Start-BitsTransfer is ignoring filename when redirecting

Question

I'm using the Start-BitsTransfer command to download remote resources in powershell scripts.

However, it seems that the command does not take the correct filename when the url is a short url.

For example, these url: http://ligman.me/1IW1oab redirect actually to http://download.microsoft.com/DOWNLOAD/D/6/7/D670D322-5771-409E-BF34-5B98496DEB0A/MICROSOFT_PRESS_EBOOK_INTRODUCING_AZURE_PDF.PDF (HTTP 301 response).

But when I execute

Start-BitsTransfer http://ligman.me/1IW1oab

The result filename is 1IW1oab

Is there a way to use this command and the obtain the right filename?

Answer 1

Simply using the command no but you can resolve before the shot url in this way:

$url = 'http://ligman.me/1IW1oab'    
$WebClientObject = New-Object System.Net.WebClient
$WebRequest = [System.Net.WebRequest]::create($URL)
$WebResponse = $WebRequest.GetResponse()
$ActualDownloadURL = $WebResponse.ResponseUri.AbsoluteUri
$ObjectProperties = @{ 'Shortened URL' = $URL;
                       'Actual URL' = $ActualDownloadURL}
$ResultsObject = New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property $ObjectProperties
$WebResponse.Close()
$ResultsObject.'Actual URL'