Powershell send commans to some putty windows - windows

Question

I am looking for powershell code to send text to some putty windows (same as what putty command sender does).
I found a similar example below which send text to some notepad windows - it works.
However, I made 1 word change from notepad to putty, it does not work for putty.
How can I update the code to make it work for putty? Thank you.
Below is code for notepad (the line for putty is commented):
#requires -Version 2
function Out-Notepad
{
param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
[String]
[AllowEmptyString()]
$Text
)
begin
{
$sb = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder
}
process
{
$null = $sb.AppendLine($Text)
}
end
{
$text = $sb.ToString()
$processes = Get-Process notepad
# $processes = Get-Process putty
$sig = '
[DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "FindWindowEx")]public static extern IntPtr FindWindowEx(IntPtr hwndParent, IntPtr hwndChildAfter, string lpszClass, string lpszWindow);
[DllImport("User32.dll")]public static extern int SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int uMsg, int wParam, string lParam);
'
foreach ($process in $processes) {
$null = $process.WaitForInputIdle()
$type = Add-Type -MemberDefinition $sig -Name APISendMessage -PassThru
Write-Output type: $type
$hwnd = $process.MainWindowHandle
Write-Output hwnd: $hwnd
[IntPtr]$child = $type::FindWindowEx($hwnd, [IntPtr]::Zero, "Edit", $null)
Write-Output child: $child
$null = $type::SendMessage($child, 0x000C, 0, $text)
Write-Output "---------------------"
}
}
}

Answer 1

Continuing from my comment.
There are many examples of automating putty command via command-line plink via PowerShell. Plink is just a putty command-line executable, and thus you'd run it via PowerShell like any other executable. As documented here:
• PowerShell: Running Executables
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/7703.powershell-running-executables.aspx
A quick web search using your favorite search engine will list them for you.
PowerShell using Plink
Example hit(s)
Powershell + Plink.exe (Putty) – Execute a command on a remote Linux Device
$plinkPath = "c:\Users\public\Downloads\plink.exe"
$OSun = "root" # User name required by PLINK (Putty) to SSH to Linux Primary Server
$OSpw = "rOoTpAsSwOrD" # Password required by PLINK (Putty) to SSH to Linux Primary Server
$LinuxServer = "myLinuxServer" # Server name, must resolve on your desktop machine
$remoteCommand = """ls"""
$localCommand = "$plinkPath $LinuxServer -l $OSun -pw $OSpw $remoteCommand"
$result = Invoke-Expression($localCommand)
Calling Putty via Powershell using Plink - how to auto answer the security key question
Write-Output "yes" |
PLINK.EXE -ssh $remoteserver -P 22 -pw $password -m $command
Powershell and Plink
$Params = #(
"-l $SwitchLogon"
"-pw $SwitchPsswd"
"-m . $SwitchCliCommand"
"$_"
)
& C:\Scripts\Brocadeswitch\plink.exe $Params
Even the script you say you found is overkill for your use case. Again SendKeys has its issues, but you could do this. The delay is a requirement to allow the app to load. This is the issue. Different machines require different times.
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
$SendKeys = [System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]
# Sending ot notepad
Start-Process -FilePath 'notepad.exe'
Start-Sleep -Seconds 3
$SendKeys::SendWait("~{TAB}$env:USERNAME~")
# Sending ot wordpad
Start-Process -FilePath 'C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Wordpad.lnk'
Start-Sleep -Seconds 3
$SendKeys::SendWait("~{TAB}$env:USERNAME~")
# Sending powershell instance
Start-Process -FilePath 'powershell.exe' '-NoProfile', '-NoLogo'
Start-Sleep -Seconds 3
$SendKeys::SendWait("~{TAB}Get-Date~")
You could do this as a delay tactic as well.
# Using Do/Unitl
$MainWindowTitle = $null
Start-Process -FilePath 'notepad.exe'
do
{
$MainWindowTitle = (Get-Process -Name notepad).MainWindowTitle
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 250
}
until ($MainWindowTitle -ne '')
$SendKeys::SendWait("~{TAB}$env:USERNAME~")
So, I hope you are getting that use Powershell for UI automation is not really a thing to do, since, though it can, it is not its strong suit. So, stick with real automation, or use purpose-built GUI automation tools like AutoIT, `Selenium, etc.