{"id":2016,"date":"2012-01-20T09:28:42","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T14:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jdhitsolutions.com\/blog\/?p=2016"},"modified":"2012-01-20T09:28:42","modified_gmt":"2012-01-20T14:28:42","slug":"friday-fun-a-powershell-alarm-clock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jdhitsolutions.com\/blog\/powershell\/2016\/friday-fun-a-powershell-alarm-clock\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Fun: A PowerShell Alarm Clock"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today's Friday Fun is a continuation of my exploration of ways to use Start-Job. A few weeks ago I wrote about using Start-Job to create \"scheduled\" tasks<\/a>. I realized I could take this further and turn this into a sort of alarm clock. The goal is to execute at command at a given time, but I wanted to make it easy to specify the time. What I have so far is a function called New-Alarm. I have some other ideas and hope to expand this into a module, but for now I thought I'd toss this out to you and get some feedback.<\/p>\n


\nFunction New-Alarm {<\/p>\n

[cmdletbinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$True,DefaultParameterSetName=\"Time\")]<\/p>\n

Param (
\n[Parameter(Position=0,ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$True)]
\n[ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
\n[string]$Command=\"Notepad\",
\n[Parameter(Position=1,ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$True,ParameterSetName=\"Time\")]
\n[ValidateNotNullorEmpty()]
\n[Alias(\"time\")]
\n[datetime]$Alarm=(Get-Date).AddMinutes(5),
\n[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$True,ParameterSetName=\"Seconds\")]
\n[int]$Seconds,
\n[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$True,ParameterSetName=\"Minutes\")]
\n[int]$Minutes,
\n[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$True,ParameterSetName=\"Hours\")]
\n[int]$Hours,
\n[Parameter(ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$True)]
\n[Alias(\"init\",\"is\")]
\n[string]$InitializationScript
\n)<\/p>\n

Process {<\/p>\n

if ($seconds) {$Alarm=(Get-Date).AddSeconds($seconds)}
\nif ($minutes) {$Alarm=(Get-Date).AddMinutes($minutes)}
\nif ($Hours) {$Alarm=(Get-Date).AddHours($hours)}<\/p>\n

Write-Verbose (\"{0} Creating an alarm for {1} to execute {2}\" -f (Get-Date),$Alarm,$Command)<\/p>\n

#define a scriptblock that takes parameters. Parameters are validated in the
\n#function so we don't need to do it here.
\n$sbText=@\"
\n Param ([string]`$Command,[datetime]`$Alarm,[string]`$Init)<\/p>\n

#define a boolean flag
\n `$Done=`$False<\/p>\n

#loop until the time is greater or equal to the alarm time
\n #sleeping every 10 seconds
\n do {
\n if ((get-date) -ge `$Alarm) {
\n #run the command
\n `$ActualTime=Get-Date
\n Invoke-Expression `$Command
\n #set the flag to True
\n `$Done=`$True
\n }
\n else {
\n sleep -Seconds 10
\n }
\n } while (-Not `$Done)<\/p>\n

#write an alarm summary object which can be retrieved with Receive-Job
\n New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property @{
\n ScheduledTime=`$Alarm
\n ActualTime=`$ActualTime
\n Command=`$Command
\n Initialization=`$Init
\n }
\n\"@<\/p>\n

#append metadata to the scriptblock text so they can be parsed out with Get-Alarm
\n#to discover information for currently running alarm jobs<\/p>\n

$meta=@\"<\/p>\n

#Alarm Command::$Command
\n#Alarm Time::$Alarm
\n#Alarm Init::$InitializationScript
\n#Alarm Created::$(Get-Date)<\/p>\n

\"@<\/p>\n

#add meta data to scriptblock text
\n$sbText+=$meta<\/p>\n

Write-Debug \"Scriptblock text:\"
\nWrite-Debug $sbText
\nWrite-Debug \"Creating the scriptblock\"<\/p>\n

#create a scriptblock to use with Start-Job
\n$sb=$ExecutionContext.InvokeCommand.NewScriptBlock($sbText)<\/p>\n

Try {
\n If ($InitializationScript) {
\n #turn $initializationscript into a script block
\n $initsb=$ExecutionContext.InvokeCommand.NewScriptBlock($initializationscript)
\n Write-Verbose (\"{0} Using an initialization script: {1}\" -f (Get-Date),$InitializationScript)
\n }
\n else {
\n #no initialization command so create an empty scriptblock
\n $initsb={}
\n }<\/p>\n

#WhatIf
\n if ($pscmdlet.ShouldProcess(\"$command at $Alarm\")) {
\n #create a background job
\n Start-job -ScriptBlock $sb -ArgumentList @($Command,$Alarm,$InitializationScript) -ErrorAction \"Stop\" -InitializationScript $Initsb
\n Write-Verbose (\"{0} Alarm Created\" -f (Get-Date))
\n }
\n}<\/p>\n

