functions/Start-WebServer.ps1

<#
.Synopsis
Starts powershell webserver
.Description
Starts webserver as powershell process.
Call of the root page (e.g. http://localhost:8080/) returns a powershell execution web form.
Call of /script uploads a powershell script and executes it (as a function).
Call of /log returns the webserver logs, /starttime the start time of the webserver, /time the current time.
/download downloads and /upload uploads a file. /beep generates a sound and /quit or /exit stops the webserver.
Any other call delivers the static content that fits to the path provided. If the static path is a directory,
a file index.htm, index.html, default.htm or default.html in this directory is delivered if present.
 
You may have to configure a firewall exception to allow access to the chosen port, e.g. with:
    netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Powershell Webserver" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=8080
 
After stopping the webserver you should remove the rule, e.g.:
    netsh advfirewall firewall delete rule name="Powershell Webserver"
.Parameter BINDING
Binding of the webserver
.Parameter BASEDIR
Base directory for static content (default: the script's directory)
.Inputs
None
.Outputs
None
.Example
Start-Webserver
 
Starts webserver with binding to http://localhost:8080/
.Example
Start-Webserver "http://+:8080/"
 
Starts webserver with binding to all IP addresses of the system.
Administrative rights are necessary.
.Example
schtasks.exe /Create /TN "Powershell Webserver" /TR "powershell -Command \"Start-WebServer http://+:8080/\" /SC ONSTART /RU SYSTEM /RL HIGHEST /F
 
Starts powershell webserver as scheduled task as user local system every time the computer starts.
You can start the webserver task manually with
    schtasks.exe /Run /TN "Powershell Webserver"
Delete the webserver task with
    schtasks.exe /Delete /TN "Powershell Webserver"
Scheduled tasks are running with low priority per default, so some functions might be slow.
.Notes
Version 1.1, 2017-11-23
Author: Markus Scholtes
#>

function Start-Webserver
{
    Param([STRING]$BINDING = 'http://localhost:8080/', [STRING]$BASEDIR = "")

    # No adminstrative permissions are required for a binding to "localhost"
    # $BINDING = 'http://localhost:8080/'
    # Adminstrative permissions are required for a binding to network names or addresses.
    # + takes all requests to the port regardless of name or ip, * only requests that no other listener answers:
    # $BINDING = 'http://+:8080/'

    if ($BASEDIR -eq "")
    {    # retrieve script path as base path for static content
        if ($MyInvocation.MyCommand.CommandType -eq "ExternalScript")
        { $BASEDIR = Split-Path -Parent -Path $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition }
        else # compiled with PS2EXE:
        { $BASEDIR = Split-Path -Parent -Path ([Environment]::GetCommandLineArgs()[0]) }
    }
    # convert to absolute path
    $BASEDIR = $ExecutionContext.SessionState.Path.GetUnresolvedProviderPathFromPSPath($BASEDIR)

    # MIME hash table for static content
    $MIMEHASH = @{".avi"="video/x-msvideo"; ".crt"="application/x-x509-ca-cert"; ".css"="text/css"; ".der"="application/x-x509-ca-cert"; ".flv"="video/x-flv"; ".gif"="image/gif"; ".htm"="text/html"; ".html"="text/html"; ".ico"="image/x-icon"; ".jar"="application/java-archive"; ".jardiff"="application/x-java-archive-diff"; ".jpeg"="image/jpeg"; ".jpg"="image/jpeg"; ".js"="application/x-javascript"; ".mov"="video/quicktime"; ".mp3"="audio/mpeg"; ".mpeg"="video/mpeg"; ".mpg"="video/mpeg"; ".pdf"="application/pdf"; ".pem"="application/x-x509-ca-cert"; ".pl"="application/x-perl"; ".png"="image/png"; ".rss"="text/xml"; ".shtml"="text/html"; ".swf"="application/x-shockwave-flash"; ".txt"="text/plain"; ".war"="application/java-archive"; ".wmv"="video/x-ms-wmv"; ".xml"="text/xml"}

    # HTML answer templates for specific calls, placeholders !RESULT, !FORMFIELD, !PROMPT are allowed
    $HTMLRESPONSECONTENTS = @{
        'GET /'  =  @"
<html><body>
    !HEADERLINE
    <pre>!RESULT</pre>
    <form method="GET" action="/">
    <b>!PROMPT&nbsp;</b><input type="text" maxlength=255 size=80 name="command" value='!FORMFIELD'>
    <input type="submit" name="button" value="Enter">
    </form>
</body></html>
"@

