I have an environment variable named GOPATH. In old style command shell I could run the command %GOPATH%\bin\hello like this:
Is there an equivalently simple command in Windows PowerShell?
EDIT
I am not trying to print the environment variable. I am trying to USE it.
The variable is set correctly:
C:\WINDOWS\system32> echo $env:gopath
C:\per\go
Now I want to actually use this in a command line call, and it fails:
C:\WINDOWS\system32> $env:gopath\bin\hello
At line:1 char:12
+ $env:gopath\bin\hello
+ ~~~~~~~~~~
Unexpected token '\bin\hello' in expression or statement.
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnexpectedToken
Use $env:[Variablename]
For example:
$env:Appdata
or
$env:COMPUTERNAME
using your example:
$env:GOPATH
To use this to execute a script use
& "$env:GOPATH\bin\hello"
Using an environment variable in a path to invoke a command would require either dot notation or the call operator. The quotation marks expand the variable and the call operator invokes the path.
Dot Notation
. "$env:M2_Home\bin\mvn.cmd"
Call Operator
& "$env:M2_Home\bin\mvn.cmd"
One solution is to use start-process -NoNewWindow to run it.
C:\windows\system32> start-process -nonewwindow $env:gopath\bin\hello.exe
C:\windows\system32Hello, Go examples!
>
This is much more verbose obviously and puts the command prompt at an odd looking prompt: >. But it does work.
Related
The setup
In a powershell script I have written I use a Multiline string like the following:
$MLINE_VARIABLE = "*file1
- change1
- change2
*file_2
- change1
- change2
*file-3
- change1
- change2"
Since this string is saved as a variable I wanted to give the script that variable as parameter:
param(
[string]$NORMAL_STRING,
[string]$MULTILINE_STRING
)
echo $NORMAL_STRING
echo $MULTILINE_STRING
run the script
I am fairly new to powershell but feel quite well with bash scripts. I tested this script with multiple inputs. here are the results:
powershell .\test.ps1 -NORMAL_STRING "This is a Normal String!" -MULTILINE_STRING $MLINE_VARIABLE
The first run resultet in following long error Message (Error Message was in german and I translated the first occurance of an error):
powershell : In line:2 char:4
In line:1 char:1
+ powershell .\small_test.ps1 -NORMAL_STRING "THIS IS A NORMAL STRING!" ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (In line:2 char:4:String) [], RemoteException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError
+ - change1
+ ~
Missing expression after unary operator '-'.
In line:2 char:5
+ - change1
+ ~~~~~~~
Unexpected token "change1" in expression or statement.
In line:3 char:4
.
.
.
Not all analytical errors were reported. Correct the reported errors and try again.
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : MissingExpressionAfterOperator
The Next test I didn't used the multiline string for a sanity check:
powershell .\test.ps1 -NORMAL_STRING "This is a Normal String!"
I realized that the script is working, but only showing the first 2 entries of the normal string:
>> This
>> is
I assume that somehow the NORMAL_STRING was set to "This" and the missing parameter MULTILINE_STRING was set to "is".
So to test if the scripts works as intended I changed the Parameter -NORMAL_STRING "This_is_a_normal_Parameter" and instead of using the $MULTILINE_STRING as parameter I set it inside the script.
What I need
How could I successful hand over this Multiline Parameter without messing up all the variables?
Without using parameter -File, what follows after powershell.exe is regarded as if it were a -Command, which executes the specified commands (and any parameters) as though they were typed at the PowerShell command prompt.
In this case however, you want it to run another PowerShell script, stored in a file.
When used with -File <PathToTheScript>, the script runs in the local scope ("dot-sourced"), so that the functions and variables that the script creates are available in the current session.
All values typed after the File parameter are interpreted as the script file path and parameters passed to that script.
This means that changing your code to
powershell -File '.\test.ps1' -NORMAL_STRING "This is a Normal String!" -MULTILINE_STRING $MLINE_VARIABLE
would work as intended
I`m having trouble make this cmd command to run powershell script by passing two parameters (paths).
C:\WINDOWS\System32>powershell -command \"C:\Apps\Scripts\Test\testing.ps1" \"\\Data1\dataholder$\office\J Smith\backup\" \"\\Data1\dataholder$\office\J Smith\backup2\"
I`m getting the error below:
At line:1 char:36
+ ... ps\Scripts\Test\testing.ps1 "\\Data1\dataholder$\office\ ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unexpected token '\\Data1\dataholder$\office' in expression or statement.
