49

So I have a powershell script that is supposed to run an executable with an argument to pass to set which method I want to run, and I need to pass a parameter, which is a directory to a config file. So this is what I have

Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files\MSBuild\test.exe" -ArgumentList /genmsi/f $MySourceDirectory\src\Deployment\Installations.xml

/f is the shortname and file is the long name for my attribute... I get an error in powershell telling me that a positional parameter cannot be found for /f or /file.

Any thoughts?

Nerd in Training
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    @sebagomez I found this reddit post about the above link: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerShell/comments/28zc0w/external_commands_done_right_blogedgylogic/ – Nerd in Training Apr 02 '19 at 15:47

4 Answers4

63

Try quoting the argument list:

Start-Process -FilePath "C:\Program Files\MSBuild\test.exe" -ArgumentList "/genmsi/f $MySourceDirectory\src\Deployment\Installations.xml"

You can also provide the argument list as an array (comma separated args) but using a string is usually easier.

Keith Hill
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30

I was able to get this to work by using the Invoke-Expression cmdlet.

Invoke-Expression "& `"$scriptPath`" test -r $number -b $testNumber -f $FileVersion -a $ApplicationID"
Nerd in Training
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29

Here is an alternative method for doing multiple args. I use it when the arguments are too long for a one liner. 

$app = 'C:\Program Files\MSBuild\test.exe'
$arg1 = '/genmsi'
$arg2 = '/f'
$arg3 = '$MySourceDirectory\src\Deployment\Installations.xml'

& $app $arg1 $arg2 $arg3
Knuckle-Dragger
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8

Just adding an example that worked fine for me:

$sqldb = [string]($sqldir) + '\bin\MySQLInstanceConfig.exe'
$myarg = '-i ConnectionUsage=DSS Port=3311 ServiceName=MySQL RootPassword= ' + $rootpw
Start-Process $sqldb -ArgumentList $myarg
Sergio Di Fiore
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