How to run an EXE file in PowerShell with parameters with spaces and quotes

Question

How do you run the following command in PowerShell      C  Program Files IIS Microsoft Web Deploy msdeploy exe -verb sync -source dbfullsql  Data Source mysource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   -dest dbfullsql  Data Source   mydestsource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   computername 10 10 10 10 username administrator password adminpass

User · Answer

When PowerShell sees a command starting with a string it just evaluates the string, that is, it typically echos it to the screen, for example:

PS> "Hello World"
Hello World

If you want PowerShell to interpret the string as a command name then use the call operator (&) like so:

PS> & 'C:\Program Files\IIS\Microsoft Web Deploy\msdeploy.exe'

After that you probably only need to quote parameter/argument pairs that contain spaces and/or quotation chars. When you invoke an EXE file like this with complex command line arguments it is usually very helpful to have a tool that will show you how PowerShell sends the arguments to the EXE file. The PowerShell Community Extensions has such a tool. It is called echoargs. You just replace the EXE file with echoargs - leaving all the arguments in place, and it will show you how the EXE file will receive the arguments, for example:

PS> echoargs -verb:sync -source:dbfullsql="Data Source=mysource;Integrated Security=false;User ID=sa;Pwd=sapass!;Database=mydb;" -dest:dbfullsql="Data Source=.\mydestsource;Integrated Security=false;User ID=sa;Pwd=sapass!;Database=mydb;",computername=10.10.10.10,username=administrator,password=adminpass

Arg 0 is <-verb:sync>
Arg 1 is <-source:dbfullsql=Data>
Arg 2 is <Source=mysource;Integrated>
Arg 3 is <Security=false;User>
Arg 4 is <ID=sa;Pwd=sapass!;Database=mydb;>
Arg 5 is <-dest:dbfullsql=Data>
Arg 6 is <Source=.\mydestsource;Integrated>
Arg 7 is <Security=false;User>
Arg 8 is <ID=sa;Pwd=sapass!;Database=mydb; computername=10.10.10.10 username=administrator password=adminpass>

Using echoargs you can experiment until you get it right, for example:

PS> echoargs -verb:sync "-source:dbfullsql=Data Source=mysource;Integrated Security=false;User ID=sa;Pwd=sapass!;Database=mydb;"
Arg 0 is <-verb:sync>
Arg 1 is <-source:dbfullsql=Data Source=mysource;Integrated Security=false;User ID=sa;Pwd=sapass!;Database=mydb;>

It turns out I was trying too hard before to maintain the double quotes around the connection string. Apparently that isn't necessary because even cmd.exe will strip those out.

BTW, hats off to the PowerShell team. They were quite helpful in showing me the specific incantation of single & double quotes to get the desired result - if you needed to keep the internal double quotes in place. :-) They also realize this is an area of pain, but they are driven by the number of folks are affected by a particular issue. If this is an area of pain for you, then please vote up this PowerShell bug submission.

For more information on how PowerShell parses, check out my Effective PowerShell blog series - specifically item 10 - "Understanding PowerShell Parsing Modes"

UPDATE 4/4/2012: This situation gets much easier to handle in PowerShell V3. See this blog post for details.

User · Answer

This worked for me   PowerShell exe -Command   amp    C  Some Script Path With Spaces ps1      The key seems to be that the whole command is enclosed in outer quotes  the   amp   ampersand is used to specify another child command file is being executed  then finally escaped  doubled-double-  quotes around the path file name with spaces in you wanted to execute in the first place   This is also completion of the only workaround to the MS connect issue that -File does not pass-back non-zero return codes and -Command is the only alternative  But until now it was thought a limitation of -Command was that it didn t support spaces  I ve updated that feedback item too   http   connect microsoft com PowerShell feedback details 750653 powershell-exe-doesn-t-return-correct-exit-codes-when-using-the-file-option

