Powershell: Update-Help fails on Windows 10.0.20206

[mwoodpatrick]

Steps to reproduce

Run command: Update-Help

Expected behavior

Should update docs

Actual behavior

Gives:

Update-Help: Failed to update Help for the module(s) 'HgsClient, HgsDiagnostics' with UI culture(s) {en-US} : A Help URI cannot contain more than 10 redirections. Specify a valid Help URI..
English-US help content is available and can be installed using: Update-Help -UICulture en-US.
Update-Help: Failed to update Help for the module(s) 'WindowsUpdateProvider' with UI culture(s) {en-US} : One or more errors occurred. (Response status code does not indicate success: 404 (Not Found).).
English-US help content is available and can be installed using: Update-Help -UICulture en-US.

Environment data

Name Value
---- -----
PSVersion 7.0.3
PSEdition Core
GitCommitId 7.0.3
OS Microsoft Windows 10.0.20206
Platform Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion 2.3
SerializationVersion 1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion 3.0

[soccypowa]

What is your UI cuture? Obviously there is a cmdlet for that nowadays: Get-UICulture.

What happend if you use the provided suggestion Update-Help -UICulture en-US?

I have to use the -UICulture switch as I am on sv-SE, but with the switch and having some of the sam modules from your error message, my help download completes. Issues with Update-Help I think is an issue more of the module and less of Powershell itself....

[mwoodpatrick]

Get-UICulture reports:

LCID Name DisplayName
---- ---- -----------
1033 en-US English (United States)

Executing "Update-Help -UICulture en-US" reports:

Update-Help: Failed to update Help for the module(s) 'HgsClient, HgsDiagnostics, WindowsUpdateProvider' with UI culture(s) {en-US} : One or more errors occurred. (An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.).
English-US help content is available and can be installed using: Update-Help -UICulture en-US.

[kvprasoon]

For WindowsUpdateProvider, refer https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/windows-powershell-docs/issues/139

Even the other modules doesn't looks like having valid help uri. @iSazonov /@SteveL-MSFT Do we already handle updating help files of modules where there is no or invalid help URIs ?

[vexx32]

Generally that's up to the individual teams that own the modules fixing the help URIs. Most of them are sorted out by now, but looks like there're still a few stragglers.

[iSazonov]

Due to the fact that there are many modules, from time to time some help links may not work temporarily. Workaround Update-Help -Force.

[kvprasoon]

At least can we change the errors to warning in this case.

[iSazonov]

At least can we change the errors to warning in this case.

Common PowerShell practice is to use -ErrorAction.

[kvprasoon]

Yes, but somehow I can't accept this as an error to ignore or continue :-)

[msftbot[bot]]

This issue has been marked as answered and has not had any activity for 1 day. It has been closed for housekeeping purposes.

[mwoodpatrick]

Seems like just because some team has not updated their docs this should not leave the definition of what the current state of documentation is in an inconsistent/invalid state. State should define the latest available documentation for that module. I think this bug should be reopened

[thadguidry]

@iSazonov hmm, Update-Help -Force doesn't seem to help.
Edition: Windows 10 Pro
Version: 20H2
OS build: 19042.608

PowerShell 7.1.0-rc.2
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.

PS C:\Users\thadg> Update-Help
Update-Help: Failed to update Help for the module(s) 'ConfigDefender, PSReadline, WindowsUpdateProvider' with UI culture(s) {en-US} : One or more errors occurred. (Response status code does not indicate success: 404 (The specified blob does not exist.).).
English-US help content is available and can be installed using: Update-Help -UICulture en-US.
PS C:\Users\thadg> Update-Help -UICulture en-US
Update-Help: Failed to update Help for the module(s) 'ConfigDefender, PSReadline, WindowsUpdateProvider' with UI culture(s) {en-US} : One or more errors occurred. (Response status code does not indicate success: 404 (The specified blob does not exist.).).
English-US help content is available and can be installed using: Update-Help -UICulture en-US.
PS C:\Users\thadg> Update-Help -Force
Update-Help: Failed to update Help for the module(s) 'ConfigDefender, PSReadline, WindowsUpdateProvider' with UI culture(s) {en-US} : One or more errors occurred. (Response status code does not indicate success: 404 (The specified blob does not exist.).).
English-US help content is available and can be installed using: Update-Help -UICulture en-US.
PS C:\Users\thadg>

[MaximoTrinidad]

Looks like we keep going in circles!

The command will only update the help for the ones it can find. Then, always ends in errors because of the ones not found.
It has been like this for the longest time.

So, no matter if you use the "-force" or the "-UICulture xxxx" parameter, it will always ends with errors.
Sad! But True!

PowerShell 7.0.3
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
                                                                                                                        https://aka.ms/powershell                                                                                               Type 'help' to get help.                                                                                                                                                                                                                        PS C:\Windows\System32> $PSVersionTable                                                                                 
Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.0.3
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.0.3
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.20241
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

PS C:\Windows\System32> update-help -force
Update-Help: Failed to update Help for the module(s) 'ConfigDefender, WindowsUpdateProvider' with UI culture(s) {en-US} : One or more errors occurred. (Response status code does not indicate success: 404 (Not Found).).
English-US help content is available and can be installed using: Update-Help -UICulture en-US.
Update-Help: Failed to update Help for the module(s) 'HgsClient, HgsDiagnostics' with UI culture(s) {en-US} : A Help URI cannot contain more than 10 redirections. Specify a valid Help URI..
English-US help content is available and can be installed using: Update-Help -UICulture en-US.
PS C:\Windows\System32>
PS C:\Windows\System32>

[thadguidry]

@MaximoTrinidad Got it. So it is those 3 teams help files in my case that need to update or provide help.

In that case, this issue should be seen as an improvement in the messaging output here to users. If you look at this output, the first sentence is nice and probably all that is needed. The remainder of sentences make the user feel as if they can indeed do something more to fix, but as you said...we can't! So as others have said perhaps make it look like only a warning to us as users about only the failing modules and not much else.

Something like this should only be needed:
Failed to update help on modules...xyz...this could be due to help files not available yet for those modules from our dev teams...but all other help files have updated successfully.

How does that sound like a better idea and what this issue #13591 really involves?