Powershell: passing variable with program's full path and argument to ScriptBlock

Question

I know there are other questions here on Stackoverflow regarding this topic, but none of them resolved my case. I have a full path to a given program, examples might be:

C:\"Program Files (x86)"\Lorem\program1.exe
C:\"Program Files"\Ipsum\program2.exe

If I try to execute it directly on the terminal via C:\"Program Files (x86)"\Lorem\program1.exe /S it will run with no issues, but if I try using my script it won't work:

# $full_path contains the string for the path, e.g. C:\"Program Files (x86)"\supersoftware\uninst.exe

Write-Host $full_path  # Will print on the screen: C:\"Program Files (x86)"\Lorem\uninst.exe
Invoke-Command -ComputerName localhost -ScriptBlock { cmd /c $full_path '"/S"' }  # /S is used for silent uninstall

How can I make PS execute it as if I were there on the terminal typing C:\"Program Files (x86)"\Lorem\uninst.exe /S and hitting enter?

When using a pathname that contains spaces, you quote the entire pathname, not just the portion that has spaces. Thus, your program should be referenced as "C:\Program Files (x86)\Lorem\Program1.exe", not C:\"Program Files (x86)"\Lorem\Program1.exe — Jeff Zeitlin
– Jeff Zeitlin, Commented Aug 4, 2017 at 13:28
Ok, I'm passing it as "C:\..." with quotes outside and not inside. Now I'm getting a new error: '/S' not recognized as an internal or external command — JChris
– JChris, Commented Aug 4, 2017 at 13:31

Patrick Meinecke · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-04 13:36:04Z

2

Because the script block is invoked in a different session the variable will not exist by default. You can use the using scope modifier to get around this.

Invoke-Command -ComputerName ServerName -ScriptBlock { cmd /c $using:full_path /S }

Note that the object will be serialized for remoting. This won't effect a string, but complex objects will typically only contain the original property values.

answered Aug 4, 2017 at 13:36

Patrick Meinecke

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3 Comments

Manu Over a year ago

Invoke-Command -ComputerName localhost -ScriptBlock { Start-Process -FilePath "$($using:full_path)" -ArgumentList "/s" }

Patrick Meinecke Over a year ago

If it instantly finished running there is a good chance it didn't wait for the process to finish. If the session closes before the process finishes the process will be terminated. Try something like Start-Process -FilePath $using:full_path -ArgumentList '/S' -Wait.

JChris Over a year ago

It worked with Invoke-Command -ComputerName ServerName -ScriptBlock { cmd /c $using:full_path /S }, I was checking the wrong place!!!

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