How to pipe all output of .exe execution in Powershell? - powershell

Question

In Powershell I am running psftp.exe which is PuTTy's homepage. I am doing this:
$cmd = "psftp.exe"
$args = '"username#ssh"#ftp.domain.com -b psftp.txt';
$output = & $cmd $args
This works; and I am printing out $output. But it only catches some output in that variable (like "Remote working directory is [...]") and is throwing other output to an error type like this:
psftp.exe : Using username "username#ssh".
At C:\full_script.ps1:37 char:20
+ $output = & <<<< $cmd $args
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (Using username "username#ssh".:String) [], RemoteException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError
This "Using username ..." etc looks like a normal FTP message. How can I make sure all output gets put into $output?

Answer 1

The problem is some output is being sent to STDERR and redirection works differently in PowerShell than in CMD.EXE.
How to redirect output of console program to a file in PowerShell has a good description of the problem and a clever workaround.
Basically, call CMD with your executable as a parameter. Like this:
UPDATE
I fixed my code so it would actually work. :)
$args = '"username#ssh"#ftp.domain.com -b psftp.txt';
$output = cmd /c psftp.exe $args 2`>`&1

Answer 2

Give this a try
$output = [string] (& psftp.exe 'username#ssh#ftp.domain.com' -b psftp.txt 2>&1)
There is a PowerShell bug about 2>&1 making error records. The [string] cast works around it.

Answer 3

& "my.exe" | Out-Null #go nowhere
& "my.exe" | Out-Default # go to default destination (e.g. console)
& "my.exe" | Out-String # return a string
the piping will return it in real-time
& "my.exe" | %{
if ($_ -match 'OK')
{ Write-Host $_ -f Green }
else if ($_ -match 'FAIL|ERROR')
{ Write-Host $_ -f Red }
else
{ Write-Host $_ }
}
Note:
If the executed program returns anything other than a 0 exitcode, the piping will not work. You can force it to pipe with redirection operators such as 2>&1
& "my.exe" 2>&1 | Out-String
sources:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/7272390/254276
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/windowsserver/en-US/b6691fba-0e92-4e9d-aec2-47f3d5a17419/start-process-and-redirect-output-to-powershell-window