For a project at KTSI we needed a platform to quick deploy PHP and MySQL applications. There are a lot of solutions out there in the web, for example XAMPP. After testing some options I had a closer look at the Microsoft WebPlatform Installer and Microsoft WebMatrix. Those two tools do exactly what I need. With the WebPlatform Installer you can easily install a local instance of IIS Express with ASP.NET, PHP, MSSQL and MySQL support with in 5-10 minutes.

But the coolest tool in my opinion is WebMatrix. Webmatrix lets developers create, manage and deploy Web Applications very very easy. And if you need to to more Webmatrix lets you also work with Visual Studio on the same project.

After my first post (Powershell: Parsing XML part 1) about working with XML and Powershell, I have create this second post which describes how to create a XML file, Add content to the XML file, remove content from the XML file and save the XML objects as a file.

While I was writing a script which communicates with a webserver, I realized that I need some error handling if the server can not anwser a request from my script. For example if the webserver is down or has to much load.

I created a little retry part (Powershell: Simple retry logic) which retries several times. But if the Server is down for several hours or days your script hangs in a retry loop. Obviously this cant be the solution. After a little bit of thinking a decided to write the data, which I was trying to send, down in a XML file. And the next time the script runs it reads the XML file and tries to send the data again.

Thats the story behind my idea for saving data in a XML file.

Creating a XML object

[XML]$FruitList = "<Box>
<Fruit>
<Name>Banana</Name>
<Color>yellow</Color>
</Fruit>
</Box>"

Save a XML object as a XML file

$FruitList.Save("./myfruitlist.xml")

XML:

<Box>
	<Fruit>
		<Name>Banana</Name>
		<Color>yellow</Color>
	</Fruit>
</Box>

Open a saved XML file

[xml]$FruitList = Get-Content ./myfruitlist.xml

Add data to XML object and save it in a XML file

# Copy Object from Banana
[Object]$CopyFruit = FruitList.Box.Fruit | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq "Banana"}
$NewFruit = $CopyFruit.Clone()
# Add Fruit to new Object
$NewFruit.Name = "Apple"
$NewFruit.Color = "green"
# Add Fruit to XML Object
$FruitList.Box.AppendChild($NewFruit)
#Save to XML object ot XML file
$FruitList.Save("./myfruitlist.xml")

XML:

<Box>
	<Fruit>
		<Name>Banana</Name>
		<Color>yellow</Color>
	</Fruit>
	<Fruit>
		<Name>Apple</Name>
		<Color>green</Color>
	</Fruit>
</Box>

Change data from XML Object and save it as XML file

# Change Apple Color
$FruitList.Box.Fruit | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq "Apple"} | ForEach-Object { $_.Color = "red" }
#Save to XML object ot XML file
$FruitList.Save("./myfruitlist.xml")

XML:

<Box>
	<Fruit>
		<Name>Banana</Name>
		<Color>yellow</Color>
	</Fruit>
	<Fruit>
		<Name>Apple</Name>
		<Color>red</Color>
	</Fruit>
</Box>

Remove data from XML Object and save it as XML file

# Remove Banana from Object
$RemoveFruit = $FruitList.Box.Fruit | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq "Banana"}
$FruitList.Box.RemoveChild($RemoveFruit)
#Save to XML object ot XML file
$FruitList.Save("./myfruitlist.xml")

XML:

<Box>
	<Fruit>
		<Name>Apple</Name>
		<Color>green</Color>
	</Fruit>
</Box>

Its very simple to create a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 bootable USB Stick. Microsoft provides a tool called Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool. This tool also works for Windows Server 2008 R2.

1. Download Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool and install it
2. Start the programm and choose the .iso Image (Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2)
   
3. Choose which media you want to create (USB)
   
4. Choose USB device
   
5. Begin Copying and after some minutes your USB Stick is ready to use