Strange output when trying to get data from Registry

Question

I have a startup script that captures an IP address out of the registry using the following code:

$icaaddr=(Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\XTEConfig" -Name "DefaultICAAddress")
[Net.IPAddress]$icaaddr=$icaaddr.DefaultICAAddress

Later in that script that IP is used for different things and it is added to the "Message" output as such

$message+="ICA address found to be: $icaaddr `n"

However today on one server instead of an IP the following was captured.

ICA address found to be: @{DefaultICAAddress=; PSPath=Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\XTEConfig; PSParentPath=Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix; PSChildName=XTEConfig; PSDrive=HKLM; PSProvider=Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry}

So my questions are 2

1. What would cause such output
2. How could I test for this 'state'

Long story short is when the ouptut is like that I need to have the server rebooted. How can I test the $icaaddr variable contains a valid IP address

Answer 1

You need to change this line:

$icaaddr=(Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\XTEConfig" -Name "DefaultICAAddress")

to:

$icaaddr=(Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\XTEConfig" -Name "DefaultICAAddress").DefaultICAAddress

or (this way is more readable IMO):

$icaaddr = Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\XTEConfig" `
    -Name "DefaultICAAddress" | Select-Object -ExpandProperty "DefaultICAAddress"

because Get-ItemProperty returns an object and you need a single property.

Note, however, that in your example DefaultICAAddress seems to be empty and trying to cast it to [Net.IPAddress] will likely throw an exception. To avoid this you should check if the value is a valid IP address.