Powershell Invoke-WebRequest not timing out

Question

Powershell Invoke-WebRequest not timing out

Walkerx 141

I've created a script that downloads files from various sources and save these to a local network share for processing

If I run the script directly from powershell it works and reports error if cannot find the file needed

But if I run the powershell script through SQL Server, if the web file is not found it just hangs the job and does not timeout or report back the error 404

using the command

$Response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $source -Outfile $destination -Credential $cred
$StatusCode = $Response.StatusCode

I've tried using the -TimeoutSec and -MaximumRetryCount but these don't work either

Any ideas

Thanks

Seeya Xi-MSFT 16,586 Reputation points

2021-08-04T07:31:14.247+00:00

Hi @Walkerx ,

We have not received a response from you. Did the reply could help you? If the response helped, do "Accept Answer". If it doesn't work, please let us know the progress. By doing so, it will benefit all community members who are having this similar issue. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

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Seeya Xi-MSFT 16,586 Reputation points

2021-08-04T07:31:14.247+00:00

Hi @Walkerx ,

We have not received a response from you. Did the reply could help you? If the response helped, do "Accept Answer". If it doesn't work, please let us know the progress. By doing so, it will benefit all community members who are having this similar issue. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

Answer 1

Walkerx 141

Found the issue, its when it can't overwrite the file during the download process it fails and just hangs

Rich Matheisen 47,901

@Walkerx

If you're only downloading a file, using Invoke-WebRequest isn't the best way to do it. It's "easier" but you're still parsing the HTML (and risking another "hang" if the HTML isn't somehow acceptable to the parser).

A faster way is to use .Net directly:

$url = "http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/updt/2021/05/windows10.0-kb5003537-x64-ndp48_1fbdca72e07a18937ae2c81c032afecbb7fabe45.msu"   
$SaveTO = "C:\Updates\" + (Split-Path -Path $url -Leaf)  
  
Try{  
    (New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile($url, $SaveTO)  
}  
Catch{  
    Write-Host "Couldn't download $(Split-Path -Path $url -Leaf)"  
    $_  
}

Now exceptions will be caught!

Walkerx 141 Reputation points

2021-08-09T10:55:00.93+00:00

thanks i'll see what i can do with that as we use a proxy, authenication and security

Answer 2

Rich Matheisen 47,901

You should add a SQL server tag to your question. There isn't enough information in your question to know what's going on in your script, or how you're tasking the SQL agent to run the script.

Since the script functions normally when it's run from PowerShell, the problem is likely to be in how the end of the script is handled by SQL agent.

Answer 3

Walkerx 141

the script is running using SQL Server Agent as a daily job.

the script will exit fine if the file is found and does not receive a 404 error

if it receives a 404 error then i've set the script to exit with -1 which informs sql to treat the job as failed

Rich Matheisen 47,901 Reputation points

2021-08-03T01:48:59.313+00:00

If the script is terminated by using "Exit -1" then ERRORLEVEL should be set to "-1". The SQL Agent should be able to see that.

I have no SQL server to try anything with, though. I know it works if I run PowerShell from CMD.exe because an "ECHO ERRORLEVEL" displays a "-1". I really don't think this is a PowerShell problem.

Answer 4

Walkerx 141

SQL Agent see's an error if it is required, the issue is that invoke-webrequest just hangs if the url returns a page not found, all other links in the script work.

the powershell script is working fine when not running via the sql server agent, just because things work from cmd does not mean they will work when running through their own environment within sql server agent.

Answer 5

Hi @Walkerx ,

Please refer to this article. Quote from the bottom of it.
To bubble up Windows PowerShell errors to SQL Server Agent, you’ll need to do one of the following:
A. Set your $ErrorActionPreference = “Stop”
B. Set ErrorAction at the cmdlet-level (more granular)
C. Use Try/Catch with ErrorActionPreference or ErrorAction
D. Continue, and fail the SQL Server Agent job

Best regards,
Seeya

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Powershell Invoke-WebRequest not timing out

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