Skip to main content

Reading and Resolving PowerShell Errors - Part 9

By
This is part 9 of my series of the most common PowerShell errors that are made in my PowerShell classes.  I will be posting one a day to help you understand why an error occurred and what the error’s meaning is.

Today’s error:  Get-CimInstance : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '='.

Here is our starting code:
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_LogicalDisk -Filter DeviceID = 'C:'

And here is the full error:
Get-CimInstance : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '='.
At line:1 char:1
+ Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_LogicalDisk -Filter DeviceID = 3
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Get-CimInstance], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.Management.Infrastructure.CimCmdlets.GetCimInstanceComman
   d

Resolution:
Use the parameter correctly.  In this situation, I found several of my students making assumptions about how to use the –Filter parameter.  When you are about to use a parameter for the first time, read both the help file information for that parameter and also look at the examples to see how to use it.
PS C:\> Get-Help Get-CimInstance -Parameter Filter

-Filter
    Specifies a where clause to use as a filter. Specify the clause in either the WQL or the CQL query language.
   
    Note: Do not include the where keyword in the value of the parameter.
   
    Required?                    false
    Position?                    named
    Default value               
    Accept pipeline input?       True (ByPropertyName)
    Accept wildcard characters?  false

Example 4: Get instances of a class filtered by using a class name and a filter expression
   
    PS C:\>Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Process -Filter "Name like 'p%'"
   
   
    This command retrieves all the CIM instances that start with the letter p of a class named Win32_Process using the Filter
    parameter.

Here is the correct code.  We only needed to add “” to the filter.
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_LogicalDisk -Filter "DeviceID = 'C:'"
DeviceID DriveType ProviderName VolumeName Size         FreeSpace
-------- --------- ------------ ---------- ----         ---------
C:       3                      OS         116280782848 2190163968



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sticky Key problem between Windows Server 2012 and LogMeIn

By
This week I instructed my first class using Windows Server 2012 accessed via LogMeIn and discovered a Sticky Key problem every time you press the Shift key. Here is my solution to resolve this.  First off, in the Preferences of LogMeIn for the connection to the Windows Server, click General . Change the Keyboard and mouse priority to Host side user and click Apply at the bottom. On the Windows 2012 server, open the Control Panel – Ease of Access – Change how your keyboard works . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys . Click Set up Sticky Keys . Uncheck Turn on Sticky Keys when SHIFT is pressed five times . Click OK twice. If you are using Windows Server 2012 as a Hyper-V host, you will need to redo the Easy of Use settings on each guest operating system in order to avoid the Sticky Key Problem. Updated Information: March 20, 2013 If you continue to have problems, Uncheck Turn on Filter Keys .
6 comments
Read more

Where did a User’s Account Get Locked Out?

By
Updated: May 15, 2015 When this article was originally published, two extra carriage returns were add causing the code to malfunction.  The code below is correct.   My client for this week’s PowerShell class had a really interesting question. They needed to know where an account is being locked out at. OK, interesting. Apparently users hop around clients and forget to log off, leading to eventual lock out of their accounts. The accounts can be unlocked, but are then relocked after Active Directory replication. This problem is solved in two parts. The first one is to modify the event auditing on the network. The second part is resolved with PowerShell. The first part involves creating a group policy that will encompass your Domain Controllers. In this GPO, make these changes. Expand Computer Configuration \ Policies \ Windows Settings \ Security Settings \ Advanced Audit Policy Configuration \ Audit Policies \ Account Management Double click User Account Management C...
18 comments
Read more

Backup and Restore AD LDS with DSDBUTIL.exe

By
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services allow you to create a directory service that allows applications to have access to user accounts, groups, and authentication similar to Active Directory Domain Services.  The big advantage here is that the schema of the directory service will not be bound by the rules of an Active Directory database.  Exchange 2007/2010, for example, use an instance of AD LDS on the Edge Transport Server to provide for user authentication from the internet.  Because your Active Directory database is not exposed to the internet, this is more secure. Applications will handle most of the dirty work should they require AD LDS.  You may want to make sure the database is being backed up and also have a restore plan in place.  Should the database become corrupt, the application that uses that database will fail.  This document will walk you through backing up and restoring an instance of AD LDS using the dsdbutil.exe command. Fi...
6 comments
Read more