Im trying to execute a .bat file remotely in a powershell script. The code in my script file looks something like this:
$server
$cred
# Both of these methods are strings pointing to the location of the scripts on the
# remote server ie. C:\Scripts\remoteMethod.cmd
$method1
$method2
$scriptArg
Enter-PSSession $server -Credential $cred
Invoke-Command {&$method1}
if($?)
{
Invoke-Command {&$method2 $args} -ArgumentList $scriptArg
}
Exit-PSSession
But whenever I run it I get
The term 'C:\Scripts\remoteMethod.cmd' 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.
This happens even if i switch around the order the methods are called in.
I found this question Using Powershell's Invoke-Command to call a batch file with arguments and have tried the accepted answers to no avail.
I wouldn't have expected the $method1 and $method2 variables to be available inside the scriptblock for Invoke-Command. Usually you would have to pass those in via the -ArgumentList parameter e.g.:
Invoke-Command {param($method, $arg) &$method $arg} -Arg $method2 $scriptArg
But it seems in your case the path to the CMD file is making it across the remote connection. Try this to see if the problem is related to a modified ComSpec environment variable on the remote machine:
Invoke-Command {param($method, $arg) cmd.exe /c $method $arg} -Arg $method2, $scriptArg
Related
Execute the remote server parametrized batch file from PowerShell.
Doesn't throw an error nor executed command on remote machine.
$path = "D:\run\test-5.2.bat";
Invoke-Command -ComputerName testserver -Scriptblock { "$path" }
Script inside the bat file is msiexec with parameters, which shall execute through Command Prompt only.
Based on this msdn link, you can run a ps1 script file on remote computers. So if it is possible to "port" the content of the bat file in a ps1 it should work. Here is the msdn example:
Example 11: Run a script on all the computers listed in a text file
PS C:\> Invoke-Command -ComputerName (Get-Content Servers.txt) -FilePath C:\Scripts\Sample.ps1 -ArgumentList Process, Service
This example uses the Invoke-Command cmdlet to run the Sample.ps1 script on all of the computers listed in the Servers.txt file. The command uses the FilePath parameter to specify the script file. This command lets you run the script on the remote computers, even if the script file is not accessible to the remote computers.
When you submit the command, the content of the Sample.ps1 file is copied into a script block and the script block is run on each of the remote computers. This procedure is equivalent to using the ScriptBlock parameter to submit the contents of the script.
Hope that helps
$path is a string. PowerShell simply echoes bare strings instead of executing them, unlike CMD or bash. Use the call operator (&):
& "$path"
or Start-Process:
Start-Process cmd.exe -ArgumentList '/c', $path -NoNewWindow -Wait
to have PowerShell execute a string as a command. Since you say you're running msiexec.exe from the batch script using the latter may be required.
On top of that you have a scope issue. The variable $path inside the scriptblock is not the same as the one in the global scope. You can mitigate that via the using: scope qualifier:
Invoke-Command -Computer testserver -Scriptblock { & "$using:path" }
or by passing $path as an argument to the scriptblock:
Invoke-Command -Computer testserver -Scriptblock { & "$($args[0])" } -ArgumentList $path
I am having an issue with running a batch file that is located on a remote server.
I have a batch file located on a remote server that i want to run that kicks off an automated Selenium test. For simplicity, let's say the name of my batch file is mybatch.bat
I have the following code in a Powershell script located on the server:
$BatchFile = "mybatch.bat"
Start-Process -FilePath $BatchFile -Wait -Verb RunAs
If I run this PowerShell script locally on the server in ISE then it runs fine and it kicks off the selenium test which takes a couple minutes to run.
Now I want to try to execute this test from another machine by using PowerShell remoting. Let's assume that remoting is already configured on the servers.
I have a PowerShell script located on another server which has the following code segment. Assume that all of the session variables have the correct information set:
$CMD = "D:\mybatch.bat"
$TargetSession = New-PSSession -ComputerName $FullComputerName -Credential $myCreds -ConfigurationName RemoteExecution
$command = "powershell.exe -File $CMD -Wait"
Invoke-Command -Session $TargetSession -ScriptBlock { $command }
When this script runs, it does connect to the remote machine and create a remote session. It does look like it kicks off the batch file because PowerShell does not give me an error. But it does not wait for the full 3 or 4 minutes for the Selenium test to finish. It seems like it just times out. Also if I am logged onto the other machine, I don't see any Selenium web test running. No Selenium log files or results files are created on remote server as should be expected.
I was wondering what I could be doing wrong with my code.
Also, it seems that the server always returns the echo outputs of the batch file to my local machine. I see these random blinking white screen on ISE which looks like output from the batch file
$command = "powershell.exe -File $CMD -Wait"
Invoke-Command -Session $TargetSession -ScriptBlock { $command }
There are 2 issues with the above code:
$command inside the scriptblock and $command outside the scriptblock are different variables due to different scopes. The variable inside the scriptblock is thus undefined and the scriptblock will simply echo an emtpy value.
Even if $command weren't undefined, the scriptblock would still just echo its value, since it's defined as a string. PowerShell does not execute strings unless you're using something like Invoke-Expression (which you shouldn't).
This should do what you want:
$CMD = "D:\mybatch.bat"
$TargetSession = New-PSSession -ComputerName $FullComputerName -Credential $myCreds -ConfigurationName RemoteExecution
Invoke-Command -Session $TargetSession -ScriptBlock { & $using:CMD }
If you would like execute a bat file from another machine by using PowerShell Remote Session, simply enter dot and then follow by a whitespace, then enter the exact path of bat file located on that remote machine.
