I created a small aws.bat script and then in PowerShell I navigated to the script directory.
But when I type aws then I get an error message and it does not execute the script. Is there a special thing I should be doing?
Here's what I have tried:
PS C:\G> .\aws.bat
C:\G>$BucketName = "ab-user"
'$BucketName' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
The very first and every othre command has a similar message.
You can't just enter the name on its own, with or without file extension, you first have to tell powershell what to do with it.
You can call it as follows:
& .\aws.bat
If you need the LastExitCode returned in powershell to check if the bat file worked (0 usually means it worked, anything else usually means it didn't), use Start-Process as follows:
$batch = Start-Process -FilePath .\aws.bat -Wait -passthru;$batch.ExitCode
And if you want the batch file to be hidden when it is run by powershell do this:
$batch = Start-Process -FilePath .\aws.bat -Wait -passthru -WindowStyle Hidden;$batch.ExitCode
Related
I am trying to run an executable through powershell to run headless, to install a program onto a VM/LocalHost machine. I can get the wizard to open, but for whatever reason I cannot get it to run headless. Here is the cmd line that I run that works:
start /WAIT setup.exe /clone_wait /S /v" /qn"
This is my attempts in powershell
Start-Process .\setup.exe /S -Wait -PassThru
Start-Process .\setup.exe /S /v /qn -Wait -PassThru
Start-Process setup.exe -ArgumentList '/clone_wait /S /v /qn' -Wait
In the cmd line instance the application installs without issue - in the powershell instance the wizard opens and is on the first "Next" prompt. Any help would be appreciated!
I also attempted to add the additional parameters "/v" and "/qn" which return an error : Start-Process : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument '/v'
The bottom attempt runs but it's not waiting for the installation to complete
You may be overthinking it. Remember that PowerShell is a shell. One of the purposes of a shell is to run commands that you type.
Thus: You don't need Start-Process. Just type the command to run and press Enter.
PS C:\> .\setup.exe /clone_wait /S /v /qn
Now if the executable (or script) you want to run contains spaces in the path or name, then use the call/invocation operator (&) and specify the quotes; for example:
PS C:\> & "\package files\setup.exe" /clone_wait /S /v /qn
(This behavior is the same no matter whether you are at the PowerShell prompt or if you put the command in a script.)
This worked for me. You need to quote the whole argumentlist, plus embed double quotes to pass what you want to /v.
start-process -wait SetupStata16.exe -ArgumentList '/s /v"/qb ADDLOCAL=core,StataMP64"'
Running the command normally and then using wait-process after might be a simpler alternative, if you're sure there's only one process with that name:
notepad
wait-process notepad
To follow-up to all that you have been given thus far. Running executables via PowerShell is a well-documented use case.
PowerShell: Running Executables
Solve Problems with External Command Lines in PowerShell
Top 5 tips for running external commands in Powershell
Using Windows PowerShell to run old command-line tools (and their
weirdest parameters)
So, from the first link provides more validation of what you've been given.
5. The Call Operator &
Why: Used to treat a string as a SINGLE command. Useful for dealing with spaces.
In PowerShell V2.0, if you are running 7z.exe (7-Zip.exe) or another command that starts with a number, you have to use the command invocation operator &.
The PowerShell V3.0 parser do it now smarter, in this case you don’t need the & anymore.
Details: 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
Example:
& 'C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe' "c:\videos\my home video.avi" /fullscreen
Things can get tricky when an external command has a lot of parameters or there are spaces in the arguments or paths!
With spaces you have to nest Quotation marks and the result it is not always clear!
In this case it is better to separate everything like so:
$CMD = 'SuperApp.exe'
$arg1 = 'filename1'
$arg2 = '-someswitch'
$arg3 = 'C:\documents and settings\user\desktop\some other file.txt'
$arg4 = '-yetanotherswitch'
& $CMD $arg1 $arg2 $arg3 $arg4
# or same like that:
$AllArgs = #('filename1', '-someswitch', 'C:\documents and settings\user\desktop\some other file.txt', '-yetanotherswitch')
& 'SuperApp.exe' $AllArgs
6. cmd /c - Using the old cmd shell
** This method should no longer be used with V3
Why: Bypasses PowerShell and runs the command from a cmd shell. Often times used with a DIR which runs faster in the cmd shell than in PowerShell (NOTE: This was an issue with PowerShell v2 and its use of .Net 2.0, this is not an issue with V3).
