Launching from .bat not working the same as running .ps1 directly - windows

I'm trying to make a script that people can doubleclick to run a set of commands that changes occasionally. In linux I run a .sh that wgets another sh (that I can change when needed) and runs it. I'm looking for a similar solution for Windows.
I looked into PowerShell but found out it needs to be run from a .bat to allow double clicking, so now I have the following:
foo.bat file:
#ECHO OFF
SET ThisScriptsDirectory=%~dp0
SET PowerShellScriptPath=%ThisScriptsDirectory%bar.ps1
PowerShell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "& {Start-Process PowerShell -ArgumentList '-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ""%PowerShellScriptPath%""' -Verb RunAs}";
that calls bar.ps1:
Invoke-WebRequest https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/xxx/bar2.ps1 -OutFile bar2.ps1
Running bar.ps1 from PowerShell works fine and downloads bar2.ps1, but running the batch file does not, or at least not to the directory both files are in (can't find it anywhere, though I guess it might be a working directory problem still?).

Your batch file is running the PowerShell script with elevated privileges. Doing this changes the working directory to C:\Windows\system32 (for security reasons), so you'll most likely find the downloaded file there. To get the ouptut file in the same directory as the script you could change the PowerShell script like this:
$dir = Split-Path $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path -Parent
$filename = 'bar2.ps1'
$url = "https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/xxx/$filename"
Invoke-WebRequest $url -OutFile "$dir/$filename"
With that said, why are you running a download script with elevated permissions in the first place? Don't do that.

Related

How to start git-bash with some argument on separate new window from Powershell

I am trying to do the following steps from Powershell. Following is just a pseudo-code which explains my requirements.
# This is a powershell function
function load(){
cd C:\my_path\scripts
invoke-expression -Command C:\Program Files\Git\git-bash.exe
# I want to go to this path into the git-bash.exe window
cd C:\my_path\scripts
# I have bash script here. I want to excuete this script.
./loadData.sh
}
how can I achieve this by Powershell? Thanks!
try git-bash.exe --help to see what parameters it has. after a short google search i assume you can run Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files\Git\git-bash.exe" -ArgumentList '--cd="C:\my_path\scripts" --exec="loadData.sh"' maybe even Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files\Git\git-bash.exe" -ArgumentList '--exec="C:\my_path\scripts\loadData.sh"' might work.
If you simply want to execute the bash script loadData.sh, run :
cd C:\my_path\scripts
path/to/bash.exe loadData.sh
This will create a bash shell (in the current console, not in a separate one), run your script, and exit, returning to your powershell.
If the current working directory is not set as you expect within your bash shell, you can perhaps pass it as an argument to your script :
# not 100% tested, I don't have a Powershell at hand
path/to/bash.exe loadData.sh /c/my_path/scripts
# and in your loadData.sh, add an instruction :
cd "$1"

Set default application for .ps1 files as powershell.exe [duplicate]