Example
Invoke-Command -ComputerName RemoteComputerName -Credential $credential -ScriptBlock {. "D:\Temp\Install_Something.bat"}
I found the Invoke-Command cmdlet in PowerShell that supposedly is invoking a command on another server but this doesn't quite work. Instead what I get is the print of what the bat/exe. My exe is a console app and the bat was a test I did that launches the exe with start "" "myexe.exe".
This is the command I'm trying to do:
Invoke-Command -ComputerName 10.10.10.10 -ScriptBlock {
'C:\Program Files\program.exe'
}
or
Invoke-Command -ComputerName 10.10.10.10 -ScriptBlock {
'C:\Program Files\batch.bat'
}
In both cases instead of the command getting invoked on the other server I get the print on the server I call from.
Did I miss an argument somewhere? I want to launch the exe/bat on the remote server, not on the server I'm on.
EDIT
I made it work with this:
$command = "PathtoExe.exe"
$process = [WMICLASS]"\\10.10.10.10\ROOT\CIMV2:win32_process"
$result = $process.Create($command)
But now the exe is not displayed, it's like running in the background.
Your problem is how you're trying to call the executable. In PowerShell, everything is an object. What you're doing is printing the String to the console instead of executing. To invoke the string, you need to use the call operator: &
Invoke-Command -ComputerName 10.10.10.10 -ScriptBlock {
& 'C:\Program Files\batch.bat'
}
This will cause it to use the default program for that extension.
I had the same pain trying to run "netsh.exe" on a remote host. Eventually got it working with the following code:
Invoke-Command -ComputerName 10.10.10.10 -ScriptBlock {Invoke-Expression "C:\Program Files\program.exe"}
I Have power shell script which runs fine when it is located on local computer. if i run test.ps1 file, it executes.
Test.ps1 has a code to use current working directory and reads xml file from current working directory
When i'm trying to use invoke-command and run this script from file share i'm receiving error message unable to find path or so ..
here is my syntax:
Invoke-command -computername "test1" -filepath "\\xyz\test\test.ps1"
above syntax didn't work...
then i tried couple of things like
invoke-command -computername "test1" -scriptblock{\\xyz\test\test.ps1}
and
invoke-command -computername "test1" -scriptblock{(param $x) \\xyz\test\test.ps1} -Argumentlist $scriptroot
None of them worked..
I'm using PowerShell remoting to execute an exe file on a remote server. The problem is that the exe needs to have its Working Directory set to the directory that the exe is in for it to run properly. If I run the exe locally (on the server) from a command prompt it works fine, and if I use Enter-PSSession (from my workstation) and then use Start-Process -FilePath [PathToExe] -WorkingDirectory [DirectoryPath] that works fine, but if I use Invoke-Command -ComputerName [Blah] -ScriptBlock [MyScriptBlock] or $session = New-PSSession -ComputerName [Blah]; Invoke-Command -Session $session -ScriptBlock [MyScriptBlock] (from my workstation) then the working directory does not get set.
This is what [MyScriptBlock] looks like:
$scriptBlock = {
param($version, $database)
$hubSyncronizerExeDirectoryPath = "C:\inetpubLive\ScheduledJobs\$version\"
$hubSyncronizerExePath = Join-Path $hubSyncronizerExeDirectoryPath 'Test.exe'
Set-Location -Path $hubSyncronizerExeDirectoryPath
Get-Location
Write-Output "$version $database"
Start-Process -FilePath $hubSyncronizerExePath -WorkingDirectory $hubSyncronizerExeDirectoryPath -ArgumentList '/database',$database
}
I've also tried using Invoke-Command instead of Start-Process, but it has the same effect; the Working Directory does not get set.
I've verified this by using the SysInternals Process Explorer, right-clicking on the process and choosing Properties. When I launch it locally or use Enter-PSSession, the Command Line and Current Directory properties are set, but not when using New-PSSession or just Invoke-Command with ComputerName.
I'm using both Set-Location and setting the -WorkingDirectory, which are the 2 typical recommended approaches for setting the working directory, and Get-Location does display the expected (server's local) path (e.g. C:\inetpubLive\ScheduledJobs\1.2.3.4). I'm guessing that this is just a bug with PowerShell (I'm using V4 on workstation and server), or maybe there's something I'm missing?
UPDATE
It turns out that the working directory was a red herring (at least, I think it was). For some reason everything works fine if I called my executable from a command prompt.
So in my Invoke-Command (I replaced Start-Process with Invoke-Command), changing this:
& ""$hubSyncronizerExePath"" /database $database
to this:
& cmd /c ""$hubSyncronizerExePath"" /database $database
fixed the problem.
Thanks for all of the suggestions guys :)
Try looking at New-PSDrive and see if that helps
I guess you'll want something like
New-PSDrive -Name WorkingDir -PSProvider FileSystem -Root "\\RemoteServer\c$\inetpubLive\ScheduledJobs\1.2.3.4"
CD WorkingDir:
I assume you should be able to amend your script to include and put in the $version variable in to the path on the New-PSDrive command...
Not certain this will do what you need it to do, but it's the first thing that sprang to mind...
Alternatively, try amending your script as follows:
$hubSyncronizerExeDirectoryPath = "\\remoteserver\C$\inetpubLive\ScheduledJobs\$version\"