I am trying to run powershell script from JScript.
powershell will pop up but the script is not getting executed.
Below is the sample code
var WSH = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell");
var exec= WSH.Exec("powershell .\test1.ps1");
exec.StdIn.Close();
test1.ps1 is a simple script which creates textfile.
Try putting the full path to c:\path\to\test1.ps1. I guess there is a different idea of "the current directory" which .\ is not finding the right file. Also try putting -NoExit on the end of the powershell command line, and maybe the window will stay open and you can read any error message.
How can i redirect everything what happens within a PowerShell windows (inputs and outputs) automatically to a file? I don't mean single commands instead i would like to have something like a logger which captures everything and logs into a local file so that i have a history of things done within the powershell window.
You're looking for PowerShell's Start-Transcript cmdlet, which:
creates a record of all or part of a Windows PowerShell session to a text file. The transcript includes all command that the user types and all output that appears on the console.
Running transcripts must be stopped explicitly, with the Stop-Transcript cmdlet.
I've got a powershell script that eventually passes a stack of arguments into a batch file via invoke-expression command.
However, on one server, when the powershell scripts executes that batch file, that batch file opens in a new window, but on the other server, the batch file executes within the powershell window.
What that means, is that I've got a sleep interval that is starting once the batch file begins executing in the new window, and thus screwing up my timings, unlike the other server, where the sleep interval doesn't begin until after the batch file has finished executing.
So my question is... does anybody know why the behaviours are different between the two servers, and how to get the batch file to execute in the powershell window? I'm thinking it's a configuration thing, but can't actually find anything that tells me how to make it do what I want it to do.....
Thanks!
--edit--
I'm currently just piping the line straight through like this:
E:\Software\ibm\WebSphere\AppServer\bin\wsadmin -lang jython -username $($username) -password $($password) -f "F:\Custom\dumpAllThreads.py" $($servers)
Previously, it was
$invokeString = 'E:\Software\ibm\WebSphere\AppServer\bin\wsadmin -lang jython -username $($username) -password $($password) -f "F:\Custom\dumpAllThreads.py" $($servers)'
$output = invoke-expression $invokeString
Both had the same behaviour.
So my question is... does anybody know why the behaviours are different between the two servers
Most often I've seen this sort of thing related to how a scripts is called. If the same user is logged on multiple times on the same server (i.e., console and RDP) then the window might appear in a different session. Similarly, if the script runs as a scheduled task and the user that runs the task isn't the user logged on, the window will never be visible. If the same user is logged on, it might be visible.
how to get the batch file to execute in the powershell window?
You could try Start-Process with -NoNewWindow, as #Paul mentions.
However....
What that means, is that I've got a sleep interval that is starting once the batch file begins executing in the new window, and thus screwing up my timings, unlike the other server, where the sleep interval doesn't begin until after the batch file has finished executing.
It sounds like your actual problem is that your code has a race condition. You should fix the actual problem. Use Start-Process with the -Wait parameter, or use the jobs system in PowerShell.
I'm writing a small Powershell script (.ps1 file) to allow some of our users to manage active directory users in a very simple interface. The problem is, I'm having trouble capturing the result/output from a cmdlet like New-ADUser to see if it was successful.
I'm looking for a way to obtain the result of a cmdlet like New-ADUser so that I can gracefully tell the user whether or not the user was created successfully.
Just for further info, this is just a small app running a System.Windows.Forms.Form and it starts with the command line window hidden.
In the past for some of our tech guys, I've run the little powershell app with the command line open in the background. That way they see the red error message fly by and can debug, but that won't work for these everyday users.
What have you tried?
It's not different from your normal error handling. Set your $ErrorActionPreference to e.g. Stop, and use try/catch to run commands and catch the errors.
$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
try {
#Run code
} catch {
#Handle error objects, which you access with $_
}
When I call a Powershell script, how can I keep the called script from closing its command window. I'm getting an error and I'm sure I can fix it if I could just read the error.
I have a Powershell script that sends an email with attachment using the .NET classes. If I call the script directly by executing it from the command line or calling it from the Windows Scheduler then it works fine. If I call it from within another script (IronPython, if that matters) then it fails. All scenarios work fine on my development machine. (I really do have to get that "Works on My Machine" logo!) I've got the call to Powershell happening in a way that displays a command window and I can see a flicker of red just before it closes.
Sorry: Powershell 1.0, IronPython 1.1
Solution: powershell -noexit d:\script\foo.ps1
The -noexit switch worked fine. I just added it to the arguments I pass from IronPython. As I suspected, it's something that I can probably fix myself (execution policy, although I did temporarily set as unrestricted with no effect, so I guess I need to look deeper). I'll ask another question if I run into trouble with that.