Details: Opens a CMD prompt from within powershell and then executes the command and returns the text of that command. The /c tells CMD that it should terminate after the command has completed. There is little to no reason to use this with V3.
Example:
#runs DIR from a cmd shell, DIR in PowerShell is an alias to GCI. This will return the directory listing as a string but returns much faster than a GCI
cmd /c dir c:\windows
7. Start-Process (start/saps)
Why: Starts a process and returns the .Net process object Jump if -PassThru is provided. It also allows you to control the environment in which the process is started (user profile, output redirection etc). You can also use the Verb parameter (right click on a file, that list of actions) so that you can, for example, play a wav file.
Details: Executes a program returning the process object of the application. Allows you to control the action on a file (verb mentioned above) and control the environment in which the app is run. You also have the ability to wait on the process to end. You can also subscribe to the processes Exited event.
Example:
#starts a process, waits for it to finish and then checks the exit code.
$p = Start-Process ping -ArgumentList "invalidhost" -wait -NoNewWindow -PassThru
$p.HasExited
$p.ExitCode
#to find available Verbs use the following code.
$startExe = new-object System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo -args PowerShell.exe
$startExe.verbs
This is my code:
set-location [PATH]
$A = Start-Process -FilePath .\refresh.bat -Wait
set-location C:\
When executed in powershell, the system opens a Command prompt window and executes the bat file without issue. The problem is that the window closes and I cannot see if there was an error if it succeeds.
I want to keep the CMD window open.
I also tried at the end of the bat file:
:END
cmd /k
but no luck.
First, unless you specifically need to run the batch file in a new window, do not use Start-Process - use direct invocation instead, which is implicitly synchronous and allows you to capture or redirect output:
# Invoke the batch file synchronously (wait for it to exit)
# and capture its (standard) output in variable $A
# To print the batch file's output to the console instead, just use:
# .\refresh.bat
$A = .\refresh.bat
See this answer for more information.
Also note Start-Process never allows you to capture the invoked program's output directly (you can only redirect it to files with -RedirectStandardOutput and -RedirectStandardOutput); your specific command captures nothing[1] in $A; adding -PassThru does return something, but not the program's output, but a process-information object (System.Diagnostics.Process).
If you do need to run the batch file in a new window and want to keep that window open:
Start-Process -Wait -FilePath cmd -ArgumentList '/k .\refresh.bat'
Relying on positional parameter binding, the above can be simplified to:
Start-Process -Wait cmd '/k .\refresh.bat'
[1] Strictly speaking, $A is assigned the [System.Management.Automation.Internal.AutomationNull]::Value singleton, which in most contexts behaves like $null.
Thank you mklement0 with your post gave me the solution I wanted. This is how I solved it.
set-location [PATH]
$A = Start-Process -FilePath .\refresh.bat -Wait -NoNewWindow
set-location C:\
-NoNewWindow allowed me to run my batch in the same powershell window getting the feedback of the bat file. That way I have errors if any and success status if no errors.
Thanks!
I am not a programmer and my parents' Windows 10 PC tends to loose its start menu and cortana processes, resulting in start menu not showing up at all when the start icon is clicked.
I made a quick search and found + tested this Powershell command and it worked:
Get-AppxPackage | % { Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppxManifest.xml" -verbose }
I wish to turn this command into a shortcut/batchfile that executes the command and restarts the PC whenever the desktop icon is double clicked, in order to avoid explaining to my parents what to do to fix the problem. Can any one help me out please?
Thank you in Advance.
