I am trying to run a .cmd file on a remote server with PowerShell.
In my .ps1 script I have tried this:
C:\MyDirectory\MyCommand.cmd
It results in this error:
C:\MyDirectory\MyCommand.cmd is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet,
function, script file, or operable program.
And this
Invoke-Command C:\MyDirectory\MyCommand.cmd
results in this error:
Invoke-Command : Parameter set cannot be resolved using the specified named
parameters.
I do not need to pass any parameters to the PowerShell script. What is the correct syntax that I am looking for?
Invoke-Item will look up the default handler for the file type and tell it to run it.
It's basically the same as double-clicking the file in Explorer, or using start.exe.
Go to C:\MyDirectory and try this:
.\MyCommand.cmd
Try invoking cmd /c C:\MyDirectory\MyCommand.cmd – that should work.
To run or convert batch files to PowerShell (particularly if you wish to sign all your scheduled task scripts with a certificate) I simply create a PowerShell script, for example, deletefolders.ps1.
Input the following into the script:
cmd.exe /c "rd /s /q C:\#TEMP\test1"
cmd.exe /c "rd /s /q C:\#TEMP\test2"
cmd.exe /c "rd /s /q C:\#TEMP\test3"
*Each command needs to be put on a new line, calling cmd.exe again.
This script can now be signed and run from PowerShell outputting the commands to command prompt / cmd directly.
It is a much safer way than running batch files!
First you can reach till that folder:
cd 'C:\MyDirectory'
and then use:
./MyCommand.cmd
Related
I created a bat file to setup my workspace by changing the directory to the workspace directory and calling the setupEnv.bat file. But while I'm executing the below bat file in PowerShell, the instructions after cmd are not executing.
I need to call the setupEnv.bat file in cmd. If I remove the cmd it will work fine. But I want call the setupEnv.bat on cmd not in PowerShell.
D:
cd D:\WorkSpace\
cmd
call setupEnv.bat
echo "Setup Completed"
After calling the setupEnv.bat and calling cmd, will it keep all the environment variable setup in the PowerShell ?
This article addresses your exact scenario:
Windows IT Pro - Take Charge of Environment Variables in PowerShell
The reason the variables disappear is that a .bat or .cmd runs in a separate cmd.exe process (when the process terminates, you lose the variables).
The article presents a PowerShell function you can use to run a .bat or .cmd script and retain the environment variables it sets:
# Invokes a Cmd.exe shell script and updates the environment.
function Invoke-CmdScript {
param(
[String] $scriptName
)
$cmdLine = """$scriptName"" $args & set"
& $Env:SystemRoot\system32\cmd.exe /c $cmdLine |
Select-String '^([^=]*)=(.*)$' |
ForEach-Object {
$varName = $_.Matches[0].Groups[1].Value
$varValue = $_.Matches[0].Groups[2].Value
Set-Item Env:$varName $varValue
}
}
The article also has a couple of functions for setting and restoring environment variable values in PowerShell.
try Something like this into your PowerShell script:
& start "C:\Temp\test.bat"
After calling the setupEnv.bat and calling cmd, will it keep all the environment variable setup in the PowerShell?
No. Any legacy commands invoked from PowerShell will run in a separate (child) process.
Proof:
wmic process where "name='powershell.exe' or name='cmd.exe'" get CommandLine, name, ParentProcessId, ProcessId /Value
Add above line to your batch-file, e.g. to setupEnv.bat and call it from powershell
either directly, e.g. D:\bat\setupEnv.bat,
or using & call operator & D:\bat\setupEnv.bat,
or . dot sourced & D:\bat\setupEnv.bat,
or modify all above methods calling cmd as
cmd /D /C D:\bat\setupEnv.bat, or
& cmd /D /C D:\bat\setupEnv.bat, or
. cmd /D /C D:\bat\setupEnv.bat.