At line:1 char:146
+ ... Smith\backup" "\\Data1\dataholder$\office\J Smith\backup2"
+ ~
The string is missing the terminator: ".
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnexpectedToken
Any idea of why this is failing?
I had to modify the path leading to script. Now the command look like that:
C:\WINDOWS\System32>powershell -command \"C:\Apps\Scripts\Power test\testing.ps1" \"\\Data1\dataholder$\office\J Smith\backup\" \"\\Data1\dataholder$\office\J Smith\backup2\"
This is failing due to the space in the script path, any idea how to handle this?
You need to backslash escape quotes that you want to be sent from cmd shell to PowerShell:
powershell -command "& \"C:\Apps\Scripts\Power test\testing.ps1\" \"\\Data1\dataholder$\office\J Smith\backup\" \"\\Data1\dataholder$\office\J Smith\backup2\""
If your program or script file has spaces, you need to call it with a call operator (&) and include that in your string that is sent to -Command. Notice the double quotes around the entire value/string that maps to -Command.
Note: Inner double quotes work here because $ is succeeded by \. If you had dataholder$folder as an example, you would need single quotes or to escape the $ because PowerShell would try to interpret $folder as a variable.
Here's a backquoting the spaces approach.
type "my script.ps1"
echo $args[0]
powershell .\my` script.ps1 hi` there
hi there
Or strategic placement of single quotes. Something can be executed if the first character isn't a quote. The quote didn't work before the backslash.
powershell .\'my script.ps1' 'hi there'
hi there
The following command works in CMD (How to start powershell with a window title?).
start powershell -NoExit -command "$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = 'bits'"
But it doesn't work in Powershell.
PS C:\> start powershell -noexit -command "$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = 'test'; read-host"
Start-Process : A parameter cannot be found that matches parameter name 'noexit'.
At line:1 char:18
+ start powershell -noexit -command "$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = 'test ...
+ ~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (:) [Start-Process], ParameterBindingException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NamedParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StartProcessCommand
The following command can open a new powershell window.
start powershell "$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = 'test'; read-host"
However, the new window shows the following error message and the title is not set.
System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHost.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle : The term
'System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHost.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle' is not recognized as the name of a
cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify
that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHost.UI.RawUI.Wind ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (System.Manageme...wUI.WindowTitle:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
Bacon Bits' helpful answer explains that start in cmd.exe means something different than in PowerShell.
Use Start-Process as follows to get the desired result; note that powershell implicitly binds to parameter -FilePath, whereas the ,-separated arguments starting with -NoExit bind implicitly to the -ArgumentList (-Args) parameter, which accepts an array of strings:
# In PowerShell, `start` is an alias for `Start-Process`
start powershell '-NoExit', '-command', "`$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = 'bits'"
In paticular, --prefixed pass-through arguments must be quoted so that they're not mistaken for Start-Process's own parameters.
Also note the ` preceding the $ in $Host, which prevents up-front interpolation of $Host by the calling PowerShell instance.
You could also use '$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = ''bits''', a single-quoted literal string with embedded single quotes escaped as ''.
Important:
While passing arguments as an array to -ArgumentList is conceptually the best approach, it is unfortunately ill-advised due to a long-standing bug in Start-Process, still present as of this writing (v7.1) - see GitHub issue #5576.
For now, using a single string comprising all arguments, enclosed in embedded "..." quoting as necessary, is the only generally robust approach. As discussed in the linked GitHub issue, an -ArgumentArray parameter that supports robust array-based argument passing may be introduced in the future.
In the case at hand this means the following, as suggested by PetSerAl in a comment on the question:
Start-Process powershell '-NoExit -command "$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = ''bits''"'
Note the single-quoting_ ('...') of the overall argument-list string, which then necessitates escaping the embedded single quotes - those that PowerShell should see as part of the command - as ''.
In Command Prompt, start is the start internal command. In Windows Powershell, start is an alias for Start-Process, which does something similar but isn't identical.
