Modifying unix time variable in an array

Question

I have an object with a column I need to convert from Unix time to a "human" time. My object looks like this:

PS C:\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0> $AllAgents.agents[0..2] | Format-Table

last_scanned ip              distro     platform name            uuid                                                  id
------------ --              ------     -------- ----            ----                                                  --
1460167223   192.168.118.101 win-x86-64 WINDOWS  COMPUTER-1      648f8f4f-8afa-029d-424f-fb27a8e345f8e2fdef184343058e 101
1460167223   192.168.118.145 win-x86-64 WINDOWS  COMPUTER-2      0a33a831-fa47-1fdc-2c21-2a079c728a88bcf6186e275a9135 152
1460167223   192.168.118.26  win-x86-64 WINDOWS  COMPUTER-3      738c0d3a-d2d5-447c-c671-b248180c3b3f75efb734be3d547d 359

The "last_scanned" column is what I need to change. I have the following code:

$Origin = New-Object -Type DateTime -ArgumentList 1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0
$AllAgents.agents.last_scanned = $AllAgents.agents.last_scanned | ForEach-Object {
    $_ = $Origin.AddSeconds($_)
    $_
}

Executing this loop results in the following error:

The property 'last_scanned' cannot be found on this object. Verify that the property exists and can be set.
At U:\Powershell\Scripts\Nessus API - Get All Agents From a Group.ps1:55 char:1
+ $AllAgents.agents.last_scanned = $AllAgents.agents.last_scanned | For ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PropertyAssignmentException

I'm not sure why PowerShell thinks the last_scanned property doesn't exist because it's clearly there. How can I modify the last_scanned property to a more readable date and put that value back into the object?

Mike Garuccio · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-15 22:14:50Z

1

What version of powershell are you using? It looks like you have an array of objects under the .agents property which then each have their own .last_scanned property, version 3+ allows you access child properties of array members like that but version 2 does not, does this work for you?

$Origin = New-Object -Type DateTime -ArgumentList 1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0
$AllAgents.agents = $AllAgents.agents | ForEach-Object {
    $_.LastScanned = $Origin.AddSeconds($_.LastScanned)
    $_
}

answered Nov 15, 2016 at 22:14

Mike Garuccio

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3 Comments

Tchotchke Over a year ago

I'm using PS 5.0. I'm trying your suggestion right now and I'll let you know if it works.

Tchotchke Over a year ago

that did the trick! You and I basically did the same thing but you were one level higher than I was (AllAgents.agents, whereas I was at AllAgents.agents.last_scanned). Can you explain why your way works but mine didn't?

Mike Garuccio Over a year ago

Ok I thought it was only a limitation with earlier versions but there may be some other reason it's not working for those objects, basically your trying to access the .last_scanned property of $AllAgents.agents but $AllAgents.agents is an array and does not have an .agents property. Doing what you were doing actually does work with most powershell objects so I was guessing you were on an older version but if your using 5 then I can only assume it's something odd about the $AllAgents objects but I don't have much idea what. Hope that helps.

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