Add tests for the error handling that the cmdlets with -Path share: a
path that doesn't exist (16 cmdlets, and 6 audit cmdlets with the
Security privilege), an item whose owner may not read its permissions
(6 cmdlets), and an item whose owner may not change them, which the 6
cmdlets that write the DACL handle by taking ownership. Each error
belongs to its path only, and the cmdlet goes on with the next one.
The tests found one defect: Get-NTFSOrphanedAccess reported an item that
it couldn't read as an AddAceError with the category WriteError. It now
writes a ReadSecurityError, like Get-NTFSAccess.
They also show that the take-ownership retry works without privileges
when the account holds the Take Ownership right and may assign the
previous owner, and that it can't help a denied read, because reading
the owner needs the same right. Concepts and five cmdlet pages said that
the retry needs the privileges; they now describe both, and that Windows
removes the OWNER RIGHTS entries when the owner changes.
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The access and audit cmdlets wrote the owner of an item back with the
entries they changed. For a DACL without the auto-inherit flag, Windows
returns the owner and the group even when only the DACL is read, and the
cmdlets wrote every section that the descriptor held. Without the Restore
privilege, or on a file server that refuses the owner, the write failed
with error 1307 (#34).
- Add-NTFSAccess, Clear-NTFSAccess, Add-NTFSAudit, and Clear-NTFSAudit
read only the DACL or the SACL. FileSystemSecurity2.Write(),
Remove-NTFSAccess, and Remove-NTFSAudit write only the sections they
read, which also fixes the access inheritance cmdlets.
- Read together with the SACL, the inherited entries of such a DACL lose
their inherited flag when the parent folder has no SACL, and the
cmdlets stored them as explicit copies. Get-NTFSSecurityDescriptor now
reads the DACL in a separate call.
- Set-NTFSSecurityDescriptor writes only the sections that changed since
they were read; an unchanged descriptor writes nothing (maintainer
decision of 2026-10-06).
- Clear-NTFSAudit writes nothing for an item without a SACL, and reports
an error without the Security privilege (maintainer decision).
The regression tests failed before and pass after the fix in Windows
PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7, elevated and as a basic user.
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FileSystemSecurity.RemoveAccessRule rebuilds a rule that doesn't match an
entry exactly and rejects generic rights then, so removing an entry with
GENERIC_ALL failed with "The value '269484032' is not valid". Windows keeps
generic rights in the inherit-only entries of folders. Such a rule is now
removed through ModifyAccessRule, without the added Synchronize right
(#17).
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The cmdlets that take ownership of an item to repeat a denied operation
left the account that ran them as the owner when the second attempt failed
as well. BaseCmdlet.InvokeAsOwner now restores the previous owner on every
exit path and reports a failed restore as RestoreOwnerError.
Add-NTFSAccess, Add-NTFSAudit, Remove-NTFSAccess, and Remove-NTFSAudit
wrote the unchanged entries of an item with -PassThru after a failed
change; they now continue with the next path.
The inheritance tests assert the error identity and cover a missing path
on every runner.
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Defect 19, and the same gap in Remove-NTFSAudit. After the ReadFileError
for a path that doesn't exist, both cmdlets went on with a null item: the
removal failed with a NullReferenceException that they reported as a
second, misleading RemoveAceError, and with -PassThru the null item
stopped the command. Both now continue with the next path.
Tests: Access.Tests.ps1 and Audit.Tests.ps1, 2 tests each.
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Defect 17. Both cmdlets carried a removeSpecific field that no parameter
set, so they always took the rights away from matching entries; the
version history documents a -RemoveSpecific switch since 4.1. Both
cmdlets now have the switch, which removes only an entry that matches
exactly. The Security2 list overloads didn't pass the flag on, and the
audit item overload didn't support it; all overloads now do.
The applies-to field of both cmdlets is initialized; -AppliesTo is
mandatory in the Simple sets since defect 14, so it is always set when
used.
Tests: Access.Tests.ps1 3 tests, Audit.Tests.ps1 2 tests, on in-memory
security descriptors.
