Get-IpGeoInfo #

SYNOPSIS #

This PowerShell function retrieves geographic information for a specified IP address. The function uses the IP-API service to retrieve the information, which includes details like the country, region, city, latitude, longitude, ISP and more.

SYNTAX #

Get-IpGeoInfo [[-ip] <String>] [[-age] <Int32>] [[-apiWait] <Int32>] [[-xmlGeoPath] <String>]
 [-ProgressAction <ActionPreference>] [<CommonParameters>]

DESCRIPTION #

• The function makes a GET request to the IP-API service, passing the IP address as a parameter. The function also includes some additional features:

  • Global Hash Table: The function maintains a global hash table of IP addresses and their corresponding geo-information. This hash table, $global:geoHashTable, is accessible for further manipulation or data extraction. The geo-information includes various details such as:
    • query: IP used for the query.
    • status: success or fail.
    • country: Name of the country.
    • countryCode: Two-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha code of the country.
    • region: Region/state short code.
    • regionName: Region/state.
    • city: City name.
    • zip: Postal/Zip code.
    • lat: Latitude.
    • lon: Longitude.
    • timezone: City’s timezone.
    • isp: ISP name.
    • org: Organization name.
    • as: AS number and name.
  • Caching of results: To avoid unnecessary API calls, the function saves the retrieved information in a XML file. Subsequent requests for the same IP address will retrieve the information from the cache instead of making a new API call.
  • Aging of cache entries: The function checks if the cache entry is older than a specified age (in months). If it is, a new API call is made to update the cache entry.
  • Waiting time between API calls: To avoid overloading the API, the function waits a specified amount of time (in milliseconds) between API calls.
  • IP address validation: The function includes some basic checks to validate the IP address and checks if it’s a private or reserved IP address.

  To access specific information from the global hashtable $global:geoHashTable, simply use the key (in this case, the IP address). For example, to get the country code, you can do the following: $countryCode = $global:geoHashTable["YourIP"].data.countryCode . This hashtable also contains createDate and changeDate properties, which can be accessed in a similar manner: $createDate = $global:geoHashTable["YourIP"].createDate or $changeDate = $global:geoHashTable["YourIP"].changeDate. Please replace "YourIP" with the actual IP address you want to get information for.

  Note: $global:geoHashTable contains the most recently retrieved geolocation data for each IP address. If the data for an IP address is not available, you need to call Get-IpGeoInfo function first, which will store the data in the hashtable for later use.

EXAMPLES #

Example 1: Retrieve the geographic information for an ip address #

PS C:\> $country = Get-IpGeoInfo -ip "8.8.8.8"

This will retrieve the geographic information for the IP address “8.8.8.8” and display verbose messages in this case it is ‘US’.

PARAMETERS #

-age #

The age (in months) after which a cache entry should be updated. Default is 6 months.

Type: Int32
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: 1
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-apiWait #

The waiting time (in milliseconds) between API calls. Default is 2000 ms.

Type: Int32
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: 2
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-ip #

The IP address for which to retrieve geographic information. This is a mandatory parameter.

Type: String
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: 0
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-xmlGeoPath #

The path to the XML file used for caching. If only a filename is specified (without a path), the file is saved in the ‘.eulandaconnect’ directory in the user’s home folder.

Type: String
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: 3
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

CommonParameters #

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutVariable, -OutBuffer, -PipelineVariable, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

INPUTS #

None #

OUTPUTS #

System.Object #

NOTES #

RELATED LINKS #

Merge-IpGeoInfo