Check-PSGalleryApiAvailability fails when network is available

[iricigor]

Function that checks for PS Gallery API availability (link to dev branch here) is performing these three steps:

Test-Connection -ComputerName $microsoftDomain
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName $microsoftDomain
[System.Net.NetworkInformation.NetworkInterface]::GetIsNetworkAvailable()

Expected Behavior

If any of those commands returns $true check should be successful.

Current Behavior

If some command throws an error, entire check will fail. Commands after failing one are not executed.

Possible Solution

We can catch exceptions thrown from these commands and proceed checking with next commands until we find connection or we do all three checks.

Something like:

if (command1available) {
  try {$connected = Do-Check1}
  catch {$connected = $false}
}

if ( -not $connected -and (command2available)) {
  try {$connected = Do-Check2}
  catch {$connected = $false}
}

if ( -not $connected -and (command3available)) {
  try {$connected = Do-Check3}
  catch {$connected = $false}
}

Or, another option would be to simply add -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue to each check as $connected is set to $false in advance.

Steps to Reproduce (for bugs)

I encountered this issue while playing with Azure Functions.
Exact steps to identify this issue is to simply run these commands inside custom PowerShell Azure Function

Find-Module PowerShellGet
Install-Module PowerShellGet -Scope CurrentUser

First one will work fine, second one will fail on described error.

To further narrow down the error, you may run these commands:

[System.Net.NetworkInformation.NetworkInterface]::GetIsNetworkAvailable()
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 'www.microsoft.com' -InformationLevel Quiet

First one will return $true, while second one will throw an exception

[Error] Test-Connection : No such interface supported

Also, running Get-NetAdapter command inside of the Azure Function will give you:

Get-NetAdapter : Cannot connect to CIM server. Access is denied

Your Environment

$PSVersionTable

Name                           Value                                                                                    

----                           -----                                                                                    

PSVersion                      5.1.14393.2125                                                                           

PSEdition                      Desktop                                                                                  

PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}                                                                  

BuildVersion                   10.0.14393.2125                                                                          

CLRVersion                     4.0.30319.42000                                                                          

WSManStackVersion              3.0                                                                                      

PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3                                                                                      

SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1

Get-Module -ListAvailable PowerShellGet,PackageManagement

Directory: D:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules





ModuleType Version    Name                                ExportedCommands                                              

---------- -------    ----                                ----------------                                              

Binary     1.0.0.1    PackageManagement                   {Find-Package, Get-Package, Get-PackageProvider, Get-Packag...

Script     1.0.0.1    PowerShellGet                       {Install-Module, Find-Module, Save-Module, Update-Module...}  





    Directory: D:\Program Files (x86)\WindowsPowerShell\Modules





ModuleType Version    Name                                ExportedCommands                                              

---------- -------    ----                                ----------------                                              

Binary     1.0.0.1    PackageManagement                   {Find-Package, Get-Package, Get-PackageProvider, Get-Packag...

Script     1.0.0.1    PowerShellGet                       {Install-Module, Find-Module, Save-Module, Update-Module...}

Get-PackageProvider -ListAvailable

Name                     Version          DynamicOptions                                                                

----                     -------          --------------                                                                

msi                      3.0.0.0          AdditionalArguments                                                           

msu                      3.0.0.0                                                                                        

PowerShellGet            1.0.0.1          PackageManagementProvider, Type, Scope, AllowClobber, SkipPublisherCheck, I...

Programs                 3.0.0.0          IncludeWindowsInstaller, IncludeSystemComponent

P.S.

I can do PR if needed, but I'd like to hear opinions first. Maybe this check is not needed at all?

[bmanikm]

@iricigor thanks for the proposed solution! If possible, please submit a PR too.

[iricigor]

Seems like Test-Connection throws an error even with -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue. So, I'd rather go with solution with try catch on all three commands.

But that, raises another question. catch {$connected = $false} is not really needed, as $connected is set to $false in advance. So, it is enough to have empty catch block, like catch {} all three times. I will just add comments after them (like this).

That's OK, or someone has better suggestion?

[bmanikm]

@iricigor I am fine with the empty catch blocks. Did you get a chance to try with -ErrorAction Ignore?

[iricigor]

Yes, I tried -EA Ignore. It had the same effect at the end.

[BladeFireLight]

I see that the proposed solution is in place.

However I question the whole process.

What does the ability to ping www.microsoft.com have to do with checking a URL's API.

In our environment these checks add 45 seconds to every command that uses this function as they timeout trying to check for a nonexistent internet connection.

If your testing the API itself, the only thing that matters is, can you talk the required protocol to the target URL.

Why not just test that?

[SydneyhSmith]

Closing as I believe this was resolved with PR #374 will re-open if this is still an issue