PowerShell: Start-Job, Receive-Job: no return value

Question

Ok, Here is my script

$server=@("SERVER1","SERVER2")
$A=@()

foreach($srv in $server){
    start-job -scriptblock {Get-AppHangs $srv}}

while (Get-Job -State "Running"){}

foreach($JB in Get-Job){$A+=Receive-Job $JB}

Remove-Job *

$A|Out-GridView


function Get-AppHangs($srv){
    $A=@()
    $XX=Get-EventLog -ComputerName $srv -LogName "application" | Where-Object {$_.InstanceID -ge 1000 -and $_.InstanceID -lt 1005} | select -First 5

    foreach($x in $XX){
        $time = $_.Time.ToString()
        $obj=New-Object PSObject
        $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Server -Value $srv
        $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Index -Value $x.Index
        $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Time -Value $x.Time -SecondValue System.string
        $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name EntryType -Value $x.EntryType
        $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Source -Value $x.Source
        $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name InstanceID -Value $x.InstanceID
        $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Message -Value $x.Message
        $A+=$obj
    }
    $obj3=New-Object PSObject
    $A+=$obj3
    return $A
}

My problem is that I am expecting the line $A|Out-GridView to produce something meaningful. but the gridview doesn't even pop up.

So if I look down this script, I don't see anything glaring at me, but I am hoping a fresh set of eyes can review...

The purpose of this script is to be able to find all the Application Hang ID's in the event viewer for a set of servers and show up in a nice gridview...

I am able to see the gridview if I cut out the start-job and receive-job business, but I want to make this run faster and more efficient.

heeeeelp ;) Thanks in advance! Also I couldn't figure out how to get the Time property into my custom object... if you have a tip for that, that would be amazing as well.

UPDATED Script:

    $server=@("SERVER1","SERVER2")
    $A=@()

    foreach($srv in $server)
    {
        start-job -scriptblock {
                                $A=@()
                                $XX=Get-EventLog -ComputerName $srv -LogName "application" | Where-Object {$_.InstanceID -ge 1000 -and $_.InstanceID -lt 1005} | select -First 5

                                foreach($x in $XX){
                                    $obj=New-Object PSObject
                                    $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Server -Value $srv
                                    $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Index -Value $x.Index
                                    $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name EntryType -Value $x.EntryType
                                    $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Source -Value $x.Source
                                    $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name InstanceID -Value $x.InstanceID
                                    $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Message -Value $x.Message
                                    $A+=$obj}

                                $obj3=New-Object PSObject
                                $A+=$obj3

                                return $A
                                }
    }
    while (Get-Job -State "Running"){}
    foreach($JB in Get-Job){$A+=Receive-Job $JB}
    Remove-Job *
    $A|Out-GridView

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 30 '13 at 18:09

You have to pass in the server parameter. The job is run in a seperate process and can't access your $srv string if you don't pass it as an argument. In PS3.0 you could use the "using" scope (ex. $using:srv), but in PS2.0 you need to use param(..)in your scriptblock and -Argumentlist to send the objects. Try this:

$server=@("SERVER1","SERVER2")

foreach($srv in $server)
{
    Start-Job -scriptblock {
        param($serv)
        $out=@()
        $XX=Get-EventLog -ComputerName $serv -LogName "application" | Where-Object {$_.InstanceID -ge 1000 -and $_.InstanceID -lt 1005} | select -First 5

        foreach($x in $XX){
            $obj=New-Object PSObject
            $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Server -Value $srv
            $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Index -Value $x.Index
            $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name EntryType -Value $x.EntryType
            $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Source -Value $x.Source
            $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name InstanceID -Value $x.InstanceID
            $obj|Add-Member -MemberType "NoteProperty" -Name Message -Value $x.Message
            $out += $obj
        }
        $out
    } -ArgumentList $srv
}

$A = Get-Job | Wait-Job | Receive-Job
$A | Out-GridView

If you want to exclude the runspaceid(one of the properties that start-job adds to specify where the object was created), try something like this :

$A | Select-Object -Property * -ExcludeProperty RunspaceID | Out-GridView

ok, this is an awesome fix... its still super slow, but I think maybe it's not anything I can really fix... I should add a column to see the time it takes to load them or soemthing for testing. Thanks for your help Graimer! — Randall.Cummins, Jan 30 '13 at 18:21

Christopher Douglas · Answer 2 · 2013-01-30T17:47:05.753

1

I believe your problem lies within the scriptblock you execute. "{Get-AppHangs $srv}}" only contains Get-AppHangs and its arguments, unless the function is provided within the scriptblock, it will not execute - to the best of my knowledge. Try including your function in the scriptblock and report back the results.

edited Jan 30 '13 at 17:47

answered Jan 30 '13 at 17:38

Christopher Douglas

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I see the gridview now, but the only thing I get is a RunspaceId column gets added, no other items get inserted into the gridview... I think I just gotta play around with it a bit more, but very good suggestion. Thanks Christopher! – Randall.Cummins Jan 30 '13 at 17:47
If you post the updated script I would be more than happy to help you improve from there. – Christopher Douglas Jan 30 '13 at 17:47
Thanks again, I updated the script. so RunspaceId column gets added to the gridview but I didn't really want it there... nothing else shows up, but atleast the gridview does popup – Randall.Cummins Jan 30 '13 at 17:58
1

I think we're missing the -arguementlist paramter, pass that after the end of the script block close and reference it as $args[0] within the scriptblock. I'll post an update in a sec. – Christopher Douglas Jan 30 '13 at 18:05
See @Graimers post, he got down to it before I could. – Christopher Douglas Jan 30 '13 at 18:21
I should have known it was just another parameter I was missing. @Graimer beat you to it, but I can't tell you how happy I am it works! thanks for your help Christopher! – Randall.Cummins Jan 30 '13 at 18:22
Glad I could be of any help :) – Christopher Douglas Jan 30 '13 at 18:23

PowerShell: Start-Job, Receive-Job: no return value

2 Answers2