Invoke-RestMethod

Invoke-RestMethod [-Uri*] <Uri> [-Body <Object>] [-Certificate <X509Certificate>] [-CertificateThumbprint <String>][-ContentType <String>] [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-DisableKeepAlive] [-Headers <IDictionary>] [-InFile<String>] [-MaximumRedirection <Int32>] [-Method {Default | Get | Head | Post | Put | Delete | Trace | Options |Merge | Patch}] [-OutFile <String>] [-PassThru] [-Proxy <Uri>] [-ProxyCredential <PSCredential>][-ProxyUseDefaultCredentials] [-SessionVariable <String>] [-TimeoutSec <Int32>] [-TransferEncoding {chunked |compress | deflate | gzip | identity}] [-UseBasicParsing] [-UseDefaultCredentials] [-UserAgent <String>][-WebSession <WebRequestSession>] [<CommonParameters>]

The Invoke-RestMethod cmdlet sends HTTP and HTTPS requests to Representational State Transfer (REST) web services that returns richly structured data.

Windows PowerShell formats the response based to the data type. For an RSS or ATOM feed, Windows PowerShell returns the Item or Entry XML nodes. For JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or XML, Windows PowerShell converts (or deserializes) the content into objects.

This cmdlet was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

Parameters

-Body <Object>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByValue

Specifies the body of the request. The body is the content of the request that follows the headers. You can also pipe a body value to Invoke-RestMethod .

The Body parameter can be used to specify a list of query parameters or specify the content of the response.

When the input is a GET request, and the body is an IDictionary (typically, a hash table), the body is added to the URI as query parameters. For other request types (such as POST), the body is set as the value of the request body in the standard name=value format.

When the body is a form, or it is the output of another Invoke-WebRequest call, Windows PowerShell sets the request content to the form fields.

For example:

`$R = Invoke-WebRequest http://website.com/login.aspx` `$R.Forms[0].Name = "MyName"` `$R.Forms[0].Password = "MyPassword"` `Invoke-RestMethod http://website.com/service.aspx -Body $R`

- or -

`Invoke-RestMethod http://website.com/service.aspx -Body $R.Forms[0]`

-Certificate <X509Certificate>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the client certificate that is used for a secure web request. Enter a variable that contains a certificate or a command or expression that gets the certificate.

To find a certificate, use Get-PfxCertificate or use the Get-ChildItem cmdlet in the Certificate (Cert:) drive. If the certificate is not valid or does not have sufficient authority, the command fails.

-CertificateThumbprint <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has permission to send the request. Enter the certificate thumbprint of the certificate.

Certificates are used in client certificate-based authentication. They can be mapped only to local user accounts; they do not work with domain accounts.

To get a certificate thumbprint, use the Get-Item or Get-ChildItem command in the Windows PowerShell Cert: drive.

-ContentType <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the content type of the web request.

If this parameter is omitted and the request method is POST, Invoke-RestMethod sets the content type to application/x-www-form-urlencoded. Otherwise, the content type is not specified in the call.

-Credential <PSCredential>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a user account that has permission to send the request. The default is the current user.

Type a user name, such as User01 or Domain01\User01, or enter a PSCredential object, such as one generated by the Get-Credential cmdlet.

-DisableKeepAlive [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Indicates that the cmdlet sets the KeepAlive value in the HTTP header to False. By default, KeepAlive is True. KeepAlive establishes a persistent connection to the server to facilitate subsequent requests.

-Headers <IDictionary>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the headers of the web request. Enter a hash table or dictionary.

To set UserAgent headers, use the UserAgent parameter. You cannot use this parameter to specify UserAgent or cookie headers.

-InFile <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the file for which this cmdlet gets the content of the web request.

Enter a path and file name. If you omit the path, the default is the current location.

-MaximumRedirection <Int32>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies how many times Windows PowerShell redirects a connection to an alternate Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) before the connection fails. The default value is 5. A value of 0 (zero) prevents all redirection.

-Method <WebRequestMethod>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the method used for the web request. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

- Default

- Delete

- Get

- Head

- Merge

- Options

- Patch

- Post

- Put

- Trace

-OutFile <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the output file that this cmdlet saves the response body. Enter a path and file name. If you omit the path, the default is the current location.

