Monitoring scripts with email alerts in PowerShell - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to send an email alert using PowerShell's Send-MailMessage cmdlet.

PowerShell

Send-MailMessage -To "[e-mail]" -From "[e-mail]" -Subject "Alert" -Body "Disk space low" -SmtpServer [1]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Amailserver

Blocalhost

C192.168.1.1

Dsmtp.example.com

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'localhost' when no SMTP server is running locally

Using an IP address that is not the SMTP server

Leaving the SMTP server blank

The -SmtpServer parameter requires the SMTP server address to send the email. "smtp.example.com" is a valid SMTP server address.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to check if free disk space on C: drive is less than 10 GB.

PowerShell

$freeSpace = (Get-PSDrive -Name C).Free; if ($freeSpace [1] 10GB) { Write-Output "Low disk space" }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A-lt

B-gt

C-eq

D-ne

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '-gt' which means greater than

Using '-eq' which means equal

Using '-ne' which means not equal

The operator -lt means 'less than'. We want to check if free space is less than 10GB.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the script to send an email alert only if disk space is low.

PowerShell

if ($freeSpace [1] 5GB) { Send-MailMessage -To "[e-mail]" -From "[e-mail]" -Subject "Disk Alert" -Body "Disk space critically low" -SmtpServer "smtp.example.com" }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A-gt

B-lt

C-eq

D-ne

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '-gt' which triggers alert when space is more than 5GB

Using '-eq' which triggers alert only if exactly 5GB

Using '-ne' which triggers alert for any value except 5GB

The condition should check if free space is less than 5GB to trigger the alert, so -lt is correct.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a hashtable with drive letter as key and free space as value, filtering drives with more than 20GB free.

PowerShell

$drives = Get-PSDrive | Where-Object { $_.Free [1] 20GB } | ForEach-Object { @{ $_.Name = $_.Free [2] } }

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A-gt

B-lt

C=

D==

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '-lt' instead of '-gt' for filtering

Using '==' instead of '=' for assignment

Confusing comparison and assignment operators

The filter uses -gt to select drives with free space greater than 20GB. The hashtable uses = to assign the free space value to the drive letter key.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill the blanks to create a script that checks disk space, sends alert if below threshold, and logs the event.

PowerShell

$threshold = 15GB
$freeSpace = (Get-PSDrive -Name D).Free
if ($freeSpace [1] $threshold) {
    Send-MailMessage -To "[e-mail]" -From "[e-mail]" -Subject "Disk Alert" -Body "Drive D low space" -SmtpServer [2]
    Add-Content -Path "C:\Logs\disk_alert.log" -Value "Drive D low space at $(Get-Date)"
}
else {
    Write-Output "Disk space sufficient"
}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A-lt

Bsmtp.example.com

C-gt

Dlocalhost

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using '-gt' instead of '-lt' in the condition

Using wrong SMTP server address

Confusing log file path with SMTP server

The condition uses -lt to check if free space is less than threshold. The SMTP server is "smtp.example.com" to send the email.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of using email alerts in PowerShell monitoring scripts?

easy

A. To notify administrators immediately when a problem occurs

B. To slow down the script execution

C. To store logs locally on the computer

D. To increase the script's runtime

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand monitoring scripts

   Monitoring scripts check system health or status automatically without manual checks.

2. Step 2: Role of email alerts

   Email alerts send notifications immediately when an issue is detected, so admins can act fast.

3. Final Answer:

   To notify administrators immediately when a problem occurs -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Alerts = Notify admins fast [OK]

Hint: Email alerts = instant problem notification [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking email alerts slow scripts
• Confusing alerts with local log storage
• Assuming alerts increase runtime

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to send an email alert using PowerShell's Send-MailMessage cmdlet?

easy

A. Send-MailMessage -Sender '[e-mail]' -Receiver '[e-mail]' -Title 'Alert' -Content 'Issue detected' -Server 'smtp.example.com'

B. Send-Mail -From '[e-mail]' -To '[e-mail]' -Subject 'Alert' -Body 'Issue detected' -Server 'smtp.example.com'

C. Send-MailMessage -From '[e-mail]' -To '[e-mail]' -Subject 'Alert' -Body 'Issue detected' -SmtpServer 'smtp.example.com'

D. Send-Email -From '[e-mail]' -To '[e-mail]' -Subject 'Alert' -Body 'Issue detected' -SmtpServer 'smtp.example.com'

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify correct cmdlet and parameters

   The correct cmdlet is Send-MailMessage with parameters -From, -To, -Subject, -Body, and -SmtpServer.

