Powershell / SQL Inventory and last backup date Skips some servers?

Question

Good Morning experts... I have a text file with a list of servers.. I am trying to automate a script that scans through them all and checks all databases to ensure everything is getting backed up... It works great (I copied the guts of the script from here,
I think and modified it so I could "Learn").  The only problem I have is some of the servers report an error saying can not connect and bypasses it.  After the script is over, I can go back and query that single server and it responds correctly..
Has anyone else come across anything like that?  I will include the script I have been using.. if you had 100+ servers to support with MULTIPLE instances on each how would you do it?
<#####################################################################
# Get All instances and Date of last Full / Log Backup of each
######################################################################>
#region Variables
$TextFileLocation = "C:\serverlist.txt"
$intRow = 1
$BackgroundColor = 36
$FontColor = 25
#endregion
#Region Open Excel
$Excel = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$Excel.visible = $True
$Excel = $Excel.Workbooks.Add()
$Sheet = $Excel.Worksheets.Item(1)
#endregion
#Go through text file one at a time
foreach($instance in Get-Content $TextFileLocation)
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,1) = "INSTANCE NAME:"
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,2) = $instance
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,1).Font.Bold = $True
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,2).Font.Bold = $True
for ($column =1; $column -le 2; $column++)
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow, $column).Interior.Colorindex = 44
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow, $column).Font.ColorIndex = $FontColor
#Increase Row count by 1
$intRow++
#Create sub-headers
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,1) = "Name"
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,2) = "LAST FULL BACKUP"
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,3) = "LAST LOG BACKUP"
#Format the column headers
for ($col = 1; $col -le 3; $col++)
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,$col).Font.Bold = $True
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,$col).Interior.ColorIndex = $BackgroundColor
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow,$col).Font.ColorIndex = $FontColor
#Finished with Headers, now move to the data
$intRow++
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('Microsoft.SqlServer.SMO') | Out-Null
# Create an SMO connection to the instance in servers.txt
$s = New-Object ('Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server') $instance
$dbs = $s.Databases
foreach ($db in $dbs)
if ($db.Name -ne "tempdb")
if($db.LastBackupDate -eq "1/1/0001 12:00 AM")
$fullbackupdate = "Never Backed Up"
$fgColor = "red"
else
#$fullBackupDate= "{0:g2}" -f $db.LastBackupDate
$fullBackupDate = $db.LastBackupDate
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow, 1) = $db.Name
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow, 2) = $db.LastBackupDate #$fullBackupDate
if ($db.RecoveryModel.Tostring() -eq "SIMPLE")
$logBackupDate="Simple"
else
#See Date Above..-eq is same as =
if($db.LastLogBackupDate -eq "1/1/0001 12:00 AM")
$logBackupDate="Never"
else
#$logBackupDate= "{0:g2}" -f $db.LastLogBackupDate
$logBackupDate = $db.LastLogBackupDate
$Sheet.Cells.Item($intRow, 3) = $logBackupdate
$intRow ++
$intRow ++
$Sheet.UsedRange.EntireColumn.AutoFit()
cls
Am I going about this the correct way, or is there a "Better" way to do this that I have not come across yet?
Thank you

