Powershell call operator with multiple arguments

automationpowershellwindows-server-2008windows-server-2008-r2

I am trying to use the powershell call operator to essentially run the following command:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\PuTTY\plink.exe" "-v -agent -m C:\Scripts\idrac_powerup_commands.txt root@[servername]"

Current Code

$runputtyscript = @()
$runputtyscript += "-v"
$runputtyscript += "-agent"
$runputtyscript += "-m C:\Scripts\idrac_powerup_commands.txt"

& 'C:\Program Files (x86)\PuTTY\plink.exe' $allArgs root@servername

Problem

This executes, but the script doesn't execute the file with the commands the same that it does if the original string was executed from the command line.. It shows me the admin console (so it has logged in, authenticated with the public key, etc.) but it just hasn't run the script I asked it to run.

Things I've tried

Moving the filename component of -m to its own argument
Putting quotes around the filename component of -m

Question

Maybe more succinct way of asking: What is the proper way to use arguments that then have their own arguments (e.g. "-m [filename] -v -a" with the call operator (&) in powershell?

Best Answer

You may be running into the case where your variable is not being handled by the Win32 binary. You can ease this along through double-quotes:

'C:\Program Files (x86)\PuTTY\plink.exe' "$allArgs" root@servername

I had the same problem with netsh a while back.

Related Solutions

Powershell – Need help with Powershell error “The left hand side of an assignment operator…”

Instead of trying to figure out what's wrong, I'll suggest what works 100% for me.

This script gets mailbox stats, but you can adapt it to do whatever you want.

Contents of Get-MailboxStatistics.ps1:

$FromAddress = "noreply@company.local"
$ToAddress = "sysadmin@company.local"
$MessageSubject = "Exchange Mailbox Size Report"
$MessageBody = "Attached is the current list of mailbox sizes."
$SendingServer = "exchange.company.local"

Get-MailboxStatistics | Sort-Object TotalItemSize -Descending | Select-Object DisplayName, @{Name="Size(MB)";Expression={$_.TotalItemSize.Value.ToMB()}}, ItemCount, LastLogonTime | Export-CSV -path "mailboxstats.csv" -notypeinformation

###Create the mail message and add the statistics text file as an attachment
$SMTPMessage = New-Object System.Net.Mail.MailMessage $FromAddress, $ToAddress, $MessageSubject, $MessageBody
$Attachment = New-Object Net.Mail.Attachment("mailboxstats.csv")
$SMTPMessage.Attachments.Add($Attachment)

###Send the message
$SMTPClient = New-Object System.Net.Mail.SMTPClient $SendingServer
$SMTPClient.Send($SMTPMessage)

This is run by a scheduled batch file containing this line:

C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -PSConsoleFile "D:\Exchange\Bin\ExShell.psc1" -Command C:\Scripts\Get-MailboxStatistics.ps1

PowerShell script, showing commands run

The following command will output each line of script to Write-Debug-

Set-PSDebug -Trace 1

From man Set-PSDebug

When the Trace parameter is set to 1, each line of script is traced as it is executed. When the parameter is set to 2, variable assignments, function calls, and script calls are also traced. If the Step parameter is specified, you are prompted before each line of the script is executed.

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