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The following sample job explains how to use output channels for PowerShell such as:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<job  process_class="my_Agent" stop_on_error="no">
    <settings >
        <log_level ><![CDATA[debug1]]></log_level>
    </settings>

    <script  language="powershell">
        <![CDATA[
# Use Write-Host, Write-Output or Echo cmdlets to write to the JobScheduler log
Write-Host "job: this is some output"
Write-Output "job: this is some output"
echo "job: this is some output"

# Standard PowerShell verbose setting is consideredused for log output
$VerbosePreference, consider script scope when modifying this variable
$script:VerbosePreference = "Continue"
# In addition the current log level of the job has to be set, i.e. log level "debug1" or higher logs verbose output
Write-Verbose "job: this is some verbose output"

# Standard PowerShell debug setting is consideredused for log output
$DebugPreference, consider script scope when modifying this variable
$script:DebugPreference = "Continue"
# In addition the current log level of the job has to be set, i.e. log level "debug3" or higher logs debug messages
Write-Debug "job: this is some debug output"

# creates a warning for the job
Write-Warning "job: this is a warning"

# can be used to throw an error
Write-Error "job: this is an error"
        ]]>
    </script>

    <run_time />
</job>

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The JobScheduler PowerShell CLI module is available for PowerShell jobs. A basic job using the PowerShell CLI might look like this:

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• The PowerShell CLI is activated by the Import-Module JobScheduler command.
• For a complete list of cmdlets available from the PowerShell CLI see PowerShell CLI 1.1 - Cmdlets

Additional examples are available from the PowerShell CLI 1.1 - Use Cases article.

Parameter Handling

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# Example Shell: 
echo name1 = value2 >> %SCHEDULER_RETURN_VALUES%

# Example PowerShell solution 1: 
$spooler_task.order().params().set_value( "name1", "value2" )
# Example PowerShell solution 2: shorthand notation for task/order parameter 
$spooler_params.set( "name1", "value2" )

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Execution Policies

By default PowerShell ships with the execution policy Restricted that does not allow to run scripts from files.

Should jobs be able to run external PowerShell script files then the execution policy has to be modified. This can be performed

• at machine level, e.g. if an administrator executes Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
• at user level if the the user executes Set-ExecutionPolicy bypass -scope CurrentUser
• at process level if the the user executes Set-ExecutionPolicy bypass -scope process

Should execution policies not be explicitly ruled for a scheduling environment then we recommend to add Set-ExecutionPolicy bypass -scope process to the profile on a Windows platform.

Profile Handling

Profile Locations

JobScheduler handles PowerShell profiles in a similar way to the PowerShell host. 

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• to specify alias names for cmdlets,
• to specify global variables, e.g. paths, that can be used by all jobs,
• to import PowerShell modules, e.g. to specify Import-Module JobScheduler for use of the PowerShell CLI
• to specify the behavior in case of errors by use of the $ErrorActionPreference variable
  • A value $ErrorActionPreference = "Continue" (Default) allows a PowerShell script to continue after an error occurred. It is up to the script developer to check for errors, e.g. by use of exceptions.
  • A value $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop" is the recommended setting as it immediately stops execution of the script after an error occurred.

Error Handling

PowerShell jobs offer a number of options to detect run-time errors.

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• Users who wish to suppress exit codes of failed executions of native Windows programs or scripts can use
  • $Global$script:LastExitCode = $null
• This will disable the above mentioned check of the last exit code.

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