CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powershellbatch-filecmdvirtual-machinevirtualbox
J. Doe
J. Doe

Reputation: 43

How to start a new Powershell window with arguments from a script?

I am using VirtualBox and I want to be able to obtain a list of all Virtual Machines using a powershell script (after clicking a button on the gui).

I know you can use the command

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" list vms

in cmd/batch to list all VMs but I can't seem to figure out how to display the output with my powershell script. That is why I wanted to create a new powershell window which executes this command so I have a list of VMs.

I tried doing that but nothing happens at all:

& 'C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe' list vms

Thanks in advance.

best regards, John

Upvotes: 3

Views: 1871

Answers (2)

Bruce Payette
Bruce Payette

Reputation: 2639

When running a PowerShell scriptblock from an event (e.g. click) handler, the output of the scriptblock is simply discarded. What you need to do is capture the output in a global variable as follows:

$Button4.Add_Click({$global:result =  & 'C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe' list vms})

This assigns the output to a global variable $global:result which you can then use in other tasks.

Yes I am trying to open a new powershell window

Do you really want to open a window or do you just want to run a background (asynchronous) job? If you just want a background job, then you should look at Start-Job. One of the problems with using Start-Process is that you won't get the results back but you can with PowerShell jobs. If you use Start-Job, the code would look like:

$Button4.Add_Click({$global:lvmjob =  Start-Job { & 'C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe' list vms}})

Then elsewhere in your code, you can receive the job results by doing

$data = receive-job -Job $global:lvmjob

Upvotes: 0

Sid
Sid

Reputation: 2676

Have you tried:

cmd /c 'C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe' list vms

You should also be able to do this:

powershell.exe "& 'C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe' list vms"

Edit

If you want a new window, use this:

Start-Process powerShell.exe "& 'C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe' list vms; pause"

The pause will wait for you to hit enter before the new window exits.

Upvotes: 4

Related Questions