I'll take a batch or powershell solution, but I need to launch Edge to a specific url in kiosk mode and not having much luck. The following sees the kiosk parameter as part of the url string. This method of launching the app doesn't appear to accept parameters
start "" "shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge" --Kiosk http://website.com
In powershell but it keeps telling me the application was not found, enter a valid appname or AUMID. But that is the correct aumid and its recognized by the batch file.
set-assignedAccess -UserName "kiosk" -AppName "Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge --kiosk http://website.com"
Though similar this is not a duplicate of How to set up Microsoft Edge Chromium in kiosk mode with silent printing?
They reference edge from program files and mine is not located there. Above has been the only way I've been able to reference it successfully from batch.
Related
Currently I've got my PowerShell script on the desktop named Chrome with a Chrome logo on it. They launch that, it opens chrome for them to use but if you tab out you'll see a PowerShell script idle counting until it reaches the terminate period.
Issue - Small business owner that has several computers employees use for web (chrome) based duties day to day. Employees often leave without logging out and closing their browser.
My Solution - Run chrome in incognito by default
While this works, they are now leaving their incognito tab open and not closing it to prevent logging out...
My Solution - deployed powershell script to close chrome after a set period of idle mouse and KB.
WHY I'M HERE - Is there any way to prevent them from closing out of my powershell script? Also is there a way to make it less obvious a giant powershell icon in the dock?
This answer provides an overview of launching applications hidden.
A non-third-party solution that requires a helper VBScript, however, is described in this answer.
Assuming you have created such a script and named it runHidden.vbs and placed it in C:\path\to\HelperVBScript, you can create your shortcut file with a command line such as the following:
wscript.exe C:\path\to\HelperVBScript\runHidden.vbs powershell.exe -file c:\path\to\your\script.ps1
This will launch your PowerShell script (.ps1) invisibly, while allowing it to launch GUI applications such as Chrome visible - and only the latter will appear in the taskbar.
My first thought would be to have it run as a job when the computer is logged in. Look into launching your script as a scheduled task with the command Start-Job.
Example:
Start-Job -ScriptBlock {### YOUR CODE HERE ###}
Then, you'd need to create a scheduled task to launch this script at login.
Here's a guide on how to do that: https://blog.netwrix.com/2018/07/03/how-to-automate-powershell-scripts-with-task-scheduler/
When I call the following code:
Start-Process Firefox
Then the PowerShell opens the browser. I can do that with several other programs and it works. My question is: How does the PowerShell know which program to open if I type Firefox? I mean, Im not using a concrete Path or something ...
I though it has something to do with the environment variables ... But I cannot find any variable there which is called Firefox ... How can he know?
I traced two halves of it, but I can't make them meet in the middle.
Process Monitor shows it checks the PATHs, and eventually checks HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\firefox.exe so that's my answer to how it finds the install location, and then runs it.
That registry key is for Application Registration which says:
When the ShellExecuteEx function is called with the name of an executable file in its lpFile parameter, there are several places where the function looks for the file. We recommend registering your application in the App Paths registry subkey.
The file is sought in the following locations:
The current working directory.
The Windows directory only (no subdirectories are searched).
The Windows\System32 directory.
Directories listed in the PATH environment variable.
Recommended: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths
That implies PowerShell calls the Windows ShellExecuteEx function, which finds FireFox as a registered application, or it tries the same kind of searching itself internally.
Going the other way to try and confirm that, the Start-Process cmdlet has a parameter set called UseShellExecute. The 'Notes' of that help says:
This cmdlet is implemented by using the Start method of the System.Diagnostics.Process class. For more information about this method, see Process.Start Method
Trying to trace through the source code on GitHub:
Here is the PowerShell source code for Start-Process.
Here, at this line it tries to look up the $FilePath parameter with CommandDiscovery.LookupCommandInfo.
Here it checks else if (ParameterSetName.Equals("UseShellExecute"))
Then Here is the .Start() function which either starts it with ShellExecute or Process.Start()
OK, not sure if ShellExecute and ShellExecuteEx behave the same, but it could be PS calling Windows, which is doing the search for "FireFox".
That CommandSearcher.LookupCommandInfo comes in here and follows to TryNormalSearch() which is implemented here and immediately starts a CommandSearcher which has a state machine for the things it will search
SearchState.SearchingAliases
Functions
CmdLets
SearchingBuiltinScripts
StartSearchingForExternalCommands
PowerShellPathResolution
QualifiedFileSystemPath
and there I get lost. I can't follow it any further right now.
Either it shortcuts straight to Windows doing the lookup
Or the PowerShell CommandSearcher does the same search somehow
Or the PowerShell CommandSearcher in some way runs out of searching, and the whole thing falls back to asking Windows search.
The fact that Process Monitor only logs one query in each PATH folder for "firefox.*" and then goes to the registry key suggests it's not doing this one, or I'd expect many more lookups.
The fact that it logs one query for "get-firefox.*" in each PATH folder suggests it is PowerShell's command searcher doing the lookup and not Windows.
Hmm.
Using Process Monitor I was able to trace the PowerShell.
It first searches the $env:path variable, then the $profile variable.
In my case firefox wasn't found and then it searches through a whole lot in the Registry and somehow finds it.
