How to invoke Powershell script in a different folder using Gulp

Question

I was able to implement Splitting gulpfile into multiple file without any issues. Now, my task (below) is moved from ./gulpfile.js to ./tasks/database-publish.js. In this task, I'm using var exec = require('child_process').exec to run a Powershell (PS1) I wrote that lives in ../DbDeploy.ps1 relative to the new gulp-task file.

In this task, I'm executing my ps1 file via gulp

gulp.task("zzz_Run-DB-Deply",
        function(callback) {
            console.log('running db deploy');
            plugins.exec('Powershell.exe  -executionpolicy remotesigned -File  ..\DbDeploy.ps1',
                function (err, stdout, stderr) {
                    console.log(stdout);
                    callback(err);
                });
        });

If I run Powershell.exe -executionpolicy remotesigned -File ..\DbDeploy.ps1 in Powershell from the task directory, it works fine. However, when I run the zzz_Run-DB-Deploy task, I keep getting an exception:

Process terminated with code 0

My suspicion is with ..\DbDeploy.ps1. I think \D is being used as escape character. But I'm not sure. What am I doing wrong?

Javascript requires that you escape the backslash in strings. — Tomalak, Jan 24 '18 at 20:03
Like this? `Powershell.exe -executionpolicy remotesigned -File ..\\DbDeploy.ps1` — Ali Khakpouri, Jan 24 '18 at 20:11
It did, but I realized that wasn't my issue. Posted the answer below. — Ali Khakpouri, Jan 24 '18 at 20:50
Using an unescaped backslash in a string literal is still wrong. You should fix that as well. — Tomalak, Jan 24 '18 at 20:52

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 24 '18 at 20:49

Found the solution. The issue was with transfer of the plugins from the gulpfile.js to tasks/gulp-task.js

In order to give everyone some context, it'd be best to paste the tasks here. I though that I could send in all of the referenced plugins to my tasks folder using a plugins variable. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

module.exports = function (gulp, config, plugins) {
    'use strict';
    console.log('Starting the database migration.');
    var exec = require('child_process').exec;

    gulp.task("zzz_Run-DB-Deply",
        function(callback) {
            console.log('running db deploy');
            exec("Powershell.exe  -executionpolicy remotesigned -File  ..\DbDeploy.ps1",
                function (err, stdout, stderr) {
                    console.log(stderr);
                    console.log(stdout);
                    console.log(err);
                    callback(err);
                });
        });
    gulp.task("Build-DB-Project",
        function (callback) {
            console.log('running build DB project');
            var targets = ["Build"];
            if (config.runCleanBuilds) {
                targets = ["Clean", "Build"];
            }
            return gulp.src("./Project/*.csproj")
                .pipe(plugins.foreach(function (stream, file) {
                    return stream
                        .pipe(plugins.debug({ title: "Building" }))
                        .pipe(plugins.msbuild({
                            targets: targets,
                            configuration: config.buildConfiguration,
                            logCommand: false,
                            verbosity: "minimal",
                            stdout: true,
                            errorOnFail: true,
                            maxcpucount: config.maxCpuCount,
                            toolsVersion: config.toolsVersion
                        }));
                }));
        });

}

In order to fix this issue, I added a new exe variable referencing var exec = require('child_process').exec; At which point, running exec("Powershell.exe pwd") showed me that my working directory was in fact the root of my project where gulpfile.js and DbDeploy.ps1 both live. Thus, I knew to change the file path from ../DbDeploy.ps1 to DbDeploy.ps.

exec("Powershell.exe  -executionpolicy remotesigned -File  DbDeploy.ps1",
                function (err, stdout, stderr) {
                    console.log(stderr);
                    console.log(stdout);
                    console.log(err);
                    callback(err);
                });

How to invoke Powershell script in a different folder using Gulp

1 Answers1