Answer 1

Sorry JRV... I will put more of an example here.
I want to do an inventory of all our our instances and verify if they are being backed up correctly, I just wrote a script to test:
$TextFileLocation = "C:\servers.txt"
foreach($instance in get-content $TextFileLocation)
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('Microsoft.SqlServer.SMO') | Out-Null
$s = New-Object ("Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.SMO.Server") $instance
$dbs = $s.Databases
foreach($db in $dbs)
$location = $db.Name
$logBackupDate = $db.LastLogBackupDate
if($db.RecoveryModel.Tostring() -eq "SIMPLE")
Write-host "$s - $location - SIMPLE Recovery"
elseif($db.RecoveryModel.ToString() -ne "SIMPLE")
Write-Host "$s - $location - $logBackupDate"
output is expected, and everything works fine... But some servers I get the following error:
PS K:\MyScripts\powershell> . 'C:\Users\scj0025\AppData\Local\Temp\Untitled30.ps1'
foreach : The following exception was thrown when trying to enumerate the collection: "Failed to connect to server poly04406.".
At C:\Users\scj0025\AppData\Local\Temp\Untitled30.ps1:9 char:8
+ foreach <<<< ($db in $dbs)
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], ExtendedTypeSystemException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ExceptionInGetEnumerator
If I go to another script and look at the same server, I get the results I expect:
Function Get-SQLInstance {  
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Retrieves SQL server information from a local or remote servers.
.DESCRIPTION
Retrieves SQL server information from a local or remote servers. Pulls all
instances from a SQL server and detects if in a cluster or not.
.PARAMETER Computername
Local or remote systems to query for SQL information.
.NOTES
Name: Get-SQLInstance
Author: Boe Prox
DateCreated: 07 SEPT 2013
.EXAMPLE
Get-SQLInstance -Computername DC1
SQLInstance : MSSQLSERVER
Version : 10.0.1600.22
isCluster : False
Computername : DC1
FullName : DC1
isClusterNode : False
Edition : Enterprise Edition
ClusterName :
ClusterNodes : {}
Caption : SQL Server 2008
SQLInstance : MINASTIRITH
Version : 10.0.1600.22
isCluster : False
Computername : DC1
FullName : DC1\MINASTIRITH
isClusterNode : False
Edition : Enterprise Edition
ClusterName :
ClusterNodes : {}
Caption : SQL Server 2008
Description
Retrieves the SQL information from DC1
#>
[cmdletbinding()] 
Param (
[parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$True,ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$True)]
[Alias('__Server','DNSHostName','IPAddress')]
#[string[]]$ComputerName = Get-Host "C:\serverlist.txt"
[string[]]$ComputerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
Process {
ForEach ($Computer in $Computername) {
$Computer = $computer -replace '(.*?)\..+','$1'
Write-Verbose ("Checking {0}" -f $Computer)
Try {
$reg = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenRemoteBaseKey('LocalMachine', $Computer)
$baseKeys = "SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Microsoft SQL Server",
"SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Microsoft\\Microsoft SQL Server"
If ($reg.OpenSubKey($basekeys[0])) {
$regPath = $basekeys[0]
} ElseIf ($reg.OpenSubKey($basekeys[1])) {
$regPath = $basekeys[1]
} Else {
Continue
$regKey= $reg.OpenSubKey("$regPath")
If ($regKey.GetSubKeyNames() -contains "Instance Names") {
$regKey= $reg.OpenSubKey("$regpath\\Instance Names\\SQL" )
$instances = @($regkey.GetValueNames())
} ElseIf ($regKey.GetValueNames() -contains 'InstalledInstances') {
$isCluster = $False
$instances = $regKey.GetValue('InstalledInstances')
} Else {
Continue
If ($instances.count -gt 0) {
ForEach ($instance in $instances) {
$nodes = New-Object System.Collections.Arraylist
$clusterName = $Null
$isCluster = $False
$instanceValue = $regKey.GetValue($instance)
$instanceReg = $reg.OpenSubKey("$regpath\\$instanceValue")
If ($instanceReg.GetSubKeyNames() -contains "Cluster") {
$isCluster = $True
$instanceRegCluster = $instanceReg.OpenSubKey('Cluster')
$clusterName = $instanceRegCluster.GetValue('ClusterName')
$clusterReg = $reg.OpenSubKey("Cluster\\Nodes")
$clusterReg.GetSubKeyNames() | ForEach {
$null = $nodes.Add($clusterReg.OpenSubKey($_).GetValue('NodeName'))
$instanceRegSetup = $instanceReg.OpenSubKey("Setup")
Try {
$edition = $instanceRegSetup.GetValue('Edition')
} Catch {
$edition = $Null
Try {
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
#Get from filename to determine version
$servicesReg = $reg.OpenSubKey("SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services")
$serviceKey = $servicesReg.GetSubKeyNames() | Where {
$_ -match "$instance"
} | Select -First 1
$service = $servicesReg.OpenSubKey($serviceKey).GetValue('ImagePath')
$file = $service -replace '^.*(\w:\\.*\\sqlservr.exe).*','$1'
$version = (Get-Item ("\\$Computer\$($file -replace ":","$")")).VersionInfo.ProductVersion
} Catch {
#Use potentially less accurate version from registry
$Version = $instanceRegSetup.GetValue('Version')
} Finally {
$ErrorActionPreference = 'Continue'
New-Object PSObject -Property @{
Computername = $Computer
SQLInstance = $instance
Edition = $edition
Version = $version
Caption = {Switch -Regex ($version) {
"^11" {'SQL Server 2012';Break}
"^10\.5" {'SQL Server 2008 R2';Break}
"^10" {'SQL Server 2008';Break}
"^9" {'SQL Server 2005';Break}
"^8" {'SQL Server 2000';Break}
Default {'Unknown'}
}}.InvokeReturnAsIs()
isCluster = $isCluster
isClusterNode = ($nodes -contains $Computer)
ClusterName = $clusterName
ClusterNodes = ($nodes -ne $Computer)
FullName = {
If ($Instance -eq 'MSSQLSERVER') {
$Computer
} Else {
"$($Computer)\$($instance)"
}.InvokeReturnAsIs()
} Catch {
Write-Warning ("{0}: {1}" -f $Computer,$_.Exception.Message)
When I run this command, I get:
PS C:\Users\scj0025\Documents> Get-SQLInstance -ComputerName poly04406
SQLInstance   : SQL642K5_01
Version       : 9.2.3042.00
isCluster     : False
Computername  : poly04406
FullName      : poly04406\SQL642K5_01
isClusterNode : False
Edition       : Enterprise Edition (64-bit)
ClusterName   : 
ClusterNodes  : {}
Caption       : SQL Server 2005
SQLInstance   : CONSQL2K8
Version       : 10.0.2531.0
isCluster     : False
Computername  : poly04406
FullName      : poly04406\CONSQL2K8
isClusterNode : False
Edition       : Enterprise Edition
ClusterName   : 
ClusterNodes  : {}
Caption       : SQL Server 2008
I notice to get this information the get-sqlinstance script is looking at the registry.. is that the "Better" way to get an accurate list of this?
(I understand they are looking for different things, but why wont the first script pick up the different instances on the server, I wonder...)