Catch {
\n $msg=\"{0} Exception creating the alarm job. {1}\" -f (Get-Date),$_.Exception.Message
\n Write-Warning $msg
\n}
\n} #Process<\/p>\n

} #end function
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

The function includes full help.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To use the function you specify a command string to execute at a given time. The default's are to run Notepad in 5 minutes. You can either specify an exact time.<\/p>\n


\nPS C:\\> new-alarm \"get-process | out-file c:\\work\\noonprocs.txt\" -alarm \"12:00PM\"
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

Or X number of seconds, minutes or hours.<\/p>\n


\nPS C:\\> $s='$f=[system.io.path]::GetTempFilename(); \"Hey! Are you paying attention??\" > $f;start-process notepad $f -wait;del $f'
\nPS C:\\> new-alarm $s -minutes 15 -verbose
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

The first command defines a command string, $s. This creates a temporary file, writes some text to it, displays it with Notepad and then deletes it. The second command creates a new alarm that will invoke the expression in 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

For now, the command is passed as text. This is so that I can create an internal scriptblock. I use a Do loop to compare the current time to the alarm time. When the time is right, the command string is executed using Invoke-Expression.<\/p>\n


\n$sbText=@\"
\n Param ([string]`$Command,[datetime]`$Alarm,[string]`$Init)<\/p>\n

#define a boolean flag
\n `$Done=`$False<\/p>\n

#loop until the time is greater or equal to the alarm time
\n #sleeping every 10 seconds
\n do {
\n if ((get-date) -ge `$Alarm) {
\n #run the command
\n `$ActualTime=Get-Date
\n Invoke-Expression `$Command
\n #set the flag to True
\n `$Done=`$True
\n }
\n else {
\n sleep -Seconds 10
\n }
\n } while (-Not `$Done)<\/p>\n

#write an alarm summary object which can be retrieved with Receive-Job
\n New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property @{
\n ScheduledTime=`$Alarm
\n ActualTime=`$ActualTime
\n Command=`$Command
\n Initialization=`$Init
\n }
\n\"@
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

I also add some metadata to the script block which gets written as the job's result.<\/p>\n


\n#append metadata to the scriptblock text so they can be parsed out with Get-Alarm
\n#to discover information for currently running alarm jobs<\/p>\n

$meta=@\"<\/p>\n

#Alarm Command::$Command
\n#Alarm Time::$Alarm
\n#Alarm Init::$InitializationScript
\n#Alarm Created::$(Get-Date)<\/p>\n

\"@<\/p>\n

#add meta data to scriptblock text
\n$sbText+=$meta<\/p>\n

Write-Debug \"Scriptblock text:\"
\nWrite-Debug $sbText
\nWrite-Debug \"Creating the scriptblock\"<\/p>\n

#create a scriptblock to use with Start-Job
\n$sb=$ExecutionContext.InvokeCommand.NewScriptBlock($sbText)
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

Finally, the alarm function allows for an initialization command, like you might use with Start-Job. This permits you to run commands such as importing modules or dot sourcing scripts. I have a function that displays a VB style message box. Here's how I might use it as an alarm job.<\/p>\n


\nPS C:\\> new-alarm \"get-messagebox 'It is time for that thing' -title 'Alert!'\" -init \". c:\\scripts\\get-messagebox.ps1\" -min 5
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

In 5 minutes the alarm will go off and I'll get this.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Remember, the function is creating new jobs with the Start-Job cmdlet. Which means I can get job results. <\/p>\n


\nPS C:\\> receive-job 7 -keep<\/p>\n

Initialization : . c:\\scripts\\get-messagebox.ps1
\nActualTime : 1\/20\/2012 8:47:07 AM
\nScheduledTime : 1\/20\/2012 8:47:06 AM
\nCommand : get-messagebox 'It is time for that thing' -title 'Alert!'
\nRunspaceId : d3461b78-11ce-4c84-a8ab-9e3fcd482637
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

What do you think? As I said, I have a few more ideas and there are certainly a few tweaks I can make even to this code. I've added my Get-MessageBox function in case you want to toy with that. Download AlarmScripts.zip<\/a> and let me know what you think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s Friday Fun is a continuation of my exploration of ways to use Start-Job. A few weeks ago I wrote about using Start-Job to create “scheduled” tasks. I realized I could take this further and turn this into a sort of alarm clock. The goal is to execute at command at a given time, but…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[271,4,75],"tags":[230,202,534,333],"class_list":["post-2016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friday-fun","category-powershell","category-powershell-v2-0","tag-fridayfun","tag-jobs","tag-powershell","tag-start-job"],"yoast_head":"\nFriday Fun: A PowerShell Alarm Clock • The Lonely Administrator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jdhitsolutions.com\/blog\/powershell\/2016\/friday-fun-a-powershell-alarm-clock\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Friday Fun: A PowerShell Alarm Clock • The Lonely Administrator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today's Friday Fun is a continuation of my exploration of ways to use Start-Job. 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