I am distributing a PowerShell script to my team. The script is to fetch an IP address from the Vsphere client, make an mstsc connection, and log it in a shared file.
The moment they used the script they got to know the IP address of machine. After that, they always tend to use mstsc directly instead of running the PowerShell script.
(As they are using mstsc I am not able to know whether they are using the VM frequently or not.)
Mainly they are telling me that running PowerShell is not straightforward.
I am sick by their laziness.
Is there a way to make a PowerShell script work by double clicking a .ps1 file?
Create a shortcut with something like this as the "Target":
powershell.exe -command "& 'C:\A path with spaces\MyScript.ps1' -MyArguments blah"
Or if you want all PS1 files to work the way VBS files do, you can edit the registry like this:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell\open\command
Edit the Default value to be something like so...
"C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -noLogo -ExecutionPolicy unrestricted -file "%1"
Then you can just double click all your .PS1 files like you would like to. in my humble opinion, be able to out of the box.
I'm going to call this "The Powershell De-castration Hack". LOL enjoy!
This worked for me on Windows 10 and powershell 5.1:
right click on the .ps1 file
Open with...
Choose another app
Copy the location of powershell.exe to the address bar (by default it won't show windows folder) i.e. C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
select powershell.exe
select "Always use this app to open .ps1 files"
click OK
Be aware that one of PowerShell's security features is that users can NOT launch script with a double click. Use great care if you modify this setting. An alternative might be to package your script. Some editors like PrimalScript can do that. The users still need PowerShell installed but then they can double-click the exe. And it sounds like your team needs a little education.
I agree that setting a system setting may be a bit much, but the shortcut requiring a hardcoded path is not ideal. A bat file actually solves the problem nicely
RunMyPowershellScript.bat
start powershell -command "& '.\MyPowershellScript.ps1' -MyArguments blah"
This batch file can now be double clicked on, shortcuts can be easily created to the batch file, and the script can be deployed to any folder.
I wrote this a few years ago (run it with administrator rights):
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Change the registry key in order that double-clicking on a file with .PS1 extension
start its execution with PowerShell.
.DESCRIPTION
This operation bring (partly) .PS1 files to the level of .VBS as far as execution
through Explorer.exe is concern.
This operation is not advised by Microsoft.
.NOTES
File Name : ModifyExplorer.ps1
Author : J.P. Blanc - jean-paul_blanc#silogix-fr.com
Prerequisite: PowerShell V2 on Vista and later versions.
Copyright 2010 - Jean Paul Blanc/Silogix
.LINK
Script posted on:
http://www.silogix.fr
.EXAMPLE
PS C:\silogix> Set-PowAsDefault -On
Call Powershell for .PS1 files.
Done!
.EXAMPLE
PS C:\silogix> Set-PowAsDefault
Tries to go back
Done!
#>
function Set-PowAsDefault
{
[CmdletBinding()]
Param
(
[Parameter(mandatory=$false, ValueFromPipeline=$false)]
[Alias("Active")]
[switch]
[bool]$On
)
begin
{
if ($On.IsPresent)
{
Write-Host "Call PowerShell for .PS1 files."
}
else
{
Write-Host "Try to go back."
}
}
Process
{
# Text Menu
[string]$TexteMenu = "Go inside PowerShell"
# Text of the program to create
[string] $TexteCommande = "%systemroot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -Command ""&'%1'"""
# Key to create
[String] $clefAModifier = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Classes\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell\Open\Command"
try
{
$oldCmdKey = $null
$oldCmdKey = Get-Item $clefAModifier -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$oldCmdValue = $oldCmdKey.getvalue("")
if ($oldCmdValue -ne $null)
{
if ($On.IsPresent)
{
$slxOldValue = $null
$slxOldValue = Get-ItemProperty $clefAModifier -Name "slxOldValue" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($slxOldValue -eq $null)
{
New-ItemProperty $clefAModifier -Name "slxOldValue" -Value $oldCmdValue -PropertyType "String" | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty $clefAModifier -Name "(default)" -Value $TexteCommande -PropertyType "ExpandString" | Out-Null
Write-Host "Done !"
}
else
{
Write-Host "Already done!"
}
}
else
{
$slxOldValue = $null
$slxOldValue = Get-ItemProperty $clefAModifier -Name "slxOldValue" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
if ($slxOldValue -ne $null)
{
New-ItemProperty $clefAModifier -Name "(default)" -Value $slxOldValue."slxOldValue" -PropertyType "String" | Out-Null
Remove-ItemProperty $clefAModifier -Name "slxOldValue"
Write-Host "Done!"
}
else
{
Write-Host "No former value!"
}
}
}
}
catch
{
$_.exception.message
}
}
end {}
}
You'll need to tweak registry.
First, configure a PSDrive for HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT since this isn’t set up by default. The command for this is:
New-PSDrive HKCR Registry HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Now you can navigate and edit registry keys and values in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT just like you would in the regular HKCU and HKLM PSDrives.
To configure double-clicking to launch PowerShell scripts directly:
Set-ItemProperty HKCR:\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell '(Default)' 0
To configure double-clicking to open PowerShell scripts in the PowerShell ISE:
Set-ItemProperty HKCR:\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell '(Default)' 'Edit'
To restore the default value (sets double-click to open PowerShell scripts in Notepad):
Set-ItemProperty HKCR:\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell '(Default)' 'Open'
Simple PowerShell commands to set this in the registry;
New-PSDrive -Name HKCR -PSProvider Registry -Root HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCR:\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell\open\command" -name '(Default)' -Value '"C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -noLogo -ExecutionPolicy unrestricted -file "%1"'
You may set the default file association of ps1 files to be powershell.exe which will allow you to execute a powershell script by double clicking on it.
In Windows 10,
Right click on a ps1 file
Click Open with
Click Choose another app
In the popup window, select More apps
Scroll to the bottom and select Look for another app on this PC.
Browse to and select C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe.
List item
That will change the file association and ps1 files will execute by double-clicking them. You may change it back to its default behavior by setting notepad.exe to the default app.