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New escape string in PowerShell V3  quoted from New V3 Language Features      Easier Reuse of Command Lines From Cmd exe   The web is full of command lines written for Cmd exe  These commands lines work often enough in PowerShell  but when they include certain characters  for example  a semicolon      a dollar sign      or curly braces  you have to make some changes  probably adding some quotes  This seemed to be the source of many minor headaches   To help address this scenario  we added a new way to    escape    the parsing of command lines  If you use a magic parameter --   we stop our normal parsing of your command line and switch to something much simpler  We don   t match quotes  We don   t stop at semicolon  We don   t expand PowerShell variables  We do expand environment variables if you use Cmd exe syntax  e g   TEMP    Other than that  the arguments up to the end of the line  or pipe  if you are piping  are passed as is  Here is an example   PS gt  echoargs exe --   USERNAME  this  something weird  Arg 0 is  lt jason this  something weird  gt

User · Answer

I was able to get my similar command working using the following approach   msdeploy exe -verb sync  -source dbFullSql Server THESERVER Database myDB UID sa Pwd saPwd  -dest dbFullSql c  temp test sql   For your command  not that it helps much now   things would look something like this    msdeploy exe -verb sync  -source dbfullsql Server mysource Trusted Connection false UID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb    -dest dbfullsql Server mydestsource Trusted Connection false UID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   computername 10 10 10 10 username administrator password adminpass   The key points are    Use quotes around the source argument  and remove the embedded quotes around the connection string  Use the alternative key names in building the SQL connection string that don t have spaces in them   For example  use  UID  instead of  User Id    Server  instead of  Data Source    Trusted Connection  instead of  Integrated Security   and so forth   I was only able to get it to work once I removed all spaces from the connection string    I didn t try adding the  computername  part at the end of the command line  but hopefully this info will help others reading this now get closer to their desired result

User · Answer

There are quite a few methods you can use to do it   There are other methods like using the Call Operator   amp    Invoke-Expression cmdlet etc  But they are considered unsafe  Microsoft recommends using Start-Process   Method 1 A simple example Start-Process -NoNewWindow -FilePath  quot C  wamp64 bin mysql mysql5 7 19 bin mysql quot  -ArgumentList  quot -u root quot   quot -proot quot   quot -h localhost quot   In your case Start-Process -NoNewWindow -FilePath  quot C  Program Files IIS Microsoft Web Deploy msdeploy exe quot  -ArgumentList  quot -verb sync quot   quot -source dbfullsql   quot Data Source mysource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   quot  quot   quot -dest dbfullsql   quot Data Source   mydestsource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   quot  quot   quot computername 10 10 10 10 quot   quot username administrator quot   quot password adminpass quot   In this method you separate each and every parameter in the ArgumentList using commas  Method 2 Simple Example Start-Process -NoNewWindow -FilePath  quot C  wamp64 bin mysql mysql5 7 19 bin mysql quot  -ArgumentList  quot -u root -proot -h localhost quot   In your case Start-Process -NoNewWindow -FilePath  quot C  Program Files IIS Microsoft Web Deploy msdeploy exe quot  -ArgumentList  quot -verb sync -source dbfullsql   quot Data Source mysource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   quot  -dest dbfullsql   quot Data Source   mydestsource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   quot  computername 10 10 10 10 username administrator password adminpass quot   This method is easier as it allows to type your parameters in one go   Note that in powershell to represent the quotation mark    quot    in a string you should insert the grave accent        This is the key above the Tab key in the US keyboard   -NoNewWindow parameter is used to display the new process in the current console window  By default Windows PowerShell opens a new window   References   Powershell Scripting Start-Process

User · Answer

I use this simple  clean and effective method  I place arguments in an array  1 per line  This way it is very easy to read and edit  Then I use a simple trick of passing all arguments inside double quotes to a function with 1 single parameter  That flattens them  including arrays  to a single string  which I then execute using PS s  Invoke-Expression   This directive is specifically designed to convert a string to runnable command  Works well    function with one argument will flatten    all passed-in entries into 1 single string line Function Execute  command          execute      Invoke-Expression  command        if you have trouble try        Invoke-Expression  quot  amp   command quot         or if you need also output to a variable       Invoke-Expression  command   Tee-Object -Variable cmdOutput            your main code here        The name of your executable app  app    my app exe     List of arguments    Notice the type of quotes - important     Those in single quotes are normal strings  like  Peter   args    arg1            arg2            some variable           arg4            quot arg5  with quotes  quot            arg6            quot arg7   with    other variable quot            etc             pass all arguments inside double quotes Execute  quot  app  args quot

