Parsing a csv for Read-Host user input

Question

So here is my problem... I have exported a list (CSV file) of computer names, MAC Addresses, and IP addresses for Wake on LAN via a PowerShell script. I'd like to have a read-host option at the top asking the user the host name of the computer they want to wake. That part is easy enough with a simple Read-Host.

Here's my question: how can i search through the exported CSV for the userinput that the user input?

Here's an example of my csv:

Hostame              MAC               IP Address

Computer 1     00-15-60-97-5B-8E       192.168.0.1
etc                    etc                 etc

so if the user specifies they want to wake computer1 by inputting computer1@domain.com setting the Read-Host variable, how can I have a script find the computer the user wants to wake, and then grab the mac and the ip to use in combination with WOLCMD.exe (Wake on LAN command line tool)

What version of Powershell? – mjolinor Apr 15 '14 at 02:12 — mjolinor, Apr 15 '14 at 02:12

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 15 '14 at 10:56

1

If your users have V3 or better, you can also use Out-GridView to get user input:

Import-Csv c:\somedir\computerlist.csv | sort computername
 Out-GridView -Title 'Select a computer, and press OK to send Wake command:' -OutputMode Single |
 foreach { & "wolcmd $_.mac 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255" }

That will present a grid view of the CSV to the use, and they'll be able to pick one computer from the grid to restart.

answered Apr 15 '14 at 10:56

mjolinor

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Using Out-GridView as a way of selecting list members from a user as part of a pipeline operation is quite slick. – HipCzeck Jul 14 '14 at 15:07

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 15 '14 at 02:24

If a user specifies a computer name, then you'll need to filter the CSV file for that computer name, and grab the MAC address and IP address.

$ComputerName = Read-Host -Prompt 'Please enter a computer name.';
$Csv = Import-Csv -Path c:\test\test.csv;
$Record = $Csv | Where-Object -FilterScript { $PSItem.Computer -eq $ComputerName; };

Write-Host -Object ("Computer's IP address is: {0} and MAC address is: {1}" -f $Record.'IP Address', $Record.MAC);

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 15 '14 at 03:33

Here's my tested solution. This should work like a charm and will broadcast for the MAC address in case the target is not in your arp table.

$csvpath = <<modify this with the path to the csv file>>
$comp = read-host -prompt "Enter the target computer name: "
$dataset = import-csv -path $csvpath
$row = ($dataset | where{$_.hostname -eq $comp})
$mac = $row.mac
wolcmd $mac 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255

Be sure to put the full path to the csv file on that 1st line before running

Parsing a csv for Read-Host user input

3 Answers3