Try running this:
powershell -NoExit -command "`$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = 'bits'"
Here's another way, while avoiding the dollar sign. The double quotes have to be on the outside, so that bits stays quoted.
start powershell "-noexit (get-variable host).value.ui.rawui.windowtitle = 'bits'"
You can always avoid these quoting issues putting the command in a file.
start powershell '-noexit .\window.ps1'
start powershell with the command option for setting the window title did not work for me. Maybe because I want to open another powershell with a ps1 file. so in the other ps1 file I added the first line as below,
(Get-Host).ui.RawUI.WindowTitle='TEST TEST'
and it worked like a charm....
If you add this to your powershell profile.ps1 you can get the window title to show the current running script and if you are just opening a window with no script then 'pwsh' will be displayed.
Will be systematic with no need to add a line on top of each script. The other answers
combined with $MyInvocation.MyCommand seem to give the name of the profile.ps1 instead when running a script from the context menu.
This can also be tweaked to change the result.
[console]::title = Split-Path -Leaf ([Environment]::GetCommandLineArgs()[-1]).Replace('pwsh.dll','pwsh')
Works on both PS 5 and 7 . For ver. 5 replace pwsh.dll by powershell.exe
I am trying to run a PowerShell command from within a command prompt window (run as Administrator), but it fails. Whereas when I run the same command from within a PowerShell window it runs fine.
Here is the command without error in a PowerShell window:
Powershell [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("HostIPv4", "192.168.255.14:", "Machine")
In the command prompt window it fails:
C:\test>powershell [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("HostIPv4", "192.168.255.14:", "Machine")
At line:1 char:39
+ [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(HostIPv4, 192.168.255.14:, Mach ...
+ ~
Missing ')' in method call.
At line:1 char:39
+ [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(HostIPv4, 192.168.255.14:, Mach ...
+ ~~~~~~~~
Unexpected token 'HostIPv4' in expression or statement.
At line:1 char:47
+ [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(HostIPv4, 192.168.255.14:, Mach ...
+ ~
Missing argument in parameter list.
At line:1 char:73
+ ... ironment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(HostIPv4, 192.168.255.14:, Machine)
+ ~
Unexpected token ')' in expression or statement.
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : MissingEndParenthesisInMethodCall
What could be the problem?
PowerShell's command-line parsing removes the double quotes, try using single quotes:
powershell [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('HostIPv4', '192.168.255.14:', 'Machine')
Also note that you have to reopen an new process window to see the results (this is a known behavior for the command shell, see also: C# set environment variable)
iRon's helpful answer explains the problem and works, but I suggest adopting a generally more robust approach to invoking PowerShell commands from cmd.exe:
Use -Command explicitly, because in PSv6 the default will change to -File, expecting a script filename rather than a command.
Use -NoProfile, to avoid unnecessary loading of the PowerShell profiles and for a more predictable execution environment.
Double-quote your entire PowerShell command to protect it from potentially unwanted up-front interpretation by cmd.exe.
powershell -NoProfile -Command "[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('HostIPv4', '192.168.255.14:', 'Machine')"
The use of ' instead of " inside the command string is an easy way to avoid having to escape embedded " characters, which works fine here, but in case you do need embedded " (for interpolating strings), escape them either as \" (sic) or """ (sic).
Can anyone explain to me why:
iex "C:\Program Files\test\test.exe"
Returns:
C:\Program : The term 'C:\Program' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable
program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ C:\Program Files\test\test.exe
+ ~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Program:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
I've tried to get this working multiple different ways:
Wrapping the text in ()
Putting the string into a variable and passing it as a variable instead
Using single quotes
Using double quotes
I don't know how else I can get it to realize that the entire string must be run, not just the first word.
Post-answered example
The question has been answered. Here is something I was trying to get working:
$tool = "C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe"
$param = "/c ping google.com -n 1"
$test = & $tool $param
Write-Host $test
It turns out that the line with & does NOT work with double quotes "" in this instance, and actually worked without them. I think this has to do with there being arguments/parameters involved.
Use the & operator together with quotes:
& "C:\Program Files\test\test.exe"
From help about_operators:
& Call operator
Runs a command, script, or script block. The call operator, also known as
the "invocation operator," lets you run commands that are stored in
variables and represented by strings. Because the call operator does not
parse the command, it cannot interpret command parameters.
C:\PS> $c = "get-executionpolicy"
C:\PS> $c
get-executionpolicy
C:\PS> & $c
AllSigned