Result is always the same or at least very alike:
PS D:\PShell> D:\bat\setupEnv.bat
"Setup Completed"
CommandLine="C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe"
Name=powershell.exe
ParentProcessId=4280
ProcessId=6396
CommandLine=C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /c ""D:\bat\setupEnv.bat""
Name=cmd.exe
ParentProcessId=6396
ProcessId=4116
Paraphrased from this Foredecker's answer to similar question:
While a child process can inherit the current environment variables,
working directory etc. from parent one, there is no supported way for
a child process to reach back to the parent process and change the
parent's environment.
Solution: call Powershell from cmd/batch script rather than vice versa
I created a startup bat file that looks like this
taskkill /im RemoteDesktopManager.exe
C:\Users\kheradmand\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
"C:\Program Files (x86)\JetBrains\PhpStorm 7.1.2\bin\PhpStorm.exe"
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
it does the first and second, but won't go any further, they all exist
how can I fix this?
update : I tried suggestion provided by #phd443322 and wrote this:
taskkill /im RemoteDesktopManager.exe
start "" /w C:\Users\kheradmand\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
start "" /w "C:\Program Files (x86)\JetBrains\PhpStorm 7.1.2\bin\PhpStorm.exe"
start "" /w "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
intrestingly each command still waits for that program to be closed to continue to the next.
so why still not working?
Below there is a working Batch file, as first advised by phd443322:
taskkill /im RemoteDesktopManager.exe
start "" C:\Users\kheradmand\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\JetBrains\PhpStorm 7.1.2\bin\PhpStorm.exe"
start "" "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"
Batch files wait for programs to exit unlike interactive. These are the rules documented in the Start command.
If Command Extensions are enabled, external command invocation
through the command line or the START command changes as follows:
non-executable files may be invoked through their file association just
by typing the name of the file as a command. (e.g. WORD.DOC would
launch the application associated with the .DOC file extension).
See the ASSOC and FTYPE commands for how to create these
associations from within a command script.
When executing an application that is a 32-bit GUI application, CMD.EXE
does not wait for the application to terminate before returning to
the command prompt. This new behavior does NOT occur if executing
within a command script.
When executing a command line whose first token is the string "CMD "
without an extension or path qualifier, then "CMD" is replaced with
the value of the COMSPEC variable. This prevents picking up CMD.EXE
from the current directory.
When executing a command line whose first token does NOT contain an
extension, then CMD.EXE uses the value of the PATHEXT
environment variable to determine which extensions to look for
and in what order. The default value for the PATHEXT variable
is:
.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD
Notice the syntax is the same as the PATH variable, with
semicolons separating the different elements.
When searching for an executable, if there is no match on any extension,
then looks to see if the name matches a directory name. If it does, the
START command launches the Explorer on that path. If done from the
command line, it is the equivalent to doing a CD /D to that path.
I just need to write a simple batch file just to run a vbscript. Both the vbscript and the batch file are in the same folder and is in the SysWOW64 directory as the vbscript can only be execute in that directory. Currently my batch file is as follows:
#echo off
%WINDIR%\SysWOW64\cmd.exe
cscript necdaily.vbs
But the vbscript wasn't executed and just the command prompt is open. Can anyone tell me how can i execute the vbscript when i run this batch file?
You can use %~dp0 to get the path of the currently running batch file.
Edited to change directory to the VBS location before running
If you want the VBS to synchronously run in the same window, then
#echo off
pushd %~dp0
cscript necdaily.vbs
If you want the VBS to synchronously run in a new window, then
#echo off
pushd %~dp0
start /wait "" cmd /c cscript necdaily.vbs
If you want the VBS to asynchronously run in the same window, then
#echo off
pushd %~dp0
start /b "" cscript necdaily.vbs
If you want the VBS to asynchronously run in a new window, then
#echo off
pushd %~dp0
start "" cmd /c cscript necdaily.vbs
This is the command for the batch file and it can run the vbscript.
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\cmd.exe /c cscript C:\Windows\SysWOW64\...\necdaily.vbs
Just try this code:
start "" "C:\Users\DiPesh\Desktop\vbscript\welcome.vbs"
and save as .bat, it works for me
Batch files are processed row by row and terminate whenever you call an executable directly.
