How to run Restart-Computer in PowerShell using C#?

Question

I have been looking around here but unable to get specifics on implementing this PowerShell cmdlet in C#. I attempted the following but failed to get it to compile and run.

The cmdlet I would like to run in PowerShell from C#:

Restart-Computer -Computername (Get-Content C:\machineslist.txt) -Credential Administrator -Force

Here is my humble attempt:

PowerShell ps = PowerShell.Create();
ps.AddCommand("Restart-Computer");
ps.AddParameter("-ComputerName");
ScriptBlock filter2 = ScriptBlock.Create("(Get-Content C:\\machineslist.txt)");
ps.AddParameter("FilterScript2", filter2);
ps.AddParameter("-Credential");
ps.AddArgument("Administrator");
//not sure how to add password
ps.AddParameter("-Force");
foreach (PSObject result in ps.Invoke())
{
    Console.WriteLine(
        "{0,-24}{1}",
        result.Members["Length"].Value,
        result.Members["Name"].Value);
} // End foreach

Also, take a look at this implementation: blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/kebab/2014/04/28/… — Asnivor
– Asnivor, Commented Nov 18, 2016 at 10:39

Cebe · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-21 10:59:26Z

1

To make this code snippet to compile and run, you will first need to reference the System.Management.Automation assembly (located under C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\WindowsPowerShell\3.0).

You do not need a ScriptBlock as it increases complexity, it's easier to just add the script with AddScript.
You do not need to prefix parameters with -
To pass credentials you can use PSCredential. Normally you would provide a secure string, you can translate a string into a secure string using NetworkCredential as an helper.
You will need to handle errors as well, but this is out of scope for this question!

Enjoy :-)

using System;
using System.Management.Automation;
using System.Net;
using System.Security;

namespace Sample
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            PowerShell ps = PowerShell.Create();

            ps.AddScript("Get-Content C:\\machineslist.txt");

            ps.AddCommand("Restart-Computer");

            SecureString secureString = new NetworkCredential("", "Password").SecurePassword;
            PSCredential psc = new PSCredential("Administrator", secureString);
            ps.AddParameter("Credential", psc);

            ps.AddParameter("Force");

            // Simulation only
            ps.AddParameter("WhatIf");

            var results = ps.Invoke();

            foreach (var error in ps.Streams.Error)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(error);
            }

            foreach (PSObject result in results)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(result);
                //Console.WriteLine("{0,-24}{1}", result.Members["Length"].Value, result.Members["Name"].Value);
            }
        }
    }
}

edited Nov 21, 2016 at 10:59

answered Nov 18, 2016 at 14:11

Cebe

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7 Comments

eAgle Over a year ago

Thanks for your help, Cebe. I tried to run the code but I ran into "Computer name Computer cannot be resolved with the exception: One or more errors occurred." The machineslist.txt just contain a list of ip addresses. I tried names too but it does not work. Not sure what is missing. I have also tried ps.AddArgument("computerName"). Any ideas? Thanks.

Cebe Over a year ago

Getting a bit out of scope there :) Is there a header in your machineslist.txt ? because it literally says it tries to reach a computer named "Computer". You should get the same error message when running the native Powershell statement. BTW, you could add a -WhatIf parameter to do a dry run.

eAgle Over a year ago

nope, there is no header. just a text file containing ip addresses in column format. It can be just 1 ip too. I had tried with one too but still ran into same thing. It ran perfect in Powershell though.

eAgle Over a year ago

I am still troubleshooting. Problem is ps.AddScript("Get-Content C:\\machineslist.txt"). Still trying to figure how to make this work. If I use ps.AddParameter("ComputerName", "x.x.x.x") without addscript, it works.

Cebe Over a year ago

Sorry, my code sample was wrong. It's actually not possible to combine a command and a script the way I previously did; the new code sample is equivalent to Get-Content C:\machineslist.txt | Restart-Computer -Credential Administrator -Force -WhatIf That is, we pipe the output of Get-Content to Restart-Computer. Should work now!

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