Running EXE file with environment variable in path (PowerShell) [duplicate]

Question

I want to run some executable on Windows using PowerShell. Path to this executable should be resolved with environment variable.

For example

running command

C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe

as

$Env:SystemRoot\system32\cmd.exe

I have tried this option and it raises following exception

At line:1 char:16
+ $Env:SystemRoot\system32\cmd.exe
+                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unexpected token '\system32\cmd.exe' in expression or statement.
    + CategoryInfo          : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnexpectedToken

What is the right way to do it?

In short: An executable path that is quoted or contains variable references must - for syntactic reasons - be invoked with &, the call operator; see the linked duplicate for details. — mklement0
– mklement0, Commented Jun 29, 2022 at 14:17

scaler · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-30 07:57:22Z

3

Tell the powershell to call the command by putting an ampersand in front

& $Env:SystemRoot\system32\cmd.exe

edited Jun 30, 2022 at 7:57

answered Jun 29, 2022 at 13:38

scaler

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Puelloc · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-29 13:39:00Z

2

You can use call operator

& "$Env:SystemRoot\system32\cmd.exe"

answered Jun 29, 2022 at 13:39

Puelloc

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2 Comments

pL3b Over a year ago

Thanks for adding a source! I will have a look at it

mklement0 Over a year ago

As an aside: While it never hurts to enclose variable-based paths in "...", it isn't strictly necessary if the path doesn't contain spaces (or other PowerShell metacharacters), such as in this case.

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