Waiting and watching STSADM run on the CMD line is an exercise in patience.  Lately I’ve been incorporating two techniques to email myself updates for the freedom to walk away from the keyboard.

A quick command line EXE project allows me to send email by giving parameters (number 0-5).   If 5 is blank, no big deal just send a plain email with subject and body.   If 5 exists then attempt to open that text file, read content, and send as email body.

That’s great, but … how does this help me?  Great question!!

1) Send email at key script milestones

The freedom to walk away and receive alerts as progress continues allows you to be stay confident and know progress is moving forward.  Just add “SendMail.exe” inline with your existing CMD files to send an email at that step in the process.

2) Send email with script outcome

The detailed knowledge of what return value came from the CMD when it finished is helpful.   Imagine running a site move (STSADM backup/delete/restore) and heading out for dinner.   It’s very nice to get an email showing “Operation completed successfully” three times.     Just use “SendMail.exe” with parameter 5 being the text file full path and name.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;

using System.Net.Mail;
using System.IO;

namespace SendMail
{
    class Program
    {
static void Main(string[] args)
{
    //0-from
    //1-to
    //2-subject
    //3-body
    //4-server
    //5-filename

    string textFile = "";
    if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(args[5]))
    {
        //send text file as body
        TextReader tr = new StreamReader(args[5]);
        textFile = tr.ReadToEnd();
        tr.Close();
    }

    //create message
    Console.WriteLine("from {0} to {1} subject {2} body {3} on server {4}", args[0], args[1], args[2], args[3], args[4]);
    MailMessage message = new MailMessage(args[0], args[1], args[2], args[3]);

    //if file was given modify body
    if (textFile != "") message = new MailMessage(args[0], args[1], args[2], textFile);
    SmtpClient emailClient = new SmtpClient(args[4]);
    emailClient.Send(message);
}
    }
}

I rarely use absolutes but CMD files are amazing and you really should always use them.  For anything, no matter how small.

Why bother?  What’s in it for me?

1. Easy to repeat
2. Easy to test
3. Can modify while running

The only cost is time.  It takes a little longer to build a CMD file and plan it out.  However, measure twice and cut once pays off with quality.  Let’s explore the benefits one at a time:

1. Reusing a CMD file is very easy.  Search replace in Notepad++ can switch scope easily.  Also, input parameters like %1, %2, etc. can make the tool modular for using in a slightly different way quickly next time.
2. Copy a CMD file to lower environments for practice is quick, easy, and helps mitigate risk.  Before you typo against production, try copying the file to a different server first.
3. This is awesome and very little known!   While a CMD file is running (after you hit enter) you can still open Notepad.exe and modify the file.  Adding an extra line, commenting out with REM, or removing a line can all be done.  As long as CMD has not made it down to that line already you’re edits will be picked up as it steps down.   Great for real-time adjustments.

Thanks for reading!