        'GET /script'  =  @"
<html><body>
    !HEADERLINE
    <form method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data" action="/script">
    <p><b>Script to execute:</b><input type="file" name="filedata"></p>
    <b>Parameters:</b><input type="text" maxlength=255 size=80 name="parameter">
    <input type="submit" name="button" value="Execute">
    </form>
</body></html>
"@

        'GET /download'  =  @"
<html><body>
    !HEADERLINE
    <pre>!RESULT</pre>
    <form method="POST" action="/download">
    <b>Path to file:</b><input type="text" maxlength=255 size=80 name="filepath" value='!FORMFIELD'>
    <input type="submit" name="button" value="Download">
    </form>
</body></html>
"@

        'POST /download'  =  @"
<html><body>
    !HEADERLINE
    <pre>!RESULT</pre>
    <form method="POST" action="/download">
    <b>Path to file:</b><input type="text" maxlength=255 size=80 name="filepath" value='!FORMFIELD'>
    <input type="submit" name="button" value="Download">
    </form>
</body></html>
"@

        'GET /upload'  =  @"
<html><body>
    !HEADERLINE
    <form method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data" action="/upload">
    <p><b>File to upload:</b><input type="file" name="filedata"></p>
    <b>Path to store on webserver:</b><input type="text" maxlength=255 size=80 name="filepath">
    <input type="submit" name="button" value="Upload">
    </form>
</body></html>
"@

        'POST /script' = "<html><body>!HEADERLINE<pre>!RESULT</pre></body></html>"
        'POST /upload' = "<html><body>!HEADERLINE<pre>!RESULT</pre></body></html>"
        'GET /exit' = "<html><body>Stopped powershell webserver</body></html>"
        'GET /quit' = "<html><body>Stopped powershell webserver</body></html>"
        'GET /log' = "<html><body>!HEADERLINELog of powershell webserver:<br /><pre>!RESULT</pre></body></html>"
        'GET /starttime' = "<html><body>!HEADERLINEPowershell webserver started at $(Get-Date -Format s)</body></html>"
        'GET /time' = "<html><body>!HEADERLINECurrent time: !RESULT</body></html>"
        'GET /beep' = "<html><body>!HEADERLINEBEEP...</body></html>"
    }

    # Set navigation header line for all web pages
    $HEADERLINE = "<p><a href='/'>Command execution</a> <a href='/script'>Execute script</a> <a href='/download'>Download file</a> <a href='/upload'>Upload file</a> <a href='/log'>Web logs</a> <a href='/starttime'>Webserver start time</a> <a href='/time'>Current time</a> <a href='/beep'>Beep</a> <a href='/quit'>Stop webserver</a></p>"

    # Starting the powershell webserver
    "$(Get-Date -Format s) Starting powershell webserver..."
    $LISTENER = New-Object System.Net.HttpListener
    $LISTENER.Prefixes.Add($BINDING)
    $LISTENER.Start()
    $Error.Clear()

    try
    {
        "$(Get-Date -Format s) Powershell webserver started."
        $WEBLOG = "$(Get-Date -Format s) Powershell webserver started.`n"
        while ($LISTENER.IsListening)
        {
            # analyze incoming request
            $CONTEXT = $LISTENER.GetContext()
            $REQUEST = $CONTEXT.Request
            $RESPONSE = $CONTEXT.Response
            $RESPONSEWRITTEN = $FALSE

            # log to console
            "$(Get-Date -Format s) $($REQUEST.RemoteEndPoint.Address.ToString()) $($REQUEST.httpMethod) $($REQUEST.Url.PathAndQuery)"
            # and in log variable
            $WEBLOG += "$(Get-Date -Format s) $($REQUEST.RemoteEndPoint.Address.ToString()) $($REQUEST.httpMethod) $($REQUEST.Url.PathAndQuery)`n"

            # is there a fixed coding for the request?
            $RECEIVED = '{0} {1}' -f $REQUEST.httpMethod, $REQUEST.Url.LocalPath
            $HTMLRESPONSE = $HTMLRESPONSECONTENTS[$RECEIVED]
            $RESULT = ''