Source
I tried the top-most answers to this question, but encountered error messages. Then I found the answer here:
PowerShell says "execution of scripts is disabled on this system."
What worked well for me was to use this solution:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File script.ps1
You can paste that into a .bat file and double-click on it.
put a simple .cmd file in my subfolder with my .ps1 file with the same name, so, for example, a script named "foobar" would have "foobar.ps1" and "foobar.cmd". So to run the .ps1, all I have to do is click the .cmd file from explorer or run the .cmd from a command prompt. I use the same base name because the .cmd file will automatically look for the .ps1 using its own name.
::====================================================================
:: Powershell script launcher
::=====================================================================
:MAIN
#echo off
for /f "tokens=*" %%p in ("%~p0") do set SCRIPT_PATH=%%p
pushd "%SCRIPT_PATH%"
powershell.exe -sta -c "& {.\%~n0.ps1 %*}"
popd
set SCRIPT_PATH=
pause
The pushd/popd allows you to launch the .cmd file from a command prompt without having to change to the specific directory where the scripts are located. It will change to the script directory then when complete go back to the original directory.
You can also take the pause off if you want the command window to disappear when the script finishes.
If my .ps1 script has parameters, I prompt for them with GUI prompts using .NET Forms, but also make the scripts flexible enough to accept parameters if I want to pass them instead. This way I can just double-click it from Explorer and not have to know the details of the parameters since it will ask me for what I need, with list boxes or other forms.
Navigate REGEDIT to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell
On the right pane, double-click "(Default)"
Delete existing value of "Open" (which launches Notepad) and type "0" (being zero, which launches Powershell directly).
Revert the value if you wish to use Notepad as the default again.
A solution in the same spirit as UNIX shar (shell archive).
You can put your powershell script in a file with the .cmd extension (instead of .ps1), and put this at the start:
#echo off
Rem Make powershell read this file, skip a number of lines, and execute it.
Rem This works around .ps1 bad file association as non executables.
PowerShell -Command "Get-Content '%~dpnx0' | Select-Object -Skip 5 | Out-String | Invoke-Expression"
goto :eof
# Start of PowerShell script here
If you are familiar with advanced Windows administration, then you can use this ADM package (instructions are included on that page) and allow running PowerShell scripts after double click via this template and Local GPO. After this you can simply change default program associated to .ps1 filetype to powershell.exe (use search, it's quite stashed) and you're ready to run PowerShell scripts with double click.
Otherwise, I would recommend to stick with other suggestions as you can mess up the whole system with these administrations tools.
I think that the default settings are too strict. If someone manages to put some malicious code on your computer then he/she is also able to bypass this restriction (wrap it into .cmd file or .exe, or trick with shortcut) and all that it in the end accomplishes is just to prevent you from easy way of running the script you've written.
there is my solution 2022
Install "PowerShell-7.2.2-win-x64.msi"
Right click on file.ps1 and change to exec with "pwsh"
Powershell registry hacks and policy bypass never worked for me.
This is based on KoZm0kNoT's answer. I modified it to work across drives.
#echo off
pushd "%~d0"
pushd "%~dp0"
powershell.exe -sta -c "& {.\%~n0.ps1 %*}"
popd
popd
The two pushd/popds are necessary in case the user's cwd is on a different drive. Without the outer set, the cwd on the drive with the script will get lost.
This is what I use to have scrips run as admin by default:
Powershell.exe -Command "& {Start-Process PowerShell.exe -Verb RunAs -ArgumentList '-File """%1"""'}"
You'll need to paste that into regedit as the default value for:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell\Open\Command
Or here's a script that will do it for you:
$hive = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenBaseKey('ClassesRoot', 'Default')
$key = $hive.CreateSubKey('Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell\Open\Command')
$key.SetValue($null, 'Powershell.exe -Command "& {Start-Process PowerShell.exe -Verb RunAs -ArgumentList ''-File """%1"""''}"')
I used this (need to run it only once); also make sure you have rights to execute:
from PowerShell with elevated rights:
Set-ExecutionPolicy=RemoteSigned
then from a bat file:
-----------------------------------------
ftype Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1="C:\WINDOWS\system32\windowspowershell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -noexit ^&'%%1'
assoc .ps1=Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1
-----------------------------------------
auto exit: remove -noexit
and voila; double-clicking a *.ps1 will execute it.
In Windows 10 you might also want to delete Windows Explorer's override for file extension association:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.ps1\UserChoice
in addition to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell\open\command change mentioned in other answers.
See https://stackoverflow.com/a/2697804/1360907
You may not want to but an easy way is just to create a .BAT file and put your command in:
powershell ./generate-strings-table-en.ps1
powershell ./generate-conjoined-tables-it.ps1
Then double-click said BAT file.
You can use the Windows 'SendTo' functionality to make running PS1 scripts easier. Using this method you can right click on
a PS1 script and execute. This is doesn't exactly answer the OP question but it is close. Hopefully, this is useful to others. BTW.. this is helpful for
a variety of other tasks.
Locate / Search for Powershell.exe
Right click on Powershell.exe and choose Open File Location
Right click on Powershell.exe and choose Create Shortcut. Temporarily save some place like your desktop
You might want to open as Admin by default. Select Shortcut > Properties > Advanced > Open As Admin
Open the Sendto folder. Start > Run > Shell:Sendto
Move the Powershell.exe shortcut to the Sendto folder
You should now be able to right click on a PS1 script.
Right Click on a PS1 file, Select the SendTo context option > Select the Powershell shortcut
Your PS1 script should execute.
From http://www.howtogeek.com/204166/how-to-configure-windows-to-work-with-powershell-scripts-more-easily:
Set the default value for the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell to 0