2. Step 2: Check each option's syntax

   Send-MailMessage -From '[e-mail]' -To '[e-mail]' -Subject 'Alert' -Body 'Issue detected' -SmtpServer 'smtp.example.com' uses correct cmdlet and parameter names. Others use incorrect cmdlet names or parameter names.

3. Final Answer:

   Send-MailMessage -From '[e-mail]' -To '[e-mail]' -Subject 'Alert' -Body 'Issue detected' -SmtpServer 'smtp.example.com' -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Send-MailMessage + correct params = A [OK]

Hint: Send-MailMessage with -From, -To, -Subject, -Body, -SmtpServer [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using wrong cmdlet names like Send-Mail or Send-Email
• Incorrect parameter names like -Sender or -Receiver
• Missing -SmtpServer parameter

3. What will be the output of this PowerShell snippet?

if ((Get-Process -Name 'notepad' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -eq $null) {
  Send-MailMessage -From '[e-mail]' -To '[e-mail]' -Subject 'Notepad not running' -Body 'Please start Notepad.' -SmtpServer 'smtp.example.com'
  'Alert sent'
} else {
  'Notepad is running'
}

medium

A. No output because Send-MailMessage blocks output

B. 'Alert sent' if Notepad is not running, else 'Notepad is running'

C. Syntax error due to missing parentheses

D. Always 'Alert sent' regardless of Notepad status

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the condition

   The script checks if Notepad process exists; if not found, condition is true.

2. Step 2: Analyze the if-else branches

   If Notepad is not running, it sends an email and outputs 'Alert sent'. Otherwise, outputs 'Notepad is running'.

3. Final Answer:

   'Alert sent' if Notepad is not running, else 'Notepad is running' -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Process check controls output [OK]

Hint: Check process null means send alert, else normal message [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming Send-MailMessage blocks output
• Thinking condition always true
• Confusing error handling with syntax error

4. You wrote this script to send an email alert if disk space is low:

$freeSpace = (Get-PSDrive C).Free
if ($freeSpace -lt "100MB") {
  Send-MailMessage -From '[e-mail]' -To '[e-mail]' -Subject 'Low Disk Space' -Body 'Disk space below 100MB' -SmtpServer 'smtp.example.com'
}

But no email is sent even when disk space is low. What is the likely problem?

medium

A. The if condition should use -gt instead of -lt

B. Get-PSDrive does not return Free space

C. Send-MailMessage requires -Port parameter

D. 100MB is not a valid size unit in PowerShell comparison

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the size comparison

   PowerShell does not recognize '100MB' as a valid number; it must be converted to bytes.

2. Step 2: Understand Get-PSDrive output

   Get-PSDrive returns Free space in bytes as a number, so comparing to '100MB' string fails silently.

3. Final Answer:

   100MB is not a valid size unit in PowerShell comparison -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Size units must be numeric bytes [OK]

Hint: Use numeric bytes, not '100MB' string in comparisons [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming Get-PSDrive Free is not available
• Thinking Send-MailMessage needs -Port always
• Confusing less than and greater than operators

5. You want to create a PowerShell monitoring script that checks CPU usage every 5 minutes and sends an email alert if usage exceeds 80%. Which approach correctly implements this?

hard

A. Use a loop with Start-Sleep 300, check CPU with Get-Counter, send email if over 80%

B. Run Get-Counter once, then send email immediately without looping

C. Use a scheduled task to run the script every hour, check CPU, send email if over 80%

D. Use a loop with Start-Sleep 60, check CPU once, then exit

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand monitoring frequency

   Checking CPU every 5 minutes requires a loop with a 300-second (5-minute) sleep between checks.

2. Step 2: Use Get-Counter and conditional email

   Get-Counter can measure CPU usage; if usage > 80%, Send-MailMessage sends alert.

3. Step 3: Evaluate options

   Use a loop with Start-Sleep 300, check CPU with Get-Counter, send email if over 80% uses loop with Start-Sleep 300 and conditional email, matching requirements. Others either run once or wrong intervals.

4. Final Answer:

   Use a loop with Start-Sleep 300, check CPU with Get-Counter, send email if over 80% -> Option A

5. Quick Check:

   Loop + 5 min sleep + CPU check + email = C [OK]

Hint: Loop with 300s sleep and conditional email alert [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Running check only once without loop
• Using wrong sleep duration
• Confusing scheduled task frequency with script loop