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1

$File=“gci \abcd\efgh\ijkl | select -last 1”
$From = “adcb@gmail.com”
$To = “efgh@gmail.com”
$Attachment = $File
$Subject = “Here’s the Email Subject”
$Body = “This is what I want to say”
$SMTPServer = “smtp.gmail.com”
Send-MailMessage -From $From -to $To -Subject $Subject -Body $Body -SmtpServer $SMTPServer -Attachments $Attachment

This is the error I receive:
Send-MailMessage : Illegal characters in path.
At line:1 char:1

  • Send-MailMessage -From $From -to $To -Subject $Subject -Body $Body -SmtpServer $ …
  • CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:slight_smile: [Send-MailMessage], ArgumentException
  • FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.ArgumentException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.SendMailMessage

What am I doing wrong here?
Thanks

2

What’s in your variable $Attachment? How does it look?

3

Leverage Get-Help to understand what is expected for the parameter:

Get-Help Send-MailMessage -Full

PARAMETERS
    -Attachments 
        Specifies the path and file names of files to be attached to the email message. You can use this parameter or pipe the paths and file names to Send-MailMessage .
        
        Required?                    false
        Position?                    named
        Default value                None
        Accept pipeline input?       True (ByValue)
        Accept wildcard characters?  false

The String indicates a string array, specifically an array of paths. If you run your command:

PS C:\Users\Rob> Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Scripts | Select -Last 1


    Directory: C:\Scripts


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                                                                                             
----                -------------         ------ ----                                                                                                                                             
-a----        5/28/2018   1:41 PM            202 test.csv

It is returning an object, so you need to get a Property of that object, which is FullName. Additionally, if you look at about_Splatting, you can make the code much cleaner:

$File = (Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Scripts | Select -ExpandProperty FullName -Last 1)

$mailParams = @{
    From       = "adcb@gmail.com"
    To         = "efgh@gmail.com"
    Attachment = $File
    Subject    = "Here's the Email Subject"
    Body       = "This is what I want to say"
    SMTPServer = "smtp.gmail.com"
}

Send-MailMessage @mailParams
4

I believe the issue is with your file variable. You have double quotes around the entire command. Use the -LiteralPath parameter with double quotes around the value if necessary. As it is now, $file is nothing more than a PowerShell command saved as a string. I think the -attatchment parameter probably wants a full path to a file? Not in front of a computer right now so can’t confirm. But your file variable stood out to me as a likely issue.