User · Answer

Cmd can handle running a quoted exe  but Powershell can t   I m just going to deal with running the exe itself  since I don t have it   If you literally need to send doublequotes to an argument of an external command  that s another issue that s been covered elsewhere   1  add the exe folder to your path  maybe in your  profile   env path      C  Program Files IIS Microsoft Web Deploy   msdeploy   2  backquote the spaces   C  Program  Files IIS Microsoft  Web  Deploy msdeploy exe

User · Answer

In case somebody is wondering how to just run an executable file              file exe  or            full path to file exe

User · Answer

You can use    Start-Process -FilePath  C  Program Files IIS Microsoft Web Deploy msdeploy exe  -ArgumentList  -verb sync -source dbfullsql  Data Source mysource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   -dest dbfullsql  Data Source   mydestsource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   computername 10 10 10 10 username administrator password adminpass    The key thing to note here is that FilePath must be in position 0  according to the Help Guide  To invoke the Help guide for a commandlet  just type in Get-Help  lt Commandlet-name gt  -Detailed   In this case  it is Get-Help Start-Process -Detailed

User · Answer

I had the following code working perfect on my laptop    amp   msdeploy   -source package   publishFile    -dest auto computerName   server  includeAcls  False  UserName   username  Password   password  AuthType   auth    -allowUntrusted    -verb sync    -enableRule DoNotDeleteRule   -disableLink AppPoolExtension    -disableLink ContentExtension    -disableLink CertificateExtension    -skip objectName filePath absolutePath      Web  config   Environment  config      -setParam name   IIS Web Application Name   value   appName    Then when I tried to run that directly on one server I started getting those errors  Unrecognized argument    etc     All arguments must begin with  -      After trying all possible workarounds  no success   I found out that Powershell on the server  Windows 2008 R2  was version 3 0  while my laptop has 5 0    you can use   PSVersionTable  to see version    After upgrading Powershell to latest version it started working again

User · Answer

I tried all of the suggestions but was still unable to run msiexec exe with parameters that contained spaces  So my solution ended up using System Diagnostics ProcessStartInfo     can have spaces here  no problems  settings        CONNECTION STRING               ENTITY CONTEXT               URL             settingsJoined     settings Keys                settings            -join      pinfo   New-Object System Diagnostics ProcessStartInfo  pinfo WorkingDirectory    ScriptDirectory  pinfo FileName    msiexec exe   pinfo RedirectStandardError    true  pinfo RedirectStandardOutput    true  pinfo UseShellExecute    false  pinfo Arguments     l  install log  i installer msi  settingsJoined   p   New-Object System Diagnostics Process  p StartInfo    pinfo  p Start     Out-Null  p WaitForExit    stdout    p StandardOutput ReadToEnd

User · Answer

See this page  https   slai github io posts powershell-and-external-commands-done-right   Summary using vshadow as the external executable    exe    H  backup scripts vshadow exe   amp  exe -p -script H  backup scripts vss cmd E  M  P

User · Answer

I had spaces in both command and parameters  and this is what worked for me    Command    E  X64 Xendesktop Setup XenDesktopServerSetup exe   Parms     COMPONENTS CONTROLLER DESKTOPSTUDIO DESKTOPDIRECTOR LICENSESERVER STOREFRONT  PASSIVE  NOREBOOT  CONFIGURE FIREWALL  NOSQL    Prms    Parms Split       amp    Command   Prms   It s basically the same as Akira s answer  but this works if you dynamically build your command parameters and put them in a variable