It might have something to do with how firefox is installed on the system.
I want to run an app (it does not natively support command line mode) on Windows that require 5 fields of generic data from a user. However, I want to run this app without opening/displaying the gui (a la command line like). Is this something that can be done with Powershell. If so, can someone point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance
PowerShell does not change how an application is executed versus how it is when executed at the command line or a run dialog. If the application can accept input via arguments when run then any of these methods for executing the application will work.
If you are asking if powershell can read from the console host, the appropriate cmdlet would be read-host. So you could read from the user and then run the command with the arguments you desire.
$user = read-host "Username:"
& examplecommand.exe $user
I need a way to open a file in a Metro app from command line.
So far I've figured out how to start the app from command line without any third-party scripts
explorer shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.Reader_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.Reader
but I haven't been able to figure out how to include a file name yet.
Launching
explorer shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.Reader_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.Reader example.pdf
just opens up a default explorer window.
Any idea from Windows 8 experts on how to accomplish this without any third-party tools/cmdlets/etc.?
Note: In fact I'm using Windows 10 but I guess if there's a Windows 8 / 8.1 way to do it, it'll work for 10, too.
If you're still looking for the answer, the best way to open a file in a metro app is to use an execution string like a normal app protocol does. The execution string looks like this:
bingnews:[arguments, can be left blank.]
microsoftvideo:[arguments, can be left blank.]
netflix:[arguments, can be left blank.]
So, to start up netflix, it's as simple as typing in Start netflix: into the command line.
To find the execution string for an app, go here: Control Panel\Programs\Default Programs\Set Associations
More info and examples can be found here.
http://windowsitpro.com/windows-8/opening-windows-8-apps-command-prompt-or-script
http://www.itsjustwhatever.com/2012/10/28/launch-windows-8-metro-apps-from-a-desktop-shortcut-or-command-line/
PLEASE NOTE: To open an app WITHOUT A PROTOCOL (One not listed in the registry or under "Set Associations") use OP's method:
explorer shell:AppsFolder\[appuid]![appfullname]
The app UID is the folder name without the version number. For example,
4DF9E0F8.Netflix_2.11.0.8_x64__mcm4njqhnhss8
becomes
4DF9E0F8.Netflix_mcm4njqhnhss8
The app fullname is the [App author].[App name] For example, 4DF9E0F8.Netflix. 4DF9E0F8 is the author, and Netflix is the name.
Put it all together to get
explorer shell:AppsFolder\4DF9E0F8.Netflix_mcm4njqhnhss8!4DF9E0F8.Netflix
Store Apps can only be started by the shell. So try this:
explorer.exe shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.WindowsAlarms_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
Or from run (Win+R):
shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.WindowsAlarms_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App
If the app is the default handler then you can just launch the file or protocol. There isn't a good in-box way to launch a file into a non-default handler from the command line.
Windows Store apps aren't designed to run from the command line and there isn't a straightforward way to launch them from the command line. Apps which handle specific files or protocols receive them through FileActivatedEventArgs or ProtocolActivatedEventArgs rather than command line arguments
You could write a launcher app which uses CLSID_ApplicationActivationManager's IApplicationActivationManager to ActivateForFile a specific app.
The best way I've found to pass command-line arguments to the executable targeted by the shell command is via the Windows start command.
Using your example, you would end up with this:
start "" shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.Reader_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.Reader example.pdf
I don't have Microsoft.Reader installed, so I can't test that. However, I can verify that this pattern works with Windows Terminal. In this case, I pass it a command-line argument to tell it which profile I want to open.
start "" shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App new-tab -p "GitBash"
The first argument to the start command here — the empty string — is just the title of the window.
You can also pair this with cmd /c, which I've found is necessary for some launcher applications, such as my personal favorite, SlickRun:
cmd /c start "" shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App new-tab -p "GitBash"
I have a blog post with more info on running Modern apps from the command line, which you might find helpful in constructing these ridiculously obtuse commands.
Not sure if it works on Windows 8, but on Windows 10 I use this:
cmd /C start <app-name>:
For example, to start Slack:
cmd /C start slack:
I have a PowerShell script that checks that a certain directory is on the PATH (by looking through $env:path). It appears that $env:path is loaded and locally scoped by each application on startup, and that scope is passed on to any child applications. So... if someone opens Firefox, downloads my program, runs it, gets a message that they should change their path, fixes the problem, then runs the program again from the Firefox downloads window, they'll get the same message, unless they start my program from Explorer or restart Firefox.
Is there a way to reload $env:path in my PowerShell script so it'll get the current value, as if it were opened from Explorer?
If you were running outside the context of a browser I would tell you to use
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(string name, string value, EnvironmentVariableTarget target)
to change the Path variable for the user. That third parameter allows you to specify Process, User or Machine. If you specify either User or Machine the change is permanent and will appear in the env blocks of all programs that start after that. However, since you are running within the browser I don't think you would be able to do that.
If the user changes their path, that change will be available to future instances of the browser. Another option is to test (Get-Command) for the app you need in the path and if you can't find it, modify $env:Path yourself in the script each time it runs. That is, unless you don't know what the path should be.