How to pass a parameter with parentheses to Powershell from command line?

Question

I have a Powershell script called MSSQLStartStopServices.ps1 used to stop some SQL Server services. This script is being called using a third-party vendor software. The parameters in question are Fully qualified instance name and Start|Stop

e.g.

MSSQLStartStopServices.ps1 HOSTNAME\INSTANCENAME Start

For a default instance, the software passes (local) as the INSTANCENAME.

MSSQLStartStopServices.ps1 HOSTNAME\(local) Start

But when I run this I get an error from Powershell:

The term 'local' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.

When I try and put the instance name in quotes it works fine in a Powershell window:

MSSQLStartStopServices.ps1 "HOSTNAME\(local)" Start

However the third party software calls Powershell from the commandline first, like so:

powershell .\MSSQLStartStopServices.ps1 "HOSTNAME\(local)" Start

This causes the same error as if the quotes were not there.

How do I work around this issue?

Surround all your command and params with quotes powershell ".\MSSQLStartStopServices.ps1 HOSTNAME(local) Start" — Loïc MICHEL
– Loïc MICHEL, Commented Jun 19, 2013 at 11:31
typo Surround all your command and params with quotes powershell ".\MSSQLStartStopServices.ps1 'HOSTNAME(local)' Start — Loïc MICHEL
– Loïc MICHEL, Commented Jun 19, 2013 at 12:02

AndyMeFul · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-19 11:43:37Z

7

Try enclosing your script-call in double quotes and then each parameter in single quotes:

".\MSSQLStartStopServices.ps1" 'HOSTNAME\(local)' 'Start'

answered Jun 19, 2013 at 11:43

AndyMeFul

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Comments

fric31 · Accepted Answer · 2022-09-01 14:15:39Z

0

Adding this information for any future people with a smiliar issue finding this page:

In case you want to use a variable as a parameter value that contains characters such as "(" or "|", you need to do it like this: -parameter_name ("'" + $variable + "'")

This worked for me since powershell would remove any double quotes added to the string when calling a non powershell method.

answered Sep 1, 2022 at 14:15

fric31

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