PowerShell text formatting

charles19 · 2022-11-16T15:50:00.000Z

I rarely use PowerShell and I have been hacking away at a script to check our AD health for our domain. I am getting the desired information but I am struggling with the email being sent not formatted/aligned better. Perhaps someone might have a suggestion or point me in a better direction?

Here you can see the current script, and the results below. The email looks worse than the result posted here, so I have attached a snippet for your viewing pleasure.

$myRepInfo = @(repadmin /replsum * /bysrc /bydest /sort:delta)
$smtpServer = "smtpserver.domain.com"
$svcs = "ADws","DNS","DFSR","Kdc","IsmServ"

$msg = new-object Net.Mail.MailMessage
$smtp = new-object Net.Mail.SmtpClient($smtpServer)

$msg.From = email@domain.com
$msg.To.Add(email@domain.com)
$msg.Subject = "AD Replication Report " + [System.DateTime]::Now

$dcs = "SRVR1","SRVR2","SRVR3"
$svcs = "ADws","DNS","DFSR","Kdc","IsmServ"

foreach ($server in $dcs) {

    $msg.body += Get-Service -Name $svcs -ComputerName $server | Select-Object MachineName, Name, Status, DisplayName | Out-String 

}

$msg.body += $myRepInfo | Where-Object { $_ } | ForEach-Object { $_ -replace $_,"$_`n" }
$msg.body += $myServices

$smtp.Send($msg)

MachineName Name Status DisplayName

SRVR3 ADws Running Active Directory Web Services

SRVR3 DFSR Running DFS Replication

SRVR3 DNS Running DNS Server

SRVR3 IsmServ Running Intersite Messaging

SRVR3 Kdc Running Kerberos Key Distribution Center

MachineName Name Status DisplayName

SRVR2 ADws Running Active Directory Web Services

SRVR2 DFSR Running DFS Replication

SRVR2 DNS Running DNS Server

SRVR2 IsmServ Running Intersite Messaging

SRVR2 Kdc Running Kerberos Key Distribution Center

MachineName Name Status DisplayName

SRVR1 ADws Running Active Directory Web Services

SRVR1 DFSR Running DFS Replication

SRVR1 DNS Running DNS Server

SRVR1 IsmServ Running Intersite Messaging

SRVR1 Kdc Running Kerberos Key Distribution Center

Replication Summary Start Time: 2022-11-15 16:14:45 Beginning data collection for replication summary, this may take awhile:

…

Source DSA largest delta fails/total %% error

SRVR3 26m:11s 0 / 10 0

SRVR1 26m:11s 0 / 10 0

SRVR2 25m:35s 0 / 10 0

Destination DSA largest delta fails/total %% error

SRVR2 26m:11s 0 / 10 0

SRVR3 25m:35s 0 / 10 0

SRVR1 23m:29s 0 / 10 0

Thanks for taking a look!

Chuck

Neally · 2022-11-16T15:57:56.000Z

If you post code, please use the ‘Insert Code’ button. Please and thank you!

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING! Read if you're new to the PowerShell forum! Programming & Development

Hi, and welcome to the PowerShell forum! Don’t apologize for being a “noob” or “newbie” or “n00b.” There’s just no need – nobody will think you’re stupid, and the forums are all about asking questions. Just ask! Use a descriptive subject. Don’t say “Need help” or “PowerShell Help”, actually summarize what the problem is. It helps the rest of us keep track of which problem is which. Don’t post massive scripts. We’re all volunteers and we don’t have time to read all that, nor will we copy…

As for the formatting issues, format it as HTML and send it as HTML

ConvertTo-Html

learn.microsoft.com

ConvertTo-Html (Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility) - PowerShell

The ConvertTo-Html cmdlet converts .NET objects into HTML that can be displayed in a Web browser. You can use this cmdlet to display the output of a command in a Web page. You can use the parameters of ConvertTo-Html to select object properties, to...

$msg.body += 
Get-Service -Name $svcs -ComputerName $server | 
Select-Object MachineName, Name, Status, DisplayName | 
convertto-html |
Out-String

saidbrandon · 2022-11-16T16:35:18.000Z

Definitely agree with Neally. Leave them as objects and convert to html. It will need some styling as the default doesn’t have borders and the like. If you’d like to highlight different cells or rows based on their values that gets even more complicated.

PS2HTMLTable can help with that and has a number of samples to get you started

PowerShell Reports (Made Easy) Windows

I've been using Warren Frame's (RamblingCookieMonster) PSHTMLTable module to "spice" up HTML reports since early 2017. Over the course of that time I've made a number of enhancements internally which I'd like to publish to the PowerShell Gallery. I'm just now starting to get into collaborative coding and have messaged him about adding in my changes (basically a whole rewrite), rename my project, or become the new maintainer of it.As I'm waiting for a response, I wanted to share what I have. Ever…

charles19 · 2022-11-16T16:49:01.000Z

Thanks Neally, and you too saidbrandon. I will give it a go and let you all know.

And my apologies for the code. I was not aware of any issue and will see if I can edit the post to something more appropriate.

Chuck

charles19 · 2022-11-18T22:01:49.000Z

Neally,

I added the ConvertTo-Html and received a bunch of html formatted text. I knew I was close, but still out of my wheelhouse. Then a new colleague of mine took a look and said to add “$msg.IsBodyHtml=$true” and that did the trick. Funny thing is, I had that in before the convert command and it did nothing so I removed it.

Thank you all for the help!

Chuck