New-LogEntry Function - Version 2.0.1

New-LogEntry is a flexible yet powerful PowerShell function aimed to make scripts logging and troubleshooting an easier process.

New-LogEntry by default will write log messages both to the configured log file and the host console making eliminating the need to follow log files during debug of production code.

Starting with version 2.0.0 of the function all log messages will be prepended with an of the available tags unless the -NoTag parameter is used:

• [INFO] default tag for all log messages
• [WARNINNG] which will also use Write-WARNINNG cmdlet to print a warning on console
• [ERROR] which will also use Write-ERROR cmdlet to print an error message on console

If no log file is specified function will default to current script path on a file named ScriptName-LogFile-CurrentDate.log

Sample Usage

Documentation of the function is available through online PowerShell help some sample usage and output are documented below.

Write Message to log file

# Will write message to C:\Temp\TestLog.log
New-LogEntry -LogMessage 'This is a test message' -LogFilePath  'C:\Temp\TestLog.log'

Content of the TestLog.log file will be

[02.29.2020 08:27:01 AM] - [INFO]: This is a test message

Write message to log file without tag

# Wrill write message without any prepending tag
New-LogEntry -LogMessage 'This is a test message without tag' -NoTag -LogFilePath  'C:\Temp\TestLog.log'

Content of the TestLog.log file will be

[02.29.2020 08:27:01 AM] : This is a test message without tag

Write warning message to log file

# Will write message to C:\Temp\TestLog.log
New-LogEntry -LogMessage 'This is a WARNINNG message' -IsWARNINNGMessage -LogFilePath  'C:\Temp\TestLog.log'

Content of the TestLog.log file will be

[02.29.2020 08:27:01 AM] : [WARNINNG] - This is a WARNINNG message

Write error message to log file

# Will write message to C:\Temp\TestLog.log
New-LogEntry -LogMessage 'This is an ERROR message' -IsERRORMessage -LogFilePath  'C:\Temp\TestLog.log'

Content of the TestLog.log file will be

[02.29.2020 08:28:05 AM] : [ERROR] - This is an ERROR message

Write message to buffer

# No output will be printed on screen 
New-LogEntry -LogMessage 'This message will only be in buffer' -BufferOnly
New-LogEntry -LogMessage 'This is a second message in buffer' -BufferOnly

# Print buffer content
$messageBuffer

[02.29.2020 08:27:01 AM] [INFO] : This message will only be in buffer
[02.29.2020 08:29:03 AM] [INFO] : This is another message in buffer

Note: When using the BufferOnly switch and writing content on screen everything will be printed on a single line but when piping buffer's content to a file it will be properly formatted.

Write message to log file only

New-LogEntry -LogMessage 'This is another message in buffer' -NoConsole -LogFilePath  'C:\Temp\TestLog.log'

The above will write log message to the designated log file but will suppress any output on console, useful when running non interactively.