Trouble creating multiple folders from a TXT file in Windows PowerShell or CMD?

I was wondering if there is a way I could create multiple folders from a TXT document in windows PowerShell or CMD? I have a TXT file full of drawing numbers, like 5614-E-1459_SH 1 (except theirs about 500 hundred of them). Due to policies at my job I am not aloud to use third party software, so I was wondering if there was a way to do this from the command prompt or Windows PowerShell? I know that mkdir "C:\temp\5614-E-1459_SH 1" will create one of the folders I need. But is there a way to extract the files from a TXT and make it output into folders, without third party software like Text2Folders?
I have gotten this far with the PowerShell script, but as I dont have admin writes at work (where its needed most) I get the Set-ExecutionPolicy error. Is there a work around this?
$Users = Get-Content "C:\Users\usermgx\Desktop\folderDir.txt"
ForEach ($user in $users)
{
$newPath = Join-Path "C:\Users\usermgx\Desktop\Dir" -childpath $user
New-Item $newPath -type directory
}
First, you need to update your execution policy so that you can run scripts. You can do it permanently from an administrative PowerShell prompt by running:
Set-ExecutionPolicty RemoteSigned -Scope LocalMachine
If you don't have administrative rights, you can set the execution policy when you call the powershell.exe executable. From CMD:
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Command C:\Path\to\your\script.ps1
Finally, you can run your script from the PowerShell ISE. Just open a new untitled document, enter your code, and hit F5, which will execute the code in script pane. I don't believe this is blocked by the execution policy.
Get-Content "C:\Users\usermgx\Desktop\folderDir.txt" |
ForEach-Object {
$dirPath = Join-Path "C:\Users\usermgx\Desktop\Dir" $_
New-Item $dirPath -ItemType Directory
}
Fortunately for what you are trying to do this is pretty easy to do with a CMD script and you won;t have to muck with the execution policy:
#echo off
for /F %%u in (C:\Users\usermgx\Desktop\folderDir.txt) DO (
mkdir "C:\Users\usermgx\Desktop\Dir\"%%u
)
If you want your powershell version to work you must chenge the execution policy as you've noted. But without admin access, you'll have to limit the scope to just yourself, like this:
set-executionpolicy -scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
This is the same as #zdan but handles certain extra features like long path and filenames and spaces etc in the new foldernames.
#echo off
for /F "delims=" %%a in ('type "C:\Users\usermgx\Desktop\folderDir.txt" ') DO (
mkdir "C:\Users\usermgx\Desktop\Dir\%%a"
)
The "workaround" for the "`Set-ExecutionPolicy error'" is to set the execution policy to allow scripts to run. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee176961.aspx . It's set to the most restrictive by default but any admin worth his salt will set it to something less restrictive based on what the environment requires.
Once you've done that, your script looks solid.

How to launch PowerShell script from the OS command line?

I have a PowerShell script for building my project files, and I'd like to have capability to run it from my file manager's command line (and, possibly, make a shortcut to this script so I can start build from my desktop)
Any way to do this?
If you're on PowerShell 2.0 use:
PowerShell.exe -File c:\users\john\myscript.ps1
If you're on 1.0 use:
PowerShell -Command "& {c:\users\john\myscript.ps1}"
Depending on what you do/load in your profile script you may also want to specify -NoProfile. Of course, if your script requires something that is loaded in your profile then don't use this parameter. Otherwise, it can speed up execution of your script a bit.
invoke-command -computername -scriptblock{param()} -ArgumentList