- To make the batch file wait for the process to terminate and continue, put call in front of it.
- To make the batch file continue without waiting, put start "" in front of it.
I recommend using this single line script to accomplish your goal:
#call cscript "%~dp0necdaily.vbs"
(because this is a single line, you can use # instead of #echo off)
If you believe your script can only be called from the SysWOW64 versions of cmd.exe, you might try:
#%WINDIR%\SysWOW64\cmd.exe /c call cscript "%~dp0necdaily.vbs"
If you need the window to remain, you can replace /c with /k
Well i am trying to open a .vbs within a batch file without having to click open but the answer to this question is ...
SET APPDATA=%CD%
start (your file here without the brackets with a .vbs if it is a vbd file)
You should put your .bat file in the same folder as your .vbs file and call the following code inside the .bat file.
start cscript C:\filePath\File.vbs
I found PowerCmd. And would like to substiture cmd - as default IDE for execution of bat files.
But simple replacin of comspec do nothing.
I cann't also rename cmd.exe in %SYSTEM32%.
Is possible to substiture or not?
Thanks.
I am giving answer for Powershell, should be similar for anything else that you want to use:
Use Regedit and goto
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\open\command
Set the default value to
C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -noexit "%1" %*
Now when you double click on any batch file, it should run on powershell. -noexit gets to the powershell prompt after completion of the batch file.
I'm terribly new to scripting on windows. Using windows 7 64.
I'm trying to make a .bat file that I can double click, and have it open a command prompt and automatically cd me to a certain directory.
I tried making a .bat file with
#ECHO OFF
cmd "cd C:\my\destination"
Which opens what looks like a command prompt, but doesn't seem to let me type any commands.
I then tried:
#ECHO OFF
start cmd "cd C:\my\destination"
But this just sent me into a loop opening tons and tons of prompts until my computer crashed :) The .bat file was located in the destination directory if that matters.
This works for me:
#ECHO OFF
cmd.exe /K "cd C:\my\destination && C:"
The quoted string is actually two commands (separated by a double ampersand): The first command is to change to the specified directory, the second command is to change to the specified drive letter.
Put this in a batch (.BAT) file and when you execute it you should see a Command Prompt window at the specified directory.
Use the /K switch:
#ECHO OFF
start cmd.exe /K "cd C:\my\destination"
But IMHO, the most useful switch is /?.
Starts a new instance of the Windows XP command interpreter
CMD [/A | /U] [/Q] [/D] [/E:ON | /E:OFF] [/F:ON | /F:OFF] [/V:ON | /V:OFF]
[[/S] [/C | /K] string]
/C Carries out the command specified by string and then terminates
/K Carries out the command specified by string but remains
/S Modifies the treatment of string after /C or /K (see below)
/Q Turns echo off
...
And only if it does not work, then Google it, as #Neeraj suggested :D
This could be done like that:
#ECHO OFF
cd /D "C:\my\destination"
cmd.exe
If you need to execute a file or command after you open the cmd you can just replace the last line with:
cmd.exe /k myCommand
#ECHO OFF
%comspec% /K "cd /D d:\somefolder"
The /D will change folder and drive and works on 2000+ (Not sure about NT4)
If you take a look at Vista's open command here, it uses cmd.exe /s /k pushd \"%V\" but I don't think %V is documented. Using pushd is a good idea if your path is UNC (\\server\share\folder) To get UNC current directory working, you might have to set the DisableUNCCheck registry entry...
Why so complicated? Just create an alias to cmd.exe, right click on the alias and navigate to its settings. Change the "execute in" to the path you want to have as standard path. It will always start in this path.
just open a text editor and type
start cmd.exe
cd C:\desired path
Then save it as a .bat file. Works for me.
You can create a batch file "go-to-folder.bat" with the following statements:
rem changes the current directory
cd "C:\my\destination"
rem changes the drive if necessary
c:
rem runs CMD
cmd