            # check for known commands
            switch ($RECEIVED)
            {
                "GET /"
                {    # execute command
                    # retrieve GET query string
                    $FORMFIELD = ''
                    $FORMFIELD = [URI]::UnescapeDataString(($REQUEST.Url.Query -replace "\+"," "))
                    # remove fixed form fields out of query string
                    $FORMFIELD = $FORMFIELD -replace "\?command=","" -replace "\?button=enter","" -replace "&command=","" -replace "&button=enter",""
                    # when command is given...
                    if (![STRING]::IsNullOrEmpty($FORMFIELD))
                    {
                        try {
                            # ... execute command
                            $RESULT = Invoke-Expression -EA SilentlyContinue $FORMFIELD 2> $NULL | Out-String
                        }
                        catch
                        {
                            # just ignore. Error handling comes afterwards since not every error throws an exception
                        }
                        if ($Error.Count -gt 0)
                        { # retrieve error message on error
                            $RESULT += "`nError while executing '$FORMFIELD'`n`n"
                            $RESULT += $Error[0]
                            $Error.Clear()
                        }
                    }
                    # preset form value with command for the caller's convenience
                    $HTMLRESPONSE = $HTMLRESPONSE -replace '!FORMFIELD', $FORMFIELD
                    # insert powershell prompt to form
                    $PROMPT = "PS $PWD>"
                    $HTMLRESPONSE = $HTMLRESPONSE -replace '!PROMPT', $PROMPT
                    break
                }

                "GET /script"
                { # present upload form, nothing to do here
                    break
                }

                "POST /script"
                { # upload and execute script

                    # only if there is body data in the request
                    if ($REQUEST.HasEntityBody)
                    {
                        # set default message to error message (since we just stop processing on error)
                        $RESULT = "Received corrupt or incomplete form data"

                        # check content type
                        if ($REQUEST.ContentType)
                        {
                            # retrieve boundary marker for header separation
                            $BOUNDARY = $NULL
                            if ($REQUEST.ContentType -match "boundary=(.*);")
                            {    $BOUNDARY = "--" + $MATCHES[1] }
                            else
                            { # marker might be at the end of the line
                                if ($REQUEST.ContentType -match "boundary=(.*)$")
                                { $BOUNDARY = "--" + $MATCHES[1] }
                            }

                            if ($BOUNDARY)
                            { # only if header separator was found

                                # read complete header (inkl. file data) into string
                                $READER = New-Object System.IO.StreamReader($REQUEST.InputStream, $REQUEST.ContentEncoding)
                                $DATA = $READER.ReadToEnd()
                                $READER.Close()
                                $REQUEST.InputStream.Close()

                                $PARAMETERS = ""
                                $SOURCENAME = ""

                                # separate headers by boundary string
                                $DATA -replace "$BOUNDARY--\r\n", "$BOUNDARY`r`n--" -split "$BOUNDARY\r\n" | ForEach-Object {
                                    # omit leading empty header and end marker header
                                    if (($_ -ne "") -and ($_ -ne "--"))
                                    {
                                        # only if well defined header (separation between meta data and data)
                                        if ($_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n") -gt 0)
                                        {
                                            # header data before two CRs is meta data
                                            # first look for the file in header "filedata"
                                            if ($_.Substring(0, $_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n")) -match "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=(.*);")
                                            {
                                                $HEADERNAME = $MATCHES[1] -replace '\"'
                                                # headername "filedata"?
                                                if ($HEADERNAME -eq "filedata")
                                                { # yes, look for source filename
                                                    if ($_.Substring(0, $_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n")) -match "filename=(.*)")
                                                    { # source filename found
                                                        $SOURCENAME = $MATCHES[1] -replace "`r`n$" -replace "`r$" -replace '\"'
                                                        # store content of file in variable
                                                        $FILEDATA = $_.Substring($_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n") + 4) -replace "`r`n$"
                                                    }
                                                }
                                            }
                                            else
                                            { # look for other headers (we need "parameter")
                                                if ($_.Substring(0, $_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n")) -match "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=(.*)")
                                                { # header found
                                                    $HEADERNAME = $MATCHES[1] -replace '\"'
                                                    # headername "parameter"?
                                                    if ($HEADERNAME -eq "parameter")
                                                    { # yes, look for paramaters
                                                        $PARAMETERS = $_.Substring($_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n") + 4) -replace "`r`n$" -replace "`r$"
                                                    }
                                                }
                                            }
                                        }
                                    }
                                }

                                if ($SOURCENAME -ne "")
                                { # execute only if a source file exists

