Suppress Error Messages in PowerShell at get-package - windows

Question

I use PowerShell to check, if specific apps are installed on the users PC:
$Application_MicrosoftEdge = get-package "Microsoft Edge" | % { $_.metadata['installlocation'] }
$Application_Microsoft365 = get-package *"Microsoft 365"* | % { $_.metadata['installlocation'] }
Write-Host "Microsoft Edge Path : $Application_MicrosoftEdge"
Write-Host "Microsoft 365 Path : $Application_Microsoft365"
This works quiet well, but if an application is not installed on the users PC, then an error message is shown (here "Microsoft 365" is not installed on the PC):
get-package : Für "*Microsoft 365*" wurde kein Paket gefunden.
In D:\Scripts\GetInstalledApp.ps1:12 Zeichen:32
+ $Application_Microsoft365 = get-package *"Microsoft 365"* | % { $ ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (Microsoft.Power...lets.GetPackage:GetPackage) [Get-Package], Exception
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoMatchFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.GetPackage
I tried the following way, but here an error message is shown:
Try {
$Application_MicrosoftEdge = get-package "Microsoft Edge" | % { $_.metadata['installlocation'] }
$Application_Microsoft365 = get-package *"Microsoft 365"* | % { $_.metadata['installlocation'] }
}
Catch {
# Place action on error here
}
I also tried to wrap it in $( ... ) | out-null to suppress the error, but this is also not working.
`
Any idea?

Answer 1

The simplest way is to pass argument Ignore for common parameter -ErrorAction (-EA):
$Application_MicrosoftEdge = get-package "Microsoft Edge" -EA Ignore | % { $_.metadata['installlocation'] }
$Application_Microsoft365 = get-package *"Microsoft 365"* -EA Ignore | % { $_.metadata['installlocation'] }
if( $Application_MicrosoftEdge ) {
Write-Host "Microsoft Edge Path : $Application_MicrosoftEdge"
}
if( $Application_Microsoft365 ) {
Write-Host "Microsoft 365 Path : $Application_Microsoft365"
}
On error, the pipeline output will be empty, which converts to $false in a boolean context, which we test using the if statements.
Alternatively, as Abraham Zinala commented, to make try/catch working, pass argument Stop for common parameter -ErrorAction (-EA) or set the preference variable $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop' at the beginning of your script:
try {
$Application_MicrosoftEdge = get-package "Microsoft Edge" -EA Stop | % { $_.metadata['installlocation'] }
$Application_Microsoft365 = get-package *"Microsoft 365"* -EA Stop | % { $_.metadata['installlocation'] }
}
catch {
# Place action on error here
}
Using -EA Stop, errors are turned into script-terminating errors (exceptions), which must be caught using try / catch, otherwise the script would end prematurely.
Note that this code skips the 2nd get-package call, if the 1st one failed! This is because execution flow jumps straight from the first error location into the catch block. To handle errors separately for both get-package calls, you'd need two try / catch blocks.