Execute PowerShell GUI locally but send output over the network - windows

Question

I am using the excellent Chrome-Kiosk script from https://github.com/alex-tomin/Tomin.Tools.KioskMode and it works great. I have modified it for our display boards at work and we use it flawlessly with 11 screens.
I wanted to modify it to make a single screen launcher, so I can open a small GUI box, enter the URL to display, and then the screen number that it should display on. I have created a small script and it works perfectly on my local machine. What I want to do is open the GUI on my screen and then send the two variables over the network to the display PC on the network. I had hoped that I would be able to do this with remote execution as found here: https://www.howtogeek.com/117192/how-to-run-powershell-commands-on-remote-computers/, but no luck.
Here is the GUI code:
function button ($title,$mailbx, $WF, $TF) {
[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName( "System.Windows.Forms")
[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName( "Microsoft.VisualBasic")
$form = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.Form";
$form.Width = 500;
$form.Height = 150;
$form.Text = $title;
$form.StartPosition = [System.Windows.Forms.FormStartPosition]::CenterScreen;
$textLabel1 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.Label";
$textLabel1.Left = 25;
$textLabel1.Top = 15;
$textLabel1.Text = $mailbx;
$textLabel2 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.Label";
$textLabel2.Left = 25;
$textLabel2.Top = 50;
$textLabel2.Text = $WF;
$textBox1 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.TextBox";
$textBox1.Left = 150;
$textBox1.Top = 10;
$textBox1.width = 200;
$textBox2 = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.TextBox";
$textBox2.Left = 150;
$textBox2.Top = 50;
$textBox2.width = 200;
$defaultValue = ""
$textBox1.Text = $defaultValue;
$textBox2.Text = $defaultValue;
$button = New-Object "System.Windows.Forms.Button";
$button.Left = 360;
$button.Top = 85;
$button.Width = 100;
$button.Text = "Ok";
$eventHandler = [System.EventHandler]{
$textBox1.Text;
$textBox2.Text;
$form.Close();
};
$button.Add_Click($eventHandler) ;
# Add controls to all the above objects defined
$form.Controls.Add($button);
$form.Controls.Add($textLabel1);
$form.Controls.Add($textLabel2);
$form.Controls.Add($textLabel3);
$form.Controls.Add($textBox1);
$form.Controls.Add($textBox2);
$form.Controls.Add($textBox3);
$ret = $form.ShowDialog();
return $textBox1.Text, $textBox2.Text#, $textBox3.Text
}
$return= button "Monitoring Screen Selector" "Enter URL" "Enter Screen # from 1 to 11" #"Target Folder"
$return[0]
$return[1]
The first part of the script is the GUI, it passes $return[0] and $return[1] into the second part of the script which is below:
$chromePath = 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe'
$chromeArguments = '--new-window'
# if Window not moved (especially on machine start) - try increasing the delay.
$ChromeStartDelay = 3
Set-Location $PSScriptRoot
. .\HelperFunctions.ps1
# Kill all running instances
# &taskkill /im chrome* /F
Chrome-Kiosk $return[0] -MonitorNum $return[1]
So the GUI should open on the local PC, then send $return[0] and $return[1] to the computer with all of the displays plugged into it so that the second part of the script can receive those two inputs from the GUI and then activate the screen and URL.
The idea as that during an incident or event that isn't covered by our normal screens, we can throw a web page up there until it is resolved, then close it manually afterwards (unless somebody knows how to catch the PID of a specific Chrome instance, which I very much doubt, so that it can be terminated somehow)
Any hints on how I could do this?