Thanks to all for the help. I learned that I need to investigate powershell switches a little more closely, and I can see quite a few things that will prove useful in the future.
Try with the -noexit switch:
powershell -noexit d:\script\foo.ps1
You basically have 3 options to prevent the PowerShell Console window from closing, that I describe in more detail on my blog post.
One-time Fix: Run your script from the PowerShell Console, or launch the PowerShell process using the -NoExit switch. e.g. PowerShell -NoExit "C:\SomeFolder\SomeScript.ps1"
Per-script Fix: Add a prompt for input to the end of your script file. e.g. Read-Host -Prompt "Press Enter to exit"
Global Fix: Change your registry key to always leave the PowerShell Console window open after the script finishes running.
Here are the registry keys to modify for option #3:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\powershell.exe\shell\open\command]
#="\"C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe\" -NoExit \"& \\\"%1\\\"\""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell\0\Command]
#="\"C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe\" -NoExit \"-Command\" \"if((Get-ExecutionPolicy ) -ne 'AllSigned') { Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process Bypass }; & \\\"%1\\\"\""
See my blog for more information and a .reg file that will apply these registry changes automatically.
I've needed this before and usually I didn't want to modify the script (typically for scripts fired off from the Task Scheduler). I just wanted to see what was spit out to console.
All you need to do is just append a Read-Host command after the script invocation e.g.:
PowerShell.exe -command { .\foo.ps1; read-host "Press enter key to continue" }
BTW the problem with using Start-Transcript is that it doesn't capture EXE output. And any form of attempted logging in V1 and even V2 with the standard host will not capture the verbose, debug, progress or warning streams. You can only see these by viewing the associated host window.
One cheesy but effective way to capture all script output (stdout, stderr, verbose, warning, debug) is to use another host like cmd.exe e.g.:
cmd.exe /c powershell.exe "$pwd\foo.ps1" > foo.log
I am generaly fine with scripts autoclosing except when an error occurs, where I need to see the error. Assuming you have not changed $ErrorActionPreference away from the default 'Continue', then for the behaviour I described do this at the end of you script
if ($Error)
{
Pause
}
There is no ordinary Try...Catch construction in Powershell; however you can trap exceptions instead and react properly.
I.E:
Function Example() {
trap [Exception] {
write-host "We have an error!";
write-error $("ERROR: " + $_.Exception.Message);
sleep 30;
break;
}
write-host "Hello world!";
throw "Something very bad has happened!";
}
You can also simulate Try...Catch construction:
Function Example2() {
${
write-host "Our try clause...";
throw "...caused an exception! It hurts!";
}
trap [Exception] {
write-error $_.Exception.Message;
sleep 30;
continue;
}
Of course as soon as you will trap an exception, you can log it, sleep, or whatever you want with the error message. My examples just sleep, allowing you to read what happened, but it's much better to log all the errors. (The simplest way is to redirect them with >>).
Look also at:
http://huddledmasses.org/trap-exception-in-powershell/
A quick and dirty solution is to use CTRL+S to halt the scrolling of the display and CTRL+Q to resume it.
You have three options:
Do a catch in the script (if using
Powershell V2)
Write a dummy
script which catches and redirects
stdout which you can then access as a
variable from your IronPython script.
VBS/Wscript Intro An addition to
this is just liberally drop
Read-Host commands everywhere,
and hit return to page through.
Rather than outputting anything to the shell, wrap your powershell script in a second script that redirects all output to a log file.
PS C:> myscript.ps1 |Out-File myscript.log
Create run_ps_script.bat file containing
#PowerShell.exe -command "try { %1 } finally { read-host 'Press ENTER...' }"
and make it default program to open PowerShell scrips.
My solution was to execute the script with a command line from the console window instead of right-clicking the file -> execute with powershell.
The console keeps displaying the error messages,
even though the execution of the script ended.
Have you thought about redirecting stdout and stderr to a file ex:
./ascript.ps1 >logs 2>&1
Note: You can create wrapper script in powershell that calls your powershell script with all necessary redirections.
My .PS1 script ran fine from the Powershell console but when "double-clicking" or "right-click open with powershell" it would exhibit the 'open/close' problem.
The Fix for me was to rename the script folder to a Name Without Spaces.
Then it all worked - Windows couldn't deal with
"C:\This is my folder\myscript.ps1" but
"C:\This_is_my_folder\myscript.ps1" worked just fine
A couple more ideas...You could use the start-sleep cmdlet at the end of you script to give you enough time to review the error.
You might also be able to use start-transcript to record the session to a text file.