Sample HTTP Request in Powershell

gistfile1.txt

Powershell HTTP Request

$r = [System.Net.WebRequest]::Create("http://url/")
$resp = $r.GetResponse()
$reqstream = $resp.GetResponseStream()
$sr = new-object System.IO.StreamReader $reqstream
$result = $sr.ReadToEnd()
write-host $result

Username and passwords
$creds = new-object System.Net.NetworkCredential "username", "password"
$uri = mew-object System.Uri "http://url/"
$credcache = new-object System.Net.CredentialCache
$credcache.Add($uri, "Basic", $creds)
$webrequestobject.Credentials = $credcache

you can combine the getresponse and getresponsestream methods into one line making it:
$sr = new-object System.IO.StreamReader (($r.GetResponse()).GetResponseStream())

EDIT: also, if you want to use default credentials of the running user (for automation via logon script) you can add:
$r.UseDefaultCredentials = $true

after line 3

Shouldnt we close or dispose the response.