Powershell script to FTP files to a remote windows server - windows

Question

I have been struggling to get a script to work that can FTP a file to a remote windows server and wanted to see if I could get some help. I searched through multpile pages on StackOverflow and Google and have been unsuccessful so far.Below is the code I have
Logic is as follows:
Pick up the oldest file with a pattern within a folder
Connect to FTP server
Copy the file to the remote server
Move the file from the in folder to an archive folder
Code seems to be failing where I try to FTP the file to the server - $webclient.UploadFile($uri,$latestfile)
Getting this exception:
Exception calling "UploadFile" with "2" argument(s): "An exception occurred during a WebClient request."
At C:\Downloads\powershell\testmove3.ps1:22 char:26
+ $webclient.UploadFile <<<< ($uri,$latestfile)
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DotNetMethodException
$source = "C:\downloads\"
$destination = "C:\dest\"
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\downloads | Where-Object { $_.name -like "TEST.CSV-PlainText*.txt" }
$latestfile=gci -path $source | Where-Object { $_.name -like "TEST.CSV-PlainText*.txt"} | sort FirstWriteTime | select -last 1
"Oldest File $latestfile"
## Get ftp object
$ftp_client = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$user="someuser"
$pass="somepass"
$ftp_address = "ftp://ftp.testserver.com"
## Make uploads
$uri = New-Object System.Uri($ftp+$item.Name)
"Item is $latestfile"
$webclient.UploadFile($uri,$latestfile)
"File uploaded to remote servr"
Move-Item $latestfile.FullName $destination
"File $latestfile moved"

Answer 1

Ok, was on it overnight and happy to report that I got a solution - yeeehaw !!
I have even added a logic to trap an exception and send out an email notification. Hope this helps anyone with their FTP issues using Powershell. At the end, it returns a success or failure code to the calling program.
#PowerShell.exe -File "C:\temp\FTP.ps1"
trap [Exception] {
$recipient = "recipient#yahoo.com"
$sender = "sender#yahoo.com"
$server = "test.mailserver.com"
$subject = "FTP Test"
$body = "Exception Title: " + $_.Exception.GetType().FullName + "`r`n`r`n" + "Exception Details: " + $_.Exception.Message
$msg = new-object System.Net.Mail.MailMessage $sender, $recipient, $subject, $body
$client = new-object System.Net.Mail.SmtpClient $server
$client.Credentials = [System.Net.CredentialCache]::DefaultNetworkCredentials
$client.Send($msg)
exit 1
}
$ftpuser = "testuser"
$ftppass = "testpass"
$ftpserver = "ftp://ftp.testserver.com/"
$file = "C:\temp\one.txt"
$filenewname = "one.txt"
$webclient = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$ftp = $ftpserver+$filenewname
$uri = New-Object System.Uri($ftp)
#Error was happening because the method call was attempting to use the HttpProxy on the Server machine.
#If the proxy is not set to null explicitly in your code, then you will get error - "An exception occurred during a webclient request"
$webclient.Proxy = $NULL
$webclient.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential($ftpuser,$ftppass)
"Uploading $filenewname in $ftpserver"
$webclient.UploadFile($uri,$file)
"Uploaded $filenewname in $ftpserver"
return 0

Answer 2

If this is going to be used in any live support environment, I like to suggest using a prompt for password:
$ftppass = Read-Host "Enter password" -AsSecureString