4)
I suggest a compromised solution:
wrap you script in a function, which takes dynamic arguments and Invoke it with AddScript(). Now you have a function in your powershell runspace/session. You can call this function with AddCommand() + AddParameter(). Remember, that you need to call powershell.Commands.Clear() after first Invoke, otherwise commands will be piped.
Code can look like that:
const string script = #"function wrapper($path) {return (Get-WinEvent -Path $path -Oldest | Select-Object -Property * | ForEach-Object {$_ | ConvertTo-Json}) }";
ps.AddScript(script);
ps.Invoke();
ps.Commands.Clear();
ps.AddCommand("wrapper").AddParameter("path", path);

You could just use the AddScript method:
powershell.AddScript("Get-WinEvent D:\Events\myevents.evt -Oldest | ConvertTo-Json");
I think you could also simplify that script and pipe directly to ConvertTo-Json.

Adding bookmark to web browser from external applications

Does anyone know if it is possible to add bookmark to web browsers (Safari, IE, FF, Chrome, Opera) from external applications ?

For IE :
You need to create a link file here :
c#
Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Favorites)
Powershell
[Environment]::GetFolderPath( [System.Environment+SpecialFolder]::Favorites)
Chrome:
You need to add entry in json format file bookmarks (with no extension):
on Win7 is
C:\Users\<YOURUSERNAME>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\
Firefox:
The bookmarks are stored in a SQLite:
../Application Data/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/{your firefox profile}/places.sqlite
Using System.Data.SQLite you can try to add link, but I can't help you more.
Can't help you for Safari and Opera

In Powershell V2 ISE (x86), this code will list all the Special Folders on the system or even this -
$objShell = New-Object -com "Wscript.Shell"
$objShell.SpecialFolders | WHERE {$_.ToString() -match "Fav"}
You can then access & manipulate the C:\Users\username\Favorites folder. I don't know if this will extend to all browsers [except IE]

Here is the solution I came up with for adding bookmarks to Chrome from PowerShell:
$fileBookmarks="$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Bookmarks"
$dataBookmarks=Get-Content $fileBookmarks -Encoding UTF8| Out-String |ConvertFrom-Json
function createNewChromeBookmark ($Bookmarks, [string]$BookmarkName, [string]$BookmarkURL) {
function getBookmarkIDs($object){
$object | ForEach-Object{
"{0:0000}" -f [int]($_.id);
if([bool]($_.PSobject.Properties.name -match "children")){
GetBookmarkIDs($_.children);
}
}
};
$nextBookmarkID = [int](getBookmarkIDs -object $Bookmarks.roots.bookmark_bar|Sort-Object -Descending|Select-Object -First 1) + 1
$currentChomeTime=[System.DateTimeOffset]::Now.ToUnixTimeMilliseconds()*10000;
$newBookmark= [PSCustomObject]#{
date_added=$currentChomeTime
guid=[guid]::NewGuid()
id=$nextBookMarkID
name="$BookmarkName"
type="url"
url="$BookmarkURL"
}
return $newBookmark;
}
$newBookmark = createNewChromeBookmark -Bookmarks $dataBookmarks -BookmarkName "Your Bookmark Name" -BookmarkURL "https://[Your URL Here]";
$dataBookmarks.roots.bookmark_bar.children += $newBookmark;
$dataBookmarksJSON = ConvertTo-Json -InputObject $dataBookmarks -Depth 200
Set-Content -Path $fileBookmarks -Value $dataBookmarksJSON -Encoding UTF8