# Logging function
**URL:** https://forums.powershell.org/t/logging-function/513
**Category:** PowerShell Help
**Created:** [December 31, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/logging-function/513 "2011-12-31T18:30:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@archives](https://forums.powershell.org/u/archives)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/logging-function/513/1 "2011-12-31T18:30:00Z")
by aussiebenfica at 2013-01-21 23:45:33
> Hello all,
>
> This is my first post, I am new to Powershell / scripting. I did a powershell course at the end of last year and am now trying to get some of it into practice.
>
> I am creating a copy script to grab files from several locations on my network, i have some limited logging.
>
> I would like to actually log all the commands with a time stamp and what was done… I have found some ideas on the internet, a coleague gave me the below funtion, but i just cant understand how to implement it into a copy script, see example below…
>
> Function…
>
> function write-log ([string] $severity, [string] $message)
> {
> $ts = get-date -format o
> $sev = $severity.ToUpper().Substring(0,1)
> $log = "C:\Temp\log.log"
> $line = "$ts $sev $message"
> if ($sev -eq "E")
> {
> write-error $line
> }
> else
> {
> write-output $line
> }
> $line \>\> $log
> }
>
>
> Example of my copy script…
>
> # import script
>
> # Data / Source / Destination / Values
> $ImportFolder = "c:\Imports"
> $log = "C:\Imports\Logs\Import-$(get-date -format yyyyddMM).log"
> #$time = get-date -format HH:mm:ss
>
>
> $SOURCE1 = "\networklocation\export$"
> $SOURCE1\_file\_list = "file1.csv",
> "file2.csv",
> "file3.csv"
>
> foreach ($file in $SOURCE1\_file\_list)
> {
> $str = "File: $file Result: "
> try{
> copy-item $SOURCE1$file $ImportFolder -ea stop
> $str += "Success"
> }
> catch
> {
> $str += "Failed - $($_.exception.message)"
> }
> $str | out-file $log -append
> }_
>
> _$SOURCE2 = "\networklocation2\export$"
> $SOURCE2\_file\_list = "file4.csv",
> "file5.csv",
> "file6.csv"_
>
> _foreach ($file in $SOURCE2\_file\_list)
> {
> $str = "File: $file Result: "
> try{
> copy-item $SOURCE2$file $ImportFolder -ea stop
> $str += "Success"
> }
> catch
> {
> $str += "Failed - $($_.exception.message)"
> }
> $str | out-file $log -append
> }
>
> Apologies in advance if this is too long a post , or in the wrong section.
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated, Many Thanks…
>
> AB
by DonJ at 2013-01-22 05:56:21
> Welcome.
>
> As a note, you can sue the CODE or POWERSHELL buttons in the toolbar to surround your code and provide better formatting.
>
> The logging function would go at the top of your script. You simply call it whenever you want to write something to the log. For example, I might do so immediately inside your Try{} construct to log the file I was about to copy, and then inside the Catch{} construct to log any errors.
>
> `Write-Log "Severe" "$file failed"`
>
> It looks like your script is already creating a log, though, including errors. I’m not sure what you’re looking for in addition to that. There’s no PowerShell capability for simply logging every command that’s run; you have to write the code to create your log and what goes into it.
by ArtB0514 at 2013-01-22 07:35:35
> Actually, you can log the activity of a script using the Start-Transcript command. It records both the commands that are executed and any output sent to the host from the point where it is executed.
by DonJ at 2013-01-22 08:00:22
> That’s only true if you’re running in the Console host. Keep in mind that other hosts, including the ISE, may not support Start-Transcript. I just want to point that out, since someone working on a script may well be working in the ISE.
by aussiebenfica at 2013-02-04 01:09:10
> Hi Guys, Thanks for the replies…
>
> I ended up doing the below , this allowed me to get exactly what i need.
>
>
> foreach ($file in $SOURCE1\_file\_list)
> {
> $str = Get-Date -format HH:mm:ss
> $str += " -\> $file Result: "
> try{
> copy-item $SOURCE1$file $ImportFolder -ea stop
> $str += " Success"
> }
> catch
> {
> $str += "Failed - $($\_.exception.message)"
> }
> $str | Out-File $log -append -Encoding ASCII
>
> This allowed me to have a time stamp on each line of my log.
>
> Cheers
>
> AB
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### Author:  [@dotnVo](https://forums.powershell.org/u/dotnVo)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://forums.powershell.org/t/logging-function/513/2 "2024-05-16T20:58:25Z")