psexec trying to exec script error - powershell

Question

I am learning how to interact with PowerShell and PsTools, and I have a problem with psexec.
I got a ps1 script named test.ps1 and inside it I have Get-Service which gives me the all services in my computer. Now I am going into PowerShell and go to c:\pstools. Then I type
psexec.exe C:\test\test.ps1
and it fails and returns me this error:
%1 is not a valid Win32 application
What could be the problem?

Answer 1

PsExec launches an executable. You need to specify the executable for PowerShell and associated arguments:
psexec.exe -accepteula -nobanner -s -h -d powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NoProfile -NoLogo -File "C:\test\test.ps1"

Answer 2

The immediate answer to your question is:
psexec requires a (binary) executable as its first argument and cannot execute scripts directly.
Therefore, you must pass the Windows PowerShell executable name to psexec and in turn pass the desired script to the latter as an argument, via the -File parameter:
psexec powershell -File C:\test\test.ps1
That said, this particular use of psexec is pointless, as it would execute the script locally, as the current user, in which case use of psexec is a needless complication:
If you already know that, and the psexec command at hand is just a simplified example, never mind.
Otherwise, read on below.
The ps in psexec and PsTools has nothing to with PowerShell; PsTools is a collection of CLIs for managing Windows machines remotely, including processes, a common abbreviation of which is "ps", inspired by the standard ps Unix utility, which in turn inspired the initial tool in the collection, pslist; the primary purpose of psexec is to invoke arbitrary command lines on remote machines[1]
.
To invoke a PowerShell script locally:
From inside PowerShell itself, simply invoke the file path directly:
PS> c:\test\test.ps1
PS> & "c:\test\test.ps1", if the file path is / must be quoted or is provided via a variable or expression.
From outside of PowerShell, such as cmd.exe ("Command Prompt") or bash, you must invoke the PowerShell executable explicitly and pass it the script file path via the -File parameter:
Windows PowerShell: C:\> powershell -file c:\test\test.ps1
PowerShell Core: C:\> pwsh -file c:\test\test.ps1
In other words: the PowerShell's executable name is
powershell.exe for Windows PowerShell,
vs. pwsh for the cross-platform PowerShell Core edition (with extension .exe on Windows).
If you do need remote execution:
Pass \\-prefixed machine name(s) or IP address(es) to psexec; e.g., the following command executes the hostname utility on machine somemachine:
psexec \\somemachine hostname
There is no benefit to using psexec without targeting a different machine.[1]
However, psexec is normally not needed, because PowerShell has built-in support for remoting (i.e., the ability to execute commands on other machines; remoting requires setup, however - run Get-Help about_Remote_FAQ for more information); e.g., the equivalent of the above command is:
Invoke-Command -ComputerName somemachine { hostname }
[1] As TheIncorrigible1 points out, psexec can also be used for local execution as the system account (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM, the account that represents the computer as a whole) with the -s option.
Additionally, you can also run locally as another user, using the -u parameter - which, however, the standard runas utility can do as well (the latter doesn't offer passing the target user's password as a parameter for security reasons, but does offer to securely save a password for later reuse).
Run psexec -h for help.