Powershell variables in command not working

Question

I've tried a ton of different variations of this, but I can't get it to work. I am trying to run mysqldump to export a database (in this case called global).

PS C:\Users\Administrator> &"$mysqlpath\mysqldump.exe -u$mysqluser -p$mysqlpass --databases global | Out-File $env:TEMP\database_backup\global_$timestamp.sql -Encoding UTF8"
& : The term 'C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.6\bin\mysqldump.exe -ubackup -pbackup_password --databases global | Out-File C:\Users\ADMINI~1\AppData\Local\Temp\2\database_backup\global_2013-12-11T11:47:28.sql -Encoding UTF8' 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.
At line:1 char:2
+ &"$mysqlpath\mysqldump.exe -u$mysqluser -p$mysqlpass --databases global | Out-Fi ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Program File... -Encoding UTF8:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

It looks like it is being exploded into the proper variable names, but I can't get it to run.

UPDATE: So that was the right answer, I had a : in the timestamp. My other problem was solved by putting the variables inside double quotes (")

vonPryz · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-11 18:26:02Z

2

You are telling Powershell to run an EXE named

&"$mysqlpath\mysqldump.exe -u$mysqluser -p$mysqlpass --databases global | Out-File $env:TEMP\database_backup\global_$timestamp.sql -Encoding UTF8"

So remove the quotes (") and try again. Like so,

& $mysqlpath\mysqldump.exe -u$mysqluser -p$mysqlpass --databases global | Out-File $env:TEMP\database_backup\global_$timestamp.sql -Encoding UTF8

answered Dec 11, 2013 at 18:26

vonPryz

24.3k10 gold badges58 silver badges69 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

mikekol Over a year ago

On top of that, colons aren't valid as parts of a file name in Windows unless they're part of the drive designation, so it's likely that your Out-File statement will fail, too.

Sparticuz Over a year ago

I changed it to &$mysqlpath\mysqldump.exe -u$mysqluser -p$mysqlpass --databases global | Out-File $temppath\database_backup\global_$timestamp.sql -Encoding UTF8 But still get Out-File : The given path's format is not supported. At line:1 char:74 + &$mysqlpath\mysqldump.exe -u$mysqluser -p$mysqlpass --databases global | Out-Fil ... +CategoryInfo : OpenError: (:) [Out-File], NotSupportedException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : FileOpenFailure,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.OutFileCommand

Mark Over a year ago

Your timestamp variable $timestamp seems to be expanding to 2013-12-11T11:47:28 which won't work because you can't have a : in the file path.

Sparticuz Over a year ago

Your right, I didn't even think about $timestamp. I'm still doing something wrong after I fixed timestamp. It looks like it's not using the $mysqluser variable. mysqldump: Got error: 1045: Access denied for user '$mysqluser'@'localhost' (using password: YES) when trying to connect PS C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Temp\2> $mysqluser backup

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Powershell variables in command not working

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related