How to run a PowerShell script

How do I run a PowerShell script?
I have a script named myscript.ps1
I have all the necessary frameworks installed
I set that execution policy thing
I have followed the instructions on this MSDN help page
and am trying to run it like so:
powershell.exe 'C:\my_path\yada_yada\run_import_script.ps1' (with or without --noexit)
which returns exactly nothing, except that the file name is output.
No error, no message, nothing. Oh, when I add -noexit, the same thing happens, but I remain within PowerShell and have to exit manually.
The .ps1 file is supposed to run a program and return the error level dependent on that program's output. But I'm quite sure I'm not even getting there yet.
What am I doing wrong?
Prerequisites:
You need to be able to run PowerShell as an administrator
You need to set your PowerShell execution policy to a permissive value or be able to bypass it
Steps:
Launch Windows PowerShell as an Administrator, and wait for the PS> prompt to appear
Navigate within PowerShell to the directory where the script lives:
PS> cd C:\my_path\yada_yada\ (enter)
Execute the script:
PS> .\run_import_script.ps1 (enter)
Or: you can run the PowerShell script from the Command Prompt (cmd.exe) like this:
powershell -noexit "& ""C:\my_path\yada_yada\run_import_script.ps1""" (enter)
according to Invoking a PowerShell script from cmd.exe (or Start | Run) by Kirk Munro.
Or you could even run your PowerShell script asynchronously from your C# application.
If you are on PowerShell 2.0, use PowerShell.exe's -File parameter to invoke a script from another environment, like cmd.exe. For example:
Powershell.exe -File C:\my_path\yada_yada\run_import_script.ps1
If you want to run a script without modifying the default script execution policy, you can use the bypass switch when launching Windows PowerShell.
powershell [-noexit] -executionpolicy bypass -File <Filename>
Type:
powershell -executionpolicy bypass -File .\Test.ps1
NOTE: Here Test.ps1 is the PowerShell script.
I've had the same problem, and I tried and tried... Finally I used:
powershell.exe -noexit "& 'c:\Data\ScheduledScripts\ShutdownVM.ps1'"
And put this line in a batch-file, and this works.
If you only have PowerShell 1.0, this seems to do the trick well enough:
powershell -command - < c:\mypath\myscript.ps1
It pipes the script file to the PowerShell command line.
Pretty easy. Right click the .ps1 file in Windows and in the shell menu click on Run with PowerShell.
Open PowerShell in administrator mode
Run: set-executionpolicy unrestricted
Open a regular PowerShell window and run your script.
I found this solution following the link that was given as part of the error message: About Execution Policies
Make sure to run set-ExecutionPolicy default once you're done, or you will be exposed to security risks.
Using cmd (BAT) file:
#echo off
color 1F
echo.
C:\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "PrepareEnvironment.ps1"
:EOF
echo Waiting seconds
timeout /t 10 /nobreak > NUL
If you need run as administrator:
Make a shortcut pointed to the command prompt (I named it
Administrative Command Prompt)
Open the shortcut's properties and go to the Compatibility tab
Under the Privilege Level section, make sure the checkbox next to "Run this program as an administrator" is checked
An easy way is to use PowerShell ISE, open script, run and invoke your script, function...
In case you want to run a PowerShell script with Windows Task Scheduler, please follow the steps below:
Create a task
Set Program/Script to Powershell.exe
Set Arguments to -File "C:\xxx.ps1"
It's from another answer, How do I execute a PowerShell script automatically using Windows task scheduler?.
If your script is named with the .ps1 extension and you're in a PowerShell window, you just run ./myscript.ps1 (assuming the file is in your working directory).
This is true for me anyway on Windows 10 with PowerShell version 5.1 anyway, and I don't think I've done anything to make it possible.
Give the path of the script, that is, path setting by cmd:
$> . c:\program file\prog.ps1
Run the entry point function of PowerShell:
For example, $> add or entry_func or main
You can run from cmd like this:
type "script_path" | powershell.exe -c -
Use the -File parameter in front of the filename. The quotes make PowerShell think it is a string of commands.
I've just found the method what Microsoft do when we right click on a ps1 script and click on "Run with PowerShell" :
"C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" "-Command" "if((Get-ExecutionPolicy ) -ne 'AllSigned') { Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process Bypass }; & 'C:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\MYSCRIPT.ps1'"
With the appropriate execution policy, you should just be able to call the file directly and Windows will associate it with PowerShell
C:\my_path\yada_yada\run_import_script.ps1
That does not do so well with arguments. The real answer to your question is that you are missing the & to say "execute this"
powershell.exe '& C:\my_path\yada_yada\run_import_script.ps1'

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