CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powershellbatch-file
Andrew Larson
Andrew Larson

Reputation: 227

Why is my powershell command not working in my batch file?

So, my command works just fine when I run it directly in PowerShell, but throws errors when I try to use it in my batch script. What I'm trying to do, is add a directory to the system path, but from a batch file (I have reasons). I know how to do it, and been successful in doing so, just can't seem to fix this.

I read some information that multiple commands are separated by semicolons, which I believe is probably what the problem is here, but if it is, I don't know how to escape it in the command.

This is the command I'm trying to use in my batch file.

@echo off

powershell "[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('path', "$([Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('path', 'machine'));C:\to\a\new\path",'Machine');"

These are the errors that come up when running it.

At line:1 char:106
+ ... , $([Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('path', 'machine'));C:\usr\ ...
+                                                                  ~
Missing ')' in method call.
At line:1 char:117
+ ... ment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('path', 'machine'));C:\usr\bin,'Machine ...
+                                                                 ~
Missing argument in parameter list.
At line:1 char:127
+ ... t]::GetEnvironmentVariable('path', 'machine'));C:\usr\bin,'Machine');
+                                                                        ~
Unexpected token ')' in expression or statement.
    + CategoryInfo          : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : MissingEndParenthesisInMethodCall

I really believe the problem is just that first semicolon that I'm trying to use in a string.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 365

Answers (1)

Andrew Larson
Andrew Larson

Reputation: 227

I figured it out... I wasn't the semicolons, but the quoting.

I found how to fix it by reading Powershell in a batch file - How do you escape metacharacters? (in the "Quoting headaches" bit).

So now it works when the command is formatted like so:

powershell "[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('path', \""$([Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('path', 'machine'));C:\to\a\new\path\"",'Machine')"

Upvotes: 2

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