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Defect 14. Add-NTFSAccess, Remove-NTFSAccess, Add-NTFSAudit, and
Remove-NTFSAudit have the sets PathSimple, PathComplex, SDSimple, and
SDComplex; the default PathComplex needs -Path. A command with
-SecurityDescriptor and without -AppliesTo, -InheritanceFlags, or
-PropagationFlags matched both SD sets and failed with "Parameter set
cannot be resolved". -AppliesTo is now mandatory in the Simple sets, so
such a command resolves to the Complex set and its default flags
(ContainerInherit, ObjectInherit / None, which is what AppliesTo
ThisFolderSubfoldersAndFiles means), as a command with -Path already did.
With -AppliesTo nothing changes.
The pages say "Required: True" for -AppliesTo and drop its never
reachable defaults; platyPS takes that metadata from the shipped help
file, so the help file was regenerated before the build.
Tests/Access.Tests.ps1: 6 tests on in-memory security descriptors.
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* fix(help): ship the generated help file so Get-Help works
Get-Help showed only the syntax of the cmdlets: the module shipped a
pre-4.x MAML file for the old command names under the wrong name
(NTFSSecurity-Help.xml), while PowerShell looks for
en-US\NTFSSecurity.dll-Help.xml.
- Generate en-US\NTFSSecurity.dll-Help.xml from Docs/Cmdlets with
New-ExternalHelp and commit it. The csproj copies it to the output,
so every build ships it, including the local Debug builds that
releases are published from.
- List all runtime files, including the help file, in FileList.
- Remove the stale NTFSSecurity-Help.xml and the unused help editor
project NTFSSecurity\Help\NTFSSecurity.Help.pshproj.
- Add Tests\Help.Tests.ps1 (Pester 5): Get-Help shows the synopsis,
parameters, examples, and online link of every page, and
Get-Help -Online resolves to the GitHub page.
- Reword six sentences in five cmdlet pages so that each link ends its
sentence: platyPS drops the space after a link in the help text.
- CI regenerates the help file and fails when it differs from the
committed file, then runs the Pester tests.
- Document the regeneration step and the link rule in the contributor
guide.
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* ci: report each Pester test once on AppVeyor
AppVeyor build 54834154 passed all 218 Pester tests but listed 870 on
its Tests tab: the NUnit import files a Pester 5 test under every block
that contains it (Pester, test file, Describe, and Context).
Report the results through the build worker API instead
(POST api/tests/batch): one entry per test with its outcome, duration,
and error message. Outside AppVeyor, and when no test ran, the step
sends nothing.
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---------
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* chore: initialize the memory bank
Add the canonical .memory-bank base with evidence-based project context:
purpose and scope, workflows, stack and validation commands, architecture
map, decisions, and the open work found while documenting the cmdlets.
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* docs: align documentation with the cmdlet source
- Fill all 36 platyPS cmdlet pages from the C# source: synopsis,
description, parameters, defaults, examples, inputs, outputs, and
notes, including documented limitations of the current code
- Check every example against live parameter metadata and run them in a
sandbox; fix examples that did not work (CSV restore, account filter,
recursive inheritance, -AccessRights typos)
- Rewrite the home, concepts, examples, README, and contributor pages;
add a grouped cmdlet overview, module settings, privileges, long paths,
and the platyPS workflow
- Document Remove-Item2 -PassThru as renamed after 4.2.6 (#64)
- Fix mkdocs.yml navigation, edit_uri, and copyright markup; add
build.os and a pinned MkDocs version for Read the Docs
- Point online help links to the pages on GitHub; add CHANGELOG.md
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* ci: build the module and check the docs against the build
The documentation check ran Update-MarkdownHelp against the NTFSSecurity
release from the PowerShell Gallery (4.2.6), so it failed for every
unreleased parameter change. PR #91 failed because 4.2.6 still has
Remove-Item2 -PassThur while the source and the docs have -PassThru.
- Build NTFSSecurity.csproj in Release on the Visual Studio 2022 image,
using the .NET Framework 4.5.2 reference assemblies package instead of
an installed targeting pack
- Check Docs/Cmdlets against the module built from source
- Pin platyPS 0.14.2 and MarkdownLinkCheck 0.2.0, and enable TLS 1.2 so
the NuGet provider bootstrap works
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* chore: record the green PR 91 build in the memory bank
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---------
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Raimund Andree
James Smith