Return Web Request Status Code as Integer (PowerShell Core 6)

status_code.ps1

$uri = "https://httpstat.us/404" # Replace '404' by any status code you want to test
try {
    $r = Invoke-WebRequest -URI $uri -SkipCertificateCheck -MaximumRedirection 0
    $a = [int]$r.StatusCode
}
catch {
    $a = [int]$_.Exception.Response.StatusCode
}
write-output $a

Invoke-WebRequest returns an error for all 3xx, 4xx and 5xx HTTP status codes, this can make it difficult to analyse HTTP status codes with PowerShell. This code will always return the status code as an integer, even if an error occurs.

Currently, this only works in PowerShell Core 6 due to the -SkipCertificateCheck parameter.
You can remove -MaximumRedirection depending on your needs.