                                    $EXECUTE = "function Powershell-WebServer-Func {`n" + $FILEDATA + "`n}`nPowershell-WebServer-Func " + $PARAMETERS
                                    try {
                                        # ... execute script
                                        $RESULT = Invoke-Expression -EA SilentlyContinue $EXECUTE 2> $NULL | Out-String
                                    }
                                    catch
                                    {
                                        # just ignore. Error handling comes afterwards since not every error throws an exception
                                    }
                                    if ($Error.Count -gt 0)
                                    { # retrieve error message on error
                                        $RESULT += "`nError while executing script $SOURCENAME`n`n"
                                        $RESULT += $Error[0]
                                        $Error.Clear()
                                    }
                                }
                                else
                                {
                                    $RESULT = "No file data received"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        $RESULT = "No client data received"
                    }
                    break
                }

                { $_ -like "* /download" } # GET or POST method are allowed for download page
                {    # download file

                    # is POST data in the request?
                    if ($REQUEST.HasEntityBody)
                    { # POST request
                        # read complete header into string
                        $READER = New-Object System.IO.StreamReader($REQUEST.InputStream, $REQUEST.ContentEncoding)
                        $DATA = $READER.ReadToEnd()
                        $READER.Close()
                        $REQUEST.InputStream.Close()

                        # get headers into hash table
                        $HEADER = @{}
                        $DATA.Split('&') | ForEach-Object { $HEADER.Add([URI]::UnescapeDataString(($_.Split('=')[0] -replace "\+"," ")), [URI]::UnescapeDataString(($_.Split('=')[1] -replace "\+"," "))) }

                        # read header 'filepath'
                        $FORMFIELD = $HEADER.Item('filepath')
                        # remove leading and trailing double quotes since Test-Path does not like them
                        $FORMFIELD = $FORMFIELD -replace "^`"","" -replace "`"$",""
                    }
                    else
                    { # GET request

                        # retrieve GET query string
                        $FORMFIELD = ''
                        $FORMFIELD = [URI]::UnescapeDataString(($REQUEST.Url.Query -replace "\+"," "))
                        # remove fixed form fields out of query string
                        $FORMFIELD = $FORMFIELD -replace "\?filepath=","" -replace "\?button=download","" -replace "&filepath=","" -replace "&button=download",""
                        # remove leading and trailing double quotes since Test-Path does not like them
                        $FORMFIELD = $FORMFIELD -replace "^`"","" -replace "`"$",""
                    }

                    # when path is given...
                    if (![STRING]::IsNullOrEmpty($FORMFIELD))
                    { # check if file exists
                        if (Test-Path $FORMFIELD -PathType Leaf)
                        {
                            try {
                                # ... download file
                                $BUFFER = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($FORMFIELD)
                                $RESPONSE.ContentLength64 = $BUFFER.Length
                                $RESPONSE.SendChunked = $FALSE
                                $RESPONSE.ContentType = "application/octet-stream"
                                $FILENAME = Split-Path -Leaf $FORMFIELD
                                $RESPONSE.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=$FILENAME")
                                $RESPONSE.AddHeader("Last-Modified", [IO.File]::GetLastWriteTime($FORMFIELD).ToString('r'))
                                $RESPONSE.AddHeader("Server", "Powershell Webserver/1.1 on ")
                                $RESPONSE.OutputStream.Write($BUFFER, 0, $BUFFER.Length)
                                # mark response as already given
                                $RESPONSEWRITTEN = $TRUE
                            }
                            catch
                            {
                                # just ignore. Error handling comes afterwards since not every error throws an exception
                            }
                            if ($Error.Count -gt 0)
                            { # retrieve error message on error
                                $RESULT += "`nError while downloading '$FORMFIELD'`n`n"
                                $RESULT += $Error[0]
                                $Error.Clear()
                            }
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            # ... file not found
                            $RESULT = "File $FORMFIELD not found"
                        }
                    }
                    # preset form value with file path for the caller's convenience
                    $HTMLRESPONSE = $HTMLRESPONSE -replace '!FORMFIELD', $FORMFIELD
                    break
                }

                "GET /upload"
                { # present upload form, nothing to do here
                    break
                }

                "POST /upload"
                { # upload file

                    # only if there is body data in the request
                    if ($REQUEST.HasEntityBody)
                    {
                        # set default message to error message (since we just stop processing on error)
                        $RESULT = "Received corrupt or incomplete form data"