By default, Invoke-RestMethod returns the results to the pipeline. To send the results to a file and to the pipeline, use the Passthru parameter.

-PassThru [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Indicates that the cmdlet returns the results, in addition to writing them to a file. This parameter is valid only when the OutFile parameter is also used in the command.

-Proxy <Uri>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies that the cmdlet uses a proxy server for the request, rather than connecting directly to the Internet resource. Enter the URI of a network proxy server.

-ProxyCredential <PSCredential>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a user account that has permission to use the proxy server that is specified by the Proxy parameter. The default is the current user.

Type a user name, such as "User01" or "Domain01\User01", or enter a PSCredential object, such as one generated by the Get-Credential cmdlet.

This parameter is valid only when the Proxy parameter is also used in the command. You cannot use the ProxyCredential and ProxyUseDefaultCredentials parameters in the same command.

-ProxyUseDefaultCredentials [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Indicates that the cmdlet uses the credentials of the current user to access the proxy server that is specified by the Proxy parameter.

This parameter is valid only when the Proxy parameter is also used in the command. You cannot use the ProxyCredential and ProxyUseDefaultCredentials parameters in the same command.

-SessionVariable <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a variable for which this cmdlet creates a web request session and saves it in the value. Enter a variable name without the dollar sign ($) symbol.

When you specify a session variable, Invoke-RestMethod creates a web request session object and assigns it to a variable with the specified name in your Windows PowerShell session. You can use the variable in your session as soon as the command completes.

Unlike a remote session, the web request session is not a persistent connection. It is an object that contains information about the connection and the request, including cookies, credentials, the maximum redirection value, and the user agent string. You can use it to share state and data among web requests.

To use the web request session in subsequent web requests, specify the session variable in the value of the WebSession parameter. Windows PowerShell uses the data in the web request session object when establishing the new connection. To override a value in the web request session, use a cmdlet parameter, such as UserAgent or Credential . Parameter values take precedence over values in the web request session.

You cannot use the SessionVariable and WebSession parameters in the same command.

-TimeoutSec <Int32>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies how long the request can be pending before it times out. Enter a value in seconds. The default value, 0, specifies an indefinite time-out.

A Domain Name System (DNS) query can take up to 15 seconds to return or time out. If your request contains a host name that requires resolution, and you set TimeoutSec to a value greater than zero, but less than 15 seconds, it can take 15 seconds or more before a WebException is thrown, and your request times out.

-TransferEncoding <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a value for the transfer-encoding HTTP response header. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

- Chunked

- Compress

- Deflate

- GZip

- Identity

-Uri <Uri>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) of the Internet resource to which the web request is sent. This parameter supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and FILE values.

This parameter is required. The parameter name ( Uri ) is optional.

-UseBasicParsing [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Indicates that the cmdlet uses basic parsing.

The Body parameter can be used to specify a list of query parameters or specify the content of the response.

When the body is a form, or it is the output of another Invoke-WebRequest call, Windows PowerShell sets the request content to the form fields.

For example:

`$R = Invoke-WebRequest http://website.com/login.aspx` `$R.Forms[0].Name = "MyName"` `$R.Forms[0].Password = "MyPassword"` `Invoke-RestMethod http://website.com/service.aspx -Body $R`

- or -

`Invoke-RestMethod http://website.com/service.aspx -Body $R.Forms[0]`

-UseDefaultCredentials [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Indicates that the cmdlet uses the credentials of the current user to send the web request.

-UserAgent <String>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a user agent string for the web request.

The default user agent is similar to Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT; Windows NT 6.1; en-US) WindowsPowerShell/3.0 with slight variations for each operating system and platform.

To test a website with the standard user agent string that is used by most Internet browsers, use the properties of the PSUserAgenthttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh484857(v=vs.85).aspx class, such as Chrome, FireFox, InternetExplorer, Opera, and Safari.

For example, the following command uses the user agent string for Internet.

`Invoke-WebRequest -Uri http://website.com/ -UserAgent ([Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.PSUserAgent]::InternetExplorer)`

-WebSession <WebRequestSession>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a web request session. Enter the variable name, including the dollar sign ($).