you can encode the command and put the whole thing into a single batch file (no .ps1 necessary)
details here
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/timid/2014/03/26/powershell-encodedcommand-and-round-trips/
or you can use this function
https://github.com/gangstanthony/PowerShell/blob/master/Encode-Text.ps1
first, either use Get-Content or Get-Clipboard (copy your whole script to the clipboard) to encode your desired script
PS> Encode-Text (Get-Clipboard | out-string)
RwBlAHQALQBBAHAAcAB4AFAAYQBjAGsAYQBnAGUAIAB8ACAAJQAgAHsAIABBAGQAZAAtAEEAcABwAHgAUABhAGMAawBhAGcAZQAgAC0ARABpAHMAYQBiAGwAZQBEAGUAdgBlAGwAbwBwAG0AZQBuAHQATQBvAGQAZQAgAC0AUgBlAGcAaQBzAHQAZQByACAAIgAkACgAJABfAC4ASQBuAHMAdABhAGwAbABMAG8AYwBhAHQAaQBvAG4AKQBcAEEAcABwAHgATQBhAG4AaQBmAGUAcwB0AC4AeABtAGwAIgAgAC0AdgBlAHIAYgBvAHMAZQAgAH0ADQAKAA==
then you can use that in your batch file like so
powershell -encodedcommand RwBlAHQALQBBAHAAcAB4AFAAYQBjAGsAYQBnAGUAIAB8ACAAJQAgAHsAIABBAGQAZAAtAEEAcABwAHgAUABhAGMAawBhAGcAZQAgAC0ARABpAHMAYQBiAGwAZQBEAGUAdgBlAGwAbwBwAG0AZQBuAHQATQBvAGQAZQAgAC0AUgBlAGcAaQBzAHQAZQByACAAIgAkACgAJABfAC4ASQBuAHMAdABhAGwAbABMAG8AYwBhAHQAaQBvAG4AKQBcAEEAcABwAHgATQBhAG4AaQBmAGUAcwB0AC4AeABtAGwAIgAgAC0AdgBlAHIAYgBvAHMAZQAgAH0ADQAKAA==
You could execute the PowerShell script via a batch file.
Batch file:
set powerscriptPath=C:\Example.ps1
PowerShell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "& {Start-Process PowerShell -ArgumentList '-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ""%powerscriptPath%""' -Verb RunAs}"
This will bypass the execution policies on the computer allowing the script to run in Administrator mode too. NOTE: You will need to edit the powerscriptPath to point to your PowerShell script location, I just used C:\Example.ps1 as an example.
You will want to add Restart-Computer -Force to the end of your PowerShell script to restart the computer
Get-AppxPackage | % { Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppxManifest.xml" -verbose }
Restart-Computer -Force
Make a bat file which executes powershell with that file. Then add a shortcut to the bat file
I am really unsure why you would run a batch file just to call a powershell script! Talk about hokey approaches to a non-problem.
To call a powershell script is really no different than calling a batch script:
It's simply path to PowerShell, and the script path as a parameter:
"%SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" "C:\users\austinfrench\desktop\example.ps1"
You can also use the exact same format as the target for a desktop shortcut.
We are migrating perl script to powershell script.
In Perl the code is as shown below
$rc='D:\\EmailConnector\\run.bat> $EmailConnector_log;';
I tried as shown below but not working
StartProcess "cmd.exe" "/c D:\EmailConnector\run.bat> $EmailConnector_log"
When I tried as shown below the .bat script ran, but I want to update the log file. Could you help me on this.
StartProcess run.bat -workingdirectory "D:\EmailConnector"
The .bat file consist of jar file for email functionality. But we want to get log in log file.
Use the call operator (&), like this:
& 'D:\EmailConnector\run.bat' > $EmailConnector_log
The return value of the batch script is automatically put into the variable $LastExitCode.
Is that what you mean?
Start-Process "cmd" -ArgumentList '/c','D:\EmailConnector\run.bat' -WorkingDirectory "D:\EmailConnector"
or this one if you need another argument for logfile
Start-Process "cmd" -ArgumentList '/c','D:\EmailConnector\run.bat','EmailConnector_log' -WorkingDirectory "D:\EmailConnector"
Or, since there are no spaces in the path, you can just execute the batch file directly from PowerShell:
D:\EmailConnector\run.bat > $EmailConnector_log
This is one of the advantages of PowerShell being both a "shell" and a "scripting language". Execution of batch, cmd, vbs, exe files is straightforward - usually. Parameter passing can be an issue but these days that is easily solved with the stop parsing operator: --%.
I have a ps script like:
Start-Process powershell -Verb runAs -ArgumentList "Get-WebApplication"
Because Get-WebApplication needs admin right, so I use "-verb runAs".
My question is: now the result only shows in the new powershell windows. How can I make my main powershell get/display the result?
You have two choices that I see:
Run your script as administrator and just run Get-WebApplication directly.
Capture the output from the powershell process you're starting with Start-process and then do whatever you want with the output in your script. To capture the output you can either redirect the output to a file and then read the file in your script, or you can use .NET [diagnostics.process]::start to redirect stdout and directly read the output stream in your script (no file is created).