                        # check content type
                        if ($REQUEST.ContentType)
                        {
                            # retrieve boundary marker for header separation
                            $BOUNDARY = $NULL
                            if ($REQUEST.ContentType -match "boundary=(.*);")
                            {    $BOUNDARY = "--" + $MATCHES[1] }
                            else
                            { # marker might be at the end of the line
                                if ($REQUEST.ContentType -match "boundary=(.*)$")
                                { $BOUNDARY = "--" + $MATCHES[1] }
                            }

                            if ($BOUNDARY)
                            { # only if header separator was found

                                # read complete header (inkl. file data) into string
                                $READER = New-Object System.IO.StreamReader($REQUEST.InputStream, $REQUEST.ContentEncoding)
                                $DATA = $READER.ReadToEnd()
                                $READER.Close()
                                $REQUEST.InputStream.Close()

                                # variables for filenames
                                $FILENAME = ""
                                $SOURCENAME = ""

                                # separate headers by boundary string
                                $DATA -replace "$BOUNDARY--\r\n", "$BOUNDARY`r`n--" -split "$BOUNDARY\r\n" | ForEach-Object {
                                    # omit leading empty header and end marker header
                                    if (($_ -ne "") -and ($_ -ne "--"))
                                    {
                                        # only if well defined header (seperation between meta data and data)
                                        if ($_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n") -gt 0)
                                        {
                                            # header data before two CRs is meta data
                                            # first look for the file in header "filedata"
                                            if ($_.Substring(0, $_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n")) -match "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=(.*);")
                                            {
                                                $HEADERNAME = $MATCHES[1] -replace '\"'
                                                # headername "filedata"?
                                                if ($HEADERNAME -eq "filedata")
                                                { # yes, look for source filename
                                                    if ($_.Substring(0, $_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n")) -match "filename=(.*)")
                                                    { # source filename found
                                                        $SOURCENAME = $MATCHES[1] -replace "`r`n$" -replace "`r$" -replace '\"'
                                                        # store content of file in variable
                                                        $FILEDATA = $_.Substring($_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n") + 4) -replace "`r`n$"
                                                    }
                                                }
                                            }
                                            else
                                            { # look for other headers (we need "filepath" to know where to store the file)
                                                if ($_.Substring(0, $_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n")) -match "Content-Disposition: form-data; name=(.*)")
                                                { # header found
                                                    $HEADERNAME = $MATCHES[1] -replace '\"'
                                                    # headername "filepath"?
                                                    if ($HEADERNAME -eq "filepath")
                                                    { # yes, look for target filename
                                                        $FILENAME = $_.Substring($_.IndexOf("`r`n`r`n") + 4) -replace "`r`n$" -replace "`r$" -replace '\"'
                                                    }
                                                }
                                            }
                                        }
                                    }
                                }

                                if ($FILENAME -ne "")
                                { # upload only if a targetname is given
                                    if ($SOURCENAME -ne "")
                                    { # only upload if source file exists

                                        # check or construct a valid filename to store
                                        $TARGETNAME = ""
                                        # if filename is a container name, add source filename to it
                                        if (Test-Path $FILENAME -PathType Container)
                                        {
                                            $TARGETNAME = Join-Path $FILENAME -ChildPath $(Split-Path $SOURCENAME -Leaf)
                                        } else {
                                            # try name in the header
                                            $TARGETNAME = $FILENAME
                                        }

                                        try {
                                            # ... save file with the same encoding as received
                                            [IO.File]::WriteAllText($TARGETNAME, $FILEDATA, $REQUEST.ContentEncoding)
                                        }
                                        catch
                                        {
                                            # just ignore. Error handling comes afterwards since not every error throws an exception
                                        }
                                        if ($Error.Count -gt 0)
                                        { # retrieve error message on error
                                            $RESULT += "`nError saving '$TARGETNAME'`n`n"
                                            $RESULT += $Error[0]
                                            $Error.Clear()
                                        }
                                        else
                                        { # success
                                            $RESULT = "File $SOURCENAME successfully uploaded as $TARGETNAME"
                                        }
                                    }
                                    else
                                    {
                                        $RESULT = "No file data received"
                                    }
                                }
                                else
                                {
                                    $RESULT = "Missing target file name"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        $RESULT = "No client data received"
                    }
                    break
                }

                "GET /log"
                { # return the webserver log (stored in log variable)
                    $RESULT = $WEBLOG
                    break
                }

                "GET /time"
                { # return current time
                    $RESULT = Get-Date -Format s
                    break
                }

                "GET /starttime"
                { # return start time of the powershell webserver (already contained in $HTMLRESPONSE, nothing to do here)
                    break
                }

