Cmdlet parameter from variable 1

[blister911]

I'm looking to pass a parameter into the New-Mailbox cmdlet, but it won't accept it.

Basically what I'm doing is trying to do is create a resource or shared mailbox based on user input. I get all the information but I can't seem to get the command to accept the type of mailbox (-room, -equipment, -shared). If I hard-code the parameters it works, but then I have to have 3 blocks of almost identical code. (We change some other mailbox settings, too)

(Not actual code)
$mbox = "Conference_Room"
$mbox_upn = "Conference_Room@mydomain.com"
$grp_ou = "mydomain.com/Resources"

#Display
1. Room
2. Equipment
3. Shared Mailbox

$resource_type = read-host "Enter type of mailbox to create."
switch ($resource_type)
{
0{$null}
1{$resource = "-room"}
2{$resource = "-equipment"}
3{$resource = "-shared"}
}

New-Mailbox -Name $mbox -Alias $mbox -OrganizationalUnit $grp_ou -UserPrincipalName $mbox_upn -SamAccountName $mbox-Database $dbase_name $resource

This seems like it should be easy to do, but I can't seem to make it work.

Thanks.


Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

 

[crobin1]

I think what you want to use is what is known as splatting. I haven't tried it, but start with this "Hey, Scripting Guy!" article (and there's a link to other articles about splatting)

http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscrip...ell-splatting-to-simplify-parameter-sets.aspx

 

[mrmovie]

is it not something to do with " or ', the way it is interepting the qoutes, try messing with single qoutes somewhere?

I Hear, I Forget
I See, I Remember
I Do, I Understand

Ronald McDonald

 

[mrmovie]

or perhaps try using Invoke-Expression? this might interept the string of your command better?

I Hear, I Forget
I See, I Remember
I Do, I Understand

Ronald McDonald

 

[blister911]

crobin1 - I've played with the splatting a little, but couldn't get it to work. I'll give it another try and see if I have different results.

mrmovie - I've done a lot with the quotes and apostrophes. Nothing works. I haven't looked at Invoke-Expression, yet. I'll check into that. Thanks for the suggestion.

BTW here is the error I get from the code above:
New-Mailbox : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '-room'


Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

 

[blister911]

crobin1,
Maybe I'm missing something, but I still get an error with the splatting, because I have a parameter to assign the $resource switch to.

i.e. $params = @{'Name'=$mbox; 'Alias'=$mbox; ???=$resource}

New-Mailbox @params


Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

 

[blister911]

Well, I got it to work. I took mrmovie's suggestion to persure the invoke-expression command. I had to set a couple of other variables for switches that could contain spaces (coded in red, below).
Possible examples are: $dbase_name = "Mailbox Database" and $my_ou = "My Organization"
I may go back and do it with all the parameters just to be safe, but for now I have it working and I'm moving forward with the script.

Here is a simplified version of the commands I used:

#Display
write-host "1. Room"
write-host "2. Equipment"
write-host "3. Shared Mailbox"

$resource_type = read-host "Enter type of mailbox to create."
switch ($resource_type)
{
0{$null}
1{$resource = "-room"}
2{$resource = "-equipment"}
3{$resource = "-shared"}
}
$dbase_param = "-database '" +[b][COLOR=red]$dbase_name[/color][/b]+"'"
$org_param = "-OrganizationalUnit 'mydomain.com/"+[b][COLOR=red]$my_ou[/color][/b]+"/Accounts/Resources'"

$create_resource_mailbox = "New-Mailbox -Name $mbox -Alias $mbox $org_param -UserPrincipalName $mbox_upn -SamAccountName $sam_name -FirstName '' -Initials '' -LastName '' $dbase_param -domaincontroller $domain_controller $resource"
invoke-expression $create_resource_mailbox | out-null

Thanks for the help.


Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.