User · Answer

Just add the  amp  operator before the  exe name   Here is a command to install SQL Server Express in silence mode    fileExe    T  SQLEXPRADV x64 ENU exe   CONFIGURATIONFILE    T  ConfSetupSql2008Express ini    amp   fileExe   CONFIGURATIONFILE  CONFIGURATIONFILE

User · Answer

You can run exe files in powershell different ways  For instance if you want to run unrar exe and extract a  rar file you can simply write in powershell this    extract path    C  Program Files Containing folder    rar to extract    C  Path to arch file rar     or exe if its a big file    C  Path here Unrar exe x -o  -c-  rar to extract  extract path    But sometimes  this doesn t work so you must use the  amp  parameter as shown above  For instance  with vboxmanage exe  a tool to manage virtualbox virtual machines  you must call the paramterers outside of the string like this  without quotes    gt   vmname    misae unrtes 1234123     name too long  we want to change this   gt   amp   C  Program Files Oracle VirtualBox VBoxManage exe  modifyvm  vmname --name UBUNTU    If you want to call simply a winrar archived file as  exe files  you can also unzip it with the invoke-command cmdlet and a Silent parameter  S  Its going to extract itself in the same folder than where it has been compressed     gt  Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock   C  Your-path archivefile exe  S      So there are several ways to run  exe files with arguments in powershell   Sometimes  one must find a workaround to make it work properly  which can require some further effort and pain    depending on the way the  exe has been compiled or made bi its creators

User · Answer

So  I ran into a similar problem and chose to solve it this way instead    Escape your quote     characters with a backtick     Surround your new expression with quotes     Using the call operator   amp    issue the command invoke-expression on the new string   Example solution       amp    invoke-expression  C  Program Files IIS Microsoft Web Deploy msdeploy exe -verb sync -source dbfullsql   Data Source mysource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb    -dest dbfullsql   Data Source   mydestsource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb    computername 10 10 10 10 username administrator password adminpass

User · Answer

For the executable name  the new-alias cmdlet can be employed to avoid dealing with spaces or needing to add the executable to the  PATH environment   PS gt  new-alias msdeploy  C  Program Files IIS Microsoft Web Deploy msdeploy exe  PS gt  msdeploy       To list or modify PS aliases also see  PS gt  get-alias PS gt  set-alias   From Jeffery Hicks Aarticle  Other answers address the arguments

User · Answer

An alternative answer is to use a Base64 encoded command switch   powershell -EncodedCommand  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      When decoded  you ll see it s the OP s original snippet with all arguments and double quotes preserved   powershell exe -EncodedCommand  Accepts a base-64-encoded string version of a command  Use this parameter to submit commands to Windows PowerShell that require complex quotation marks or curly braces    The original command    C  Program Files IIS Microsoft Web Deploy msdeploy exe -verb sync -source dbfullsql  Data Source mysource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   -dest dbfullsql  Data Source   mydestsource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   computername 10 10 10 10 username administrator password adminpass    It turns into this when encoded as Base64   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     and here is how to replicate at home    command    C  Program Files IIS Microsoft Web Deploy msdeploy exe -verb sync -source dbfullsql  Data Source mysource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   -dest dbfullsql  Data Source   mydestsource Integrated Security false User ID sa Pwd sapass  Database mydb   computername 10 10 10 10 username administrator password adminpass    bytes    System Text Encoding   Unicode GetBytes  command   encodedCommand    Convert   ToBase64String  bytes   encodedCommand     The clip below copies the base64 string to your clipboard for right click and paste   encodedCommand   Clip

User · Answer

This worked for me    amp   D  Server PSTools PsExec exe       1 1 1 1    -accepteula    -d    -i    id   -h    -u    domain user    -p    password    -w    C  path to the app    java    -jar    app jar     Just put paths or connection strings in one array item and split the other things in one array item each   There are a lot of other options here  https   social technet microsoft com wiki contents articles 7703 powershell-running-executables aspx  Microsoft should make this way simpler and compatible with command prompt syntax

[powershell] How to run an EXE file in PowerShell with parameters with spaces and quotes

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