Run command with PowerShell

Question

I want to make a script that which if I open it on my machine (as administrator), it run a command on different machines (without entering credentials). I used to make a script that restarts services. I did it like this:

$out = "lokation\output_NoService.txt"
Clear-Content $out

$data = Get-Content "lokation\input_PCs.txt"

foreach ($line in $data) {
    $computer = $line.Split(":")[0]
    $ServiceName = $line.Split(":")[1]

    if ($sObj = Get-Service-COmputerName $Computer -Name $ServiceName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
        Restart-Service -InputObj $sObj
        Write-Host "Restarting $ServiceName on $computer"
    } else {
        Write-Host "$ServiceName is not running on $computer"
        Add-Content $out "$computer;$ServiceName"
    }
}

input_PCs.txt contained the machine names and the name of the service to be restarted. eg: PCName:Servicename

This is how I want to scan PCs from a txt and run command on the machines that are in txt.

For example, such a command.

run example.exe + paramters from c drive. Ergo: C:\example.exe -paramaters

For me it looks like it should work as intended... What is your problem? — T-Me
– T-Me, Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 13:29
in addition to other things, you need to add a space before the 2nd hyphen in >>> Get-Service-COmputerName <<< — Lee_Dailey
– Lee_Dailey, Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 16:45

Theo · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-08 13:40:39Z

2

The Restart-Service does not have a -ComputerName parameter to manage services on remote machines. To use that cmdlet remotely, you can use

Invoke-Command -Computername $computer -ArgumentList $ServiceName -ScriptBlock { 
    param($service)
    Restart-Service -Name $service}

Edit

Lee_Daily pointed out that the object returned from Get-Service contains a MachineName property. When this object is used in a following Restart-Service as InputObject parameter, the cmdlet uses that MachineName property to restart the service on that remote machine.

As I have never thought of that, I've been testing with it and indeed it does work that way.

Your code (with corrected ComputerName parameter) should therefore work as intended, provided you have permissions on the remote computers to do so:

$out = "lokation\output_NoService.txt"
Clear-Content $out

$data = Get-Content "lokation\input_PCs.txt"

foreach ($line in $data) {
    $computer, $serviceName = $line -split ':', 2

    if ($sObj = Get-Service -ComputerName $computer -Name $serviceName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
        Restart-Service -InputObj $sObj
        Write-Host "Restarting $serviceName on $computer"
    } 
    else {
        Write-Host "Service '$serviceName' cannot be found on computer '$computer'"
        Add-Content -Path $out -Value "$computer; $serviceName"
    }
}

This however does not let you add user credentials because Get-Service does not provide a Credentials object. If you need to use different credentials, you can do like below:

$credential = Get-Credential
$out = "lokation\output_NoService.txt"
Clear-Content $out

$data = Get-Content "lokation\input_PCs.txt"

# unravel the $credential object into plain username and password:
$user     = $credential.GetNetworkCredential().UserName
$password = $credential.GetNetworkCredential().Password

foreach ($line in $data) {
    $computer, $serviceName = $line -split ':', 2
    # create a connection to the remote machine using credentials
    net use "\\$computer\c$" $password /USER:$user

    if ($sObj = Get-Service -ComputerName $computer -Name $serviceName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
        Restart-Service -InputObj $sObj
        Write-Host "Restarting $serviceName on $computer"
    } 
    else {
        Write-Host "Service '$serviceName' cannot be found on computer '$computer'"
        Add-Content -Path $out -Value "$computer; $serviceName"
    }
}

The last option I can think of is to use the Get-WmiObject cmdlet which for convenience I've wrapped in a custom function:

function Restart-RemoteService {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    Param(
       [Parameter(Position = 0,Mandatory = $true, ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName = $true,ValueFromPipeline = $true)]
       [string]$ComputerName, 

       [Parameter(Position = 1,Mandatory = $true)]
       [string]$ServiceName,

       [Parameter(Position = 2,Mandatory = $true)]
       [string]$ErrorFile

       [Parameter(Mandatory = $false)]
       [System.Management.Automation.PSCredential]$Credential
    )

    $wmiParams = @{
        'Class'        = 'Win32_Service'
        'ComputerName' = $ComputerName
        'Filter'       = "Name='$ServiceName'"
    }
    if ($Credential) { $wmiParams['Credential'] = $Credential }

    $svc = Get-WmiObject @wmiParams
    if (!$svc) {
        Write-Warning "Service '$ServiceName' cannot be found on computer '$ComputerName'"
        Add-Content -Path "lokation\output_NoService.txt" -Value "$ComputerName; $ServiceName"
    }
    if ($svc.State -eq 'Running') {
        Write-Verbose "Stopping service '$ServiceName' on computer '$ComputerName'"
        [void]$svc.StopService()
        $maxWait = 20
        do {
            Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 100
            $maxWait--
            if ($maxWait -le 0) {
                Throw "Could not stop service '$ServiceName'"
            }
        } while (( Get-WmiObject @wmiParams).State -ne 'Stopped')

    }
    Write-Verbose "Starting service '$ServiceName' on computer '$ComputerName'"
    [void]$svc.StartService()
}

Your code could then look like this:

$out = "lokation\output_NoService.txt"
Clear-Content $out

$data = Get-Content "lokation\input_PCs.txt"

foreach ($line in $data) {
    $computer, $serviceName = $line -split ':', 2

    # if needed, you can pass Credentials too
    Restart-RemoteService -ComputerName $computer -ServiceName $serviceName -ErrorFile $out -Verbose
}

edited Oct 8, 2019 at 13:40

answered Oct 7, 2019 at 13:51

Theo

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5 Comments

Lee_Dailey Over a year ago

i THINK that the object from the previous Get-Service call will have a .MachineName property and that means the -InputObject parameter will use that to reach out to remote systems. i cannot test that [only one system], but i recall seeing Get-Service piped toRestart-Service when used against remote systems in posts on the subject.

Theo Over a year ago

@Lee_Dailey Interesting! I must admit that never crossed my mind.. I'm on mobile now so cannot test.

Lee_Dailey Over a year ago

i look forward to seeing your results ... [grin]

Theo Over a year ago

@Lee_Dailey It took some doing to test this out, but you're right, the MachineName property is used by the Restart-Service cmdlet if the returned object from Get-Service is provided through parameter -InputObject. While playing around with this I have also added a method using Get-WmiObject. Thanks!

Lee_Dailey Over a year ago

neato! [grin] if you are going for completeness, you can also use Invoke-Command, or New-PSSession with Enter-PSSession ... but that is getting into writing a full tutorial ...

Michel Balencourt · Accepted Answer · 2019-10-08 07:51:11Z

0

Something like this ?

foreach($line in $data) {

    $computer = $line.split(":")[0]   

    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $computer -ScriptBlock {C:\example.exe -parameters}

}

In order for this to work, example.exe will need to be present on your remote computers. If this isn't the case yet, before the above, you can add something like this

if (!(Test-Path -Path "\\$computer\c$\example.exe")) {

    Copy-Item -Path "X:\path_to_file\example.exe" -Destination "\\$computer\c$" -Force

}

And if you don't want it to request any credentials, make sure your Powershell session is started under your admin user that has access to all the computers' c-drives.

edited Oct 8, 2019 at 7:51

answered Oct 7, 2019 at 13:50

Michel Balencourt

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