Question

I am using a Send-MailMessage function to email the log files of a backup. I have edited the PowerShell profile so a transcript file is automatically created. If the backup encounters an error the SendMailErr function is called.

This works but I would like to add the transcript file and log file as an attachment (if they exist). If they don’t exist I would like to change the body of the email to say “Transcript does not exist etc.”

My clumsy code in it’s current state

# Mail Settings
$to = "[e-mail]"
$from = "$env:[e-mail]"
$Smtp = "mx-out.company.edu.au"
$body = "Please review attached log file $seperator See $blog for WBAdmin Log"
$attachments = "$logfile","$trans" | Where-Object {Test-Path $_ }

#Transcript File
$trans = Get-ChildItem $bLog ` 
  -filter "$env:computername-PSTranscript-$(get-date -format ddMMyyyy).log" 
  -Name

function SendMailErr { 
$MessageParameters = @{
    From = $from
    To = $to
    Subject = "ALERT: Backup Failed for $env:ComputerName.$env:USERDNSDOMAIN `
                     - $((Get-Date).ToShortDateString())"
    Body = $body      
    SmtpServer = $Smtp
    Priority = "High"
    Attachments = $attachments
}
Send-MailMessage @MessageParameters 
Exit
}

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Amelia

Answer 1

I usually approach that like this:
Start with an empty array for $body. As you encounter conditions that you want to add text about to the body, add those strings using +=. Before you send it, run it through out-string to convert it to a string and add newlines.

$body = @()

 if (test-path $logfile){$body += "Log file $logfile attached"}
     else {$body += "Log file $logfile was not found"}

 if (test-path $trans){$body += "Transcript file $trans attached"}
     else {$body += "Transcript file $trans was not found"}

 $body = $body | out-string