An empty pipe element is not allowed

Question

Hi All, can anyone help me correct the syntax. i am unable to export the output to a text file

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
if (-not (Get-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
    Write-Host "Installing NuGet provider..."
    Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -Force
}
else {
    Write-Host "NuGet provider is already installed."
}
if (-not (Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name PSWindowsUpdate)) {
    Write-Host "Installing PSWindowsUpdate module..."
    Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate -Force
}
else {
    Write-Host "PSWindowsUpdate module is already installed."
}
Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
Write-Host "Checking for available Windows Updates..."
Get-WindowsUpdate
Write-Host "Installing available Windows Updates..."
Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot:$false | Out-File -FilePath "C:\output.txt"
At line:29 char:1
+ | Out-File -FilePath "C:\output.txt"
+ ~
An empty pipe element is not allowed.
    + CategoryInfo          : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : EmptyPipeElement

Answer 1

I didn't have any problem with the brackets on Win10/PS5.1, but -AutoReboot:$false did not work. I get a prompt.

-IgnoreReboot appears to work. I need to verify on another VM.

After a reboot, when I rerun the script I get this.

Here is the script that I used. Updated on 4/3..

$LogFolder = "C:\Temp"                                # Where to put log files 
$ts = $LogFolder + "\PatchInstallTranscript.log"
$op = $LogFolder + "\PatchInstallOutput.log"

Start-Transcript -Path $ts

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
if (-not (Get-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
    Write-Host "NOT Installing NuGet provider..."
    Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -Force -confirm:$false
}
else {
    Write-Host "NuGet provider is already installed."
}
if (-not (Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name PSWindowsUpdate)) {
    Write-Host "Installing PSWindowsUpdate module..."
    Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate -Force -confirm:$false
}
else {
    Write-Host "PSWindowsUpdate module is already installed."
}
Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
Write-Host "Checking for available Windows Updates..."
Get-WindowsUpdate -verbose -IgnoreReboot
Write-Host "Installing available Windows Updates..."
$Update = Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -IgnoreReboot -verbose
if (!$Update) {
   $Update = "Install-WindowsUpdate did not return any data."
}
                                            
$Update | format-table -wrap | Out-File -FilePath $op 
get-content $op                     # record in transcript   
Stop-Transcript

I would recommend that you do a reboot in case you have updates installed and waiting to to be implemented and/or other powershell.exe processes waiting for someone to type in y/n.

Answer 2

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
if (-not (Get-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
    Write-Host "Installing NuGet provider..."
    Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -Force
}
else {
    Write-Host "NuGet provider is already installed."
}
if (-not (Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name PSWindowsUpdate)) {
    Write-Host "Installing PSWindowsUpdate module..."
    Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate -Force
}
else {
    Write-Host "PSWindowsUpdate module is already installed."
}
Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
Write-Host "Checking for available Windows Updates..."
Get-WindowsUpdate
Write-Host "Installing available Windows Updates..."
$x = Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot:$false -verbose
$x.gettype()
$x | Out-File -FilePath "C:\windows\temp\output.txt"

You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.

At line:21 char:1

• $x.gettype()

• 
      + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
  
      + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvokeMethodOnNull
  
  

Answer 3

The whole script is the above. not sure what mistake i am doing

Answer 4

I ran that script interactively and got this weird error about "else" not be recognized! That shook loose a remembrance of a PowerShell parsing problem from long ago.

Try this version of the script:

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
if (-not (Get-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)){
    Write-Host "Installing NuGet provider..."
    Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -Force
}
else{
    Write-Host "NuGet provider is already installed."
}
if (-not (Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name PSWindowsUpdate)){
    Write-Host "Installing PSWindowsUpdate module..."
    Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate -Force
}
else{
    Write-Host "PSWindowsUpdate module is already installed."
}
Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
Write-Host "Checking for available Windows Updates..."
Get-WindowsUpdate
Write-Host "Installing available Windows Updates..."
Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot:$false | Out-File -FilePath "C:\output.txt"

The only thing different is the removal of the space between the else and the "{" in two places. Just to safe I also removed the spaces between the last ")" and the following "{" in the two "if" statements (I don't think that's a problem but I didn't want to test twice). I do remember that there was also a problem (at least I think I remember that) with the trailing space after the "{" in an "if" statement).

Answer 5

at stop-transcript i am getting error.

Stop-Transcript : An error occurred stopping transcription: The host is not currently transcribing.

At line:28 char:1

• Stop-Transcript

• 
      + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [Stop-Transcript], PSInvalidOperationException
  
      + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidOperation,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StopTranscriptCommand