Usage¶
Quick Start¶
Install the latest release from PowerShell Gallery by running this command from an elevated PowerShell prompt:
Install-Module PsLogLite -AllowClobber -Force
Important
When installing, make sure the -Allow-Clobber parameter is specified. PsLogLite works by overriding (or "clobbering") some built-in functions of PowerShell, so if you try to install this module without the -Allow-Clobber parameter, Install-Module will throw an error.
Add this to your PowerShell script:
Import-Module PsLogLite
...and you're good to go.
How It Works¶
PsLogLite works by overriding some built-in cmdlets of the Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility with functions that capture the string being written and log it to a file, before passing the string along to the cmdlet in question. This is done by generating a proxy command using the output of the Create method from the System.Management.Automation.ProxyCommand class, wrapping it in a PowerShell function, and adding custom logic before passing the value on to the cmdlet in question.
This is available currently for the following functions:
- Write-Debug
- Write-Error
- Write-Host
- Write-Information
- Write-Output
- Write-Verbose
- Write-Warning
Why not just use Start-Transcript?¶
Transcripts are wonderful for capturing the console. This module is not intended to replace the use of transcripts, but rather to augment them. Transcripts have some specific shortcomings that are addressed by PsLogLite:
- A transcript cannot capture Verbose, Debug, Information, Warning, and Error messages when the corresponding preference action is set to SilentlyContinue
- PsLogLite configurations work regardless of a specific log's preference action. For example, you can set
$VerbosePreferencetoSilentlyContinueand still get verbose output to the PsLogLite log
- PsLogLite configurations work regardless of a specific log's preference action. For example, you can set
- A transcript captures everything on the host, regardless of relevance
- PsLogLite can be set to ignore specific types of entries when they are not relevant for logging purposes (e.g. setting log levels)
- Transcript formats can be difficult to parse using machine logic
- PsLogLite log entries use a familiar syntax similar to syslog
Ultimately, I recommend using both a transcript and PsLogLite to get the fullest picture of what is happening in PowerShell.