Powershell passing arguments in ScriptBlock

Question

I'm trying to get the last write time on a file from a remote server.

This doesn not work:

$server = "MyServerName"

$lastWrite = Invoke-Command -Computername $server -ScriptBlock {Get-ChildItem "\\$args[0]\hot.war" } -argumentlist $server | select -Property LastWriteTime

This does work:

 $lastWrite = Invoke-Command -Computername $server -ScriptBlock {Get-ChildItem "\\MyServerName\hot.war" } -argumentlist $server | select -Property LastWriteTime

Can anyone help make the first set work?

Why are you using "\\args[0]\ instead of putting "\\$server\" ? — Luke
– Luke, Commented May 29, 2015 at 19:16
@luke - I tried that first and it didn't work. Found this post to use args. stackoverflow.com/questions/7023012/… — Matt616
– Matt616, Commented May 29, 2015 at 19:35

Manuel Batsching · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-29 20:39:23Z

2

Be careful with variables in strings: "\\$args[0]\hot.war" will be expanded to \\MyServerName[0]\hot.war.

Use "\\$($args[0])\hot.war" to be sure that $args[0] will be treated as a single expression.

See: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/powershell/archive/2006/07/15/variable-expansion-in-strings-and-herestrings.aspx

edited May 29, 2015 at 20:39

answered May 29, 2015 at 20:24

Manuel Batsching

3,61616 silver badges21 bronze badges

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

Comments

Ansgar Wiechers · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-29 22:42:29Z

1

Another way, if you are using PowerShell 3. You can do something like this:

$lastWrite = Invoke-Command -Computername $server -ScriptBlock {
               Get-ChildItem "\\$using:server\hot.war"
             } | select -Property LastWriteTime

edited May 29, 2015 at 22:42

Ansgar Wiechers

202k27 gold badges286 silver badges363 bronze badges

answered May 29, 2015 at 19:41

wallybh

9621 gold badge11 silver badges31 bronze badges

Comments

Luke · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-29 19:19:58Z

0

You will want to add the server variable into your first line...

$server = "MyServerName"

$lastWrite = Invoke-Command -Computername $server -ScriptBlock {Get-ChildItem "\\$server\hot.war" } -argumentlist $server | select -Property LastWriteTime

answered May 29, 2015 at 19:19

Luke

6671 gold badge9 silver badges22 bronze badges

1 Comment

Matt616 Over a year ago

That's where I had begun but it doesn't work. Cannot find path '\\\\hot.war' because it does not exist. [link]stackoverflow.com/questions/7023012/…

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Powershell passing arguments in ScriptBlock

3 Answers 3

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related