                "GET /beep"
                { # Beep
                    [CONSOLE]::beep(800, 300) # or "`a" or [char]7
                    break
                }

                "GET /quit"
                { # stop powershell webserver, nothing to do here
                    break
                }

                "GET /exit"
                { # stop powershell webserver, nothing to do here
                    break
                }

                default
                {    # unknown command, check if path to file

                    # create physical path based upon the base dir and url
                    $CHECKDIR = $BASEDIR.TrimEnd("/\") + $REQUEST.Url.LocalPath
                    $CHECKFILE = ""
                    if (Test-Path $CHECKDIR -PathType Container)
                    { # physical path is a directory
                        $IDXLIST = "/index.htm", "/index.html", "/default.htm", "/default.html"
                        foreach ($IDXNAME in $IDXLIST)
                        { # check if an index file is present
                            $CHECKFILE = $CHECKDIR.TrimEnd("/\") + $IDXNAME
                            if (Test-Path $CHECKFILE -PathType Leaf)
                            { # index file found, path now in $CHECKFILE
                                break
                            }
                            $CHECKFILE = ""
                        }
                    }
                    else
                        { # no directory, check for file
                            if (Test-Path $CHECKDIR -PathType Leaf)
                            { # file found, path now in $CHECKFILE
                                $CHECKFILE = $CHECKDIR
                            }
                        }

                    if ($CHECKFILE -ne "")
                    { # static content available
                        try {
                            # ... serve static content
                            $BUFFER = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($CHECKFILE)
                            $RESPONSE.ContentLength64 = $BUFFER.Length
                            $RESPONSE.SendChunked = $FALSE
                            $EXTENSION = [IO.Path]::GetExtension($CHECKFILE)
                            if ($MIMEHASH.ContainsKey($EXTENSION))
                            { # known mime type for this file's extension available
                                $RESPONSE.ContentType = $MIMEHASH.Item($EXTENSION)
                            }
                            else
                            { # no, serve as binary download
                                $RESPONSE.ContentType = "application/octet-stream"
                                $FILENAME = Split-Path -Leaf $CHECKFILE
                                $RESPONSE.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=$FILENAME")
                            }
                            $RESPONSE.AddHeader("Last-Modified", [IO.File]::GetLastWriteTime($CHECKFILE).ToString('r'))
                            $RESPONSE.AddHeader("Server", "Powershell Webserver/1.1 on ")
                            $RESPONSE.OutputStream.Write($BUFFER, 0, $BUFFER.Length)
                            # mark response as already given
                            $RESPONSEWRITTEN = $TRUE
                        }
                        catch
                        {
                            # just ignore. Error handling comes afterwards since not every error throws an exception
                        }
                        if ($Error.Count -gt 0)
                        { # retrieve error message on error
                            $RESULT += "`nError while downloading '$CHECKFILE'`n`n"
                            $RESULT += $Error[0]
                            $Error.Clear()
                        }
                    }
                    else
                    {    # no file to serve found, return error
                        $RESPONSE.StatusCode = 404
                        $HTMLRESPONSE = '<html><body>Page not found</body></html>'
                    }
                }

            }

            # only send response if not already done
            if (!$RESPONSEWRITTEN)
            {
                # insert header line string into HTML template
                $HTMLRESPONSE = $HTMLRESPONSE -replace '!HEADERLINE', $HEADERLINE

                # insert result string into HTML template
                $HTMLRESPONSE = $HTMLRESPONSE -replace '!RESULT', $RESULT

                # return HTML answer to caller
                $BUFFER = [Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes($HTMLRESPONSE)
                $RESPONSE.ContentLength64 = $BUFFER.Length
                $RESPONSE.AddHeader("Last-Modified", [DATETIME]::Now.ToString('r'))
                $RESPONSE.AddHeader("Server", "Powershell Webserver/1.1 on ")
                $RESPONSE.OutputStream.Write($BUFFER, 0, $BUFFER.Length)
            }

            # and finish answer to client
            $RESPONSE.Close()

            # received command to stop webserver?
            if ($RECEIVED -eq 'GET /exit' -or $RECEIVED -eq 'GET /quit')
            { # then break out of while loop
                "$(Get-Date -Format s) Stopping powershell webserver..."
                break;
            }
        }
    }
    finally
    {
        # Stop powershell webserver
        $LISTENER.Stop()
        $LISTENER.Close()
        "$(Get-Date -Format s) Powershell webserver stopped."
    }
}