Answer 1

Ok, so here is what I have done to make this work. I have created server end scripts that check a folder for 2 specific files, and once it sees them it sends that data to the main script that is expecting a monitor number and a URL. Hope somebody finds this useful.
You will need to go and download the original Chrome-Kiosk from https://alextomin.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/kiosk-mode-in-windows-chrome-on-multiple-displays/
SERVER SCRIPTS
I have put these into a folder called c:\scripts\ICVT
looper.PS1 - This will run constantly
Set-Location -Path C:\scripts\ICVT
while ($true) {
.\file_checker.ps1;
}
file_checker.PS1 - This is the script that looper runs. file_checker scans the folder for web.txt and mon.txt . Both must be present for the rest of the script to execute.
#Checks folder for web.txt and mon.txt . Both must be present for the rest of the
script to execute
Set-Location -Path C:\scripts\ICVT
$a = Test-Path web.txt
$b = Test-Path mon.txt
IF (($a -and $b -eq $True)) {
.\launcher.ps1
}
else {
Write-Host "Scanning For Files"
}
Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
launcher.PS1 - This is just a modified version of the original script
$chromePath = 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe'
$chromeArguments = '--new-window'
$web = (Get-Content -Path web.txt)
$mon = (Get-Content -Path mon.txt)
# if Window not moved (especially on machine start) - try increasing the delay.
$ChromeStartDelay = 5
Set-Location $PSScriptRoot
. .\HelperFunctions.ps1
Chrome-Kiosk $web -MonitorNum $mon
#Delete parameters after use
Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
del web.txt
del mon.txt
CLIENT SIDE
menu.PS1 - If you are wanting to push a specific screen to the display computer over the network then setup Network Path, but if you are connected to the local PC then Local Path is the one to setup. As long as looper is able to see the folder then it will work. There is a little logic in the menu so that the script wont execute if you close the window without putting in any details. (if you run launcher with no parameters it still executes chrome and sends it to a screen that is out of the array normally number 2 for some reason)
#################Local Path###################
Set-Location -Path c:\scripts\ICVT
#################Network Path#################
#Set-Location -Path \\somecomputer\c$\scripts\ICVT
function button ($title,$mailbx, $WF, $TF) {
###################Load Assembly for creating form & button######
[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName( “System.Windows.Forms”)
[void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName( “Microsoft.VisualBasic”)
#####Define the form size & placement
$form = New-Object “System.Windows.Forms.Form”;
$form.Width = 500;
$form.Height = 150;
$form.Text = $title;
$form.StartPosition = [System.Windows.Forms.FormStartPosition]::CenterScreen;
##############Define text label1
$textLabel1 = New-Object “System.Windows.Forms.Label”;
$textLabel1.Left = 25;
$textLabel1.Top = 15;
$textLabel1.Text = $mailbx;
##############Define text label2
$textLabel2 = New-Object “System.Windows.Forms.Label”;
$textLabel2.Left = 25;
$textLabel2.Top = 50;
$textLabel2.Text = $WF;
##############Define text label3
#$textLabel3 = New-Object “System.Windows.Forms.Label”;
#$textLabel3.Left = 25;
#$textLabel3.Top = 85;
#$textLabel3.Text = $TF;
############Define text box1 for input
$textBox1 = New-Object “System.Windows.Forms.TextBox”;
$textBox1.Left = 150;
$textBox1.Top = 10;
$textBox1.width = 200;
############Define text box2 for input
$textBox2 = New-Object “System.Windows.Forms.TextBox”;
$textBox2.Left = 150;
$textBox2.Top = 50;
$textBox2.width = 200;
############Define text box3 for input
#$textBox3 = New-Object “System.Windows.Forms.TextBox”;
#$textBox3.Left = 150;
#$textBox3.Top = 90;
#$textBox3.width = 200;
#############Define default values for the input boxes
$defaultValue = “”
$textBox1.Text = $defaultValue;
$textBox2.Text = $defaultValue;
#$textBox3.Text = $defaultValue;
#############define OK button
$button = New-Object “System.Windows.Forms.Button”;
$button.Left = 360;
$button.Top = 85;
$button.Width = 100;
$button.Text = “Ok”;
############# This is when you have to close the form after getting values
$eventHandler = [System.EventHandler]{
$textBox1.Text;
$textBox2.Text;
#$textBox3.Text;
$form.Close();};
$button.Add_Click($eventHandler) ;
#############Add controls to all the above objects defined
$form.Controls.Add($button);
$form.Controls.Add($textLabel1);
$form.Controls.Add($textLabel2);
$form.Controls.Add($textLabel3);
$form.Controls.Add($textBox1);
$form.Controls.Add($textBox2);
$form.Controls.Add($textBox3);
$ret = $form.ShowDialog();
#################return values
return $textBox1.Text, $textBox2.Text#, $textBox3.Text
}
$return= button “Monitoring Screen Selector” “Enter URL” “Enter Screen # from 1 to 11” #“Target Folder”
if ($return[0] -ne "") {
$return[0] > web.txt
}
if ($return[0] -eq "") {
exit
}
if ($return[1] -ne "") {
$return[1] > mon.txt
}
if ($return[0] -eq "") {
exit
}