Using PowerShell to execute a remote script that calls a batch file

Question

I am having an issue with running a batch file that is located on a remote server.

I have a batch file located on a remote server that i want to run that kicks off an automated Selenium test. For simplicity, let's say the name of my batch file is mybatch.bat

I have the following code in a Powershell script located on the server:

$BatchFile = "mybatch.bat"

Start-Process -FilePath $BatchFile -Wait  -Verb RunAs

If I run this PowerShell script locally on the server in ISE then it runs fine and it kicks off the selenium test which takes a couple minutes to run.

Now I want to try to execute this test from another machine by using PowerShell remoting. Let's assume that remoting is already configured on the servers.

I have a PowerShell script located on another server which has the following code segment. Assume that all of the session variables have the correct information set:

$CMD = "D:\mybatch.bat"

$TargetSession = New-PSSession -ComputerName $FullComputerName -Credential $myCreds -ConfigurationName RemoteExecution

$command = "powershell.exe -File $CMD -Wait"
Invoke-Command -Session $TargetSession -ScriptBlock { $command }

When this script runs, it does connect to the remote machine and create a remote session. It does look like it kicks off the batch file because PowerShell does not give me an error. But it does not wait for the full 3 or 4 minutes for the Selenium test to finish. It seems like it just times out. Also if I am logged onto the other machine, I don't see any Selenium web test running. No Selenium log files or results files are created on remote server as should be expected.

I was wondering what I could be doing wrong with my code.

Also, it seems that the server always returns the echo outputs of the batch file to my local machine. I see these random blinking white screen on ISE which looks like output from the batch file

add some logging to your script. i suspect you are seeing the "double hop" problem ... and attempting to access the BAT file is getting an access denied error. — Lee_Dailey
– Lee_Dailey, Commented Apr 18, 2019 at 14:38

Ansgar Wiechers · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-18 14:49:07Z

1

$command = "powershell.exe -File $CMD -Wait"
Invoke-Command -Session $TargetSession -ScriptBlock { $command }

There are 2 issues with the above code:

$command inside the scriptblock and $command outside the scriptblock are different variables due to different scopes. The variable inside the scriptblock is thus undefined and the scriptblock will simply echo an emtpy value.
Even if $command weren't undefined, the scriptblock would still just echo its value, since it's defined as a string. PowerShell does not execute strings unless you're using something like Invoke-Expression (which you shouldn't).

This should do what you want:

$CMD = "D:\mybatch.bat"

$TargetSession = New-PSSession -ComputerName $FullComputerName -Credential $myCreds -ConfigurationName RemoteExecution  

Invoke-Command -Session $TargetSession -ScriptBlock { & $using:CMD }

answered Apr 18, 2019 at 14:49

Ansgar Wiechers

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2 Comments

My Display Name Over a year ago

Ansgar, thank you for your help. The new Invoke-Command does seem to kick off the remote Powershell script because I am seeing output loggging information on my ISE script. But my selenium batch file does not seem to kick off. Should I try using Invoke-Command on the Powershell script on the remote server too? Something like this: Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock { & using:$BatchFile }

My Display Name Over a year ago

I had to change the execution of the batch file in the remote Powershell to this syntax to work: & $BatchFile

Ching Chung CHENG · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-28 10:28:57Z

0

If you would like execute a bat file from another machine by using PowerShell Remote Session, simply enter dot and then follow by a whitespace, then enter the exact path of bat file located on that remote machine.

Example

Invoke-Command -ComputerName RemoteComputerName -Credential $credential -ScriptBlock {. "D:\Temp\Install_Something.bat"}

answered Apr 28, 2019 at 10:28

Ching Chung CHENG

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