To override a value in the web request session, use a cmdlet parameter, such as UserAgent or Credential . Parameter values take precedence over values in the web request session.

To create a web request session, enter a variable name (without a dollar sign) in the value of the SessionVariable parameter of an Invoke-RestMethod command. Invoke-RestMethod creates the session and saves it in the variable. In subsequent commands, use the variable as the value of the WebSession parameter.

You cannot use the SessionVariable and WebSession parameters in the same command.

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Inputs

System.Object

You can pipe the body of a web request to Invoke-Rest-Method .

Outputs

System.Xml.XmlDocument, Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.HtmlWebResponseObject, System.String

The output of the cmdlet depends upon the format of the content that is retrieved. PSObject If the request returns JSON strings, Invoke-RestMethod returns a PSObject that represents the strings.

Examples

Get the PowerShell RSS feed:

PS C:\> Invoke-RestMethod -Uri http://blogs.msdn.com/powershell/rss.aspx | Format-Table -Property Title, pubDate
Title                                                                 pubDate-----------
Another Holiday Gift from the PowerShell Team: PowerShell 3.0 CTP2... Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:46:00 GMT
More Videos from the First PowerShell Deep Dive                       Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:59:00 GMT
PowerShell Deep Dive Lineup                                           Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:42:00 GMT
Windows Management Framework 3.0 Community Technology Preview (CTP... Mon, 19 Sep 2011 23:56:26 GMT
Get-Help -Online Fails in German                                      Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:02:00 GMT
PowerShell Deep Dive Registration Info & Call for Session Proposals   Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:25:00 GMT
Invoke-Expression considered harmful                                  Fri, 03 Jun 2011 15:43:00 GMT
PowerShell at TechEd 2011                                             Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:58:36 GMT
PowerShell Language now licensed under the Community Promise          Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:13:00 GMT
Scaling and Queuing PowerShell Background Jobs                        Mon, 04 Apr 2011 20:30:58 GMT
More Deep Dive Info, Including Abstracts from the PowerShell Team     Sun, 13 Mar 2011 01:35:42 GMT
A Few Deep Dive Abstracts                                             Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:26:00 GMT
Reminder: Register for the PowerShell Deep Dive Conference & submi... Wed, 23 Feb 2011 17:55:45 GMT

This command uses the Invoke-RestMethod cmdlet to get information from the Windows PowerShell Blog RSS feed. The command uses the Format-Table cmdlet to display the values of the Title and pubDate properties of each blog in a table.

Perform a POST request:

PS C:\> $Cred = Get-Credential

   # Next, allow the use of self-signed SSL certificates.
   [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::ServerCertificateValidationCallback = { $True }
   # Create variables to store the values consumed by the Invoke-RestMethod command. The search variable contents are 
   later embedded in the body variable.
   $Server = 'server.contoso.com'
   $Url = "https://${server}:8089/services/search/jobs/export"
   $Search = "search index=_internal | reverse | table index,host,source,sourcetype,_raw"
   # The cmdlet handles URL encoding. The body variable describes the search criteria, specifies CSV as the output 
   mode, and specifies a time period for returned data that starts two days ago and ends one day ago. The body 
   variable specifies values for parameters that apply to the particular REST API with which Invoke-RestMethod is 
   communicating.
   $Body = @{
       search = $Search
       output_mode = "csv"
       earliest_time = "-2d@d"
       latest_time = "-1d@d"
   }
   # Now, run the Invoke-RestMethod command with all variables in place, specifying a path and file name for the 
   resulting CSV output file.
   Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -Uri $url -Credential $Cred -Body $body -OutFile output.csv
   cmdlet Get-Credential at command pipeline position 1
   Supply values for the following parameters: 
   {"preview":true,"offset":0,"result":{"sourcetype":"contoso1","count":"9624"}}
   {"preview":true,"offset":1,"result":{"sourcetype":"contoso2","count":"152"}}
   {"preview":true,"offset":2,"result":{"sourcetype":"contoso3","count":"88494"}}
   {"preview":true,"offset":3,"result":{"sourcetype":"contoso4","count":"15277"}}
   In the following example, a user runs Invoke-RestMethod to perform a POST request on an intranet website in the 
   user's organization.

Additional Notes

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. It is attributed to Microsoft Corporation and can be found here.

PowerShell Commands