Powershell trying to run variable as command

Question

I am trying to run a command from the command line which I derived from a variable and it is not working. If I copy the output of the variable and run it from the command line it works, just not from within Powershell script

$psexec = "c:\sysinternalsSuite\psexec.exe"
$computer = "localhost"
$port = 5482
$urlacl_cmd = "$psexec \\$computer netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:$port/ user=everyone"

# tried both of the lines below; neither worked
invoke-command -scriptblock{$urlacl_cmd}
& $urlacl_cmd

output from the above results in this:

`

c:\sysinternalsSuite\psexec.exe \\localhost netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:5484/ user=everyone
& : The term 'c:\sysinternalsSuite\psexec.exe \\localhost netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:5484/ user=everyone' 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 C:\Temp\add-websocket.ps1:11 char:3
+ & $urlacl_cmd
+   ~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (c:\sysinternals.../ user=everyone:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

`

If I just copy the output and past it in the Powershell prompt it works c:\sysinternalsSuite\psexec.exe \\localhost netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:5484/ user=everyone

The args have to be an array.

js2010
– js2010

2022-11-03 19:19:10 +00:00
Commented Nov 3, 2022 at 19:19 — js2010
– js2010, Commented Nov 3, 2022 at 19:19

ccaj · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-11 18:54:15Z

1

thanks @js2010 I got it working how I wanted by doing the following:

param (
[String]$computer = $env:COMPUTERNAME,
[Parameter(mandatory=$true,Position=0)][int]$port,
$user = "everyone"
)

$psexec = "c:\sysinternalsSuite\psexec.exe"
$urlacl_cmd = "netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:$port/ user=$user"

& $psexec \\$computer netsh http add urlacl url=http://+:$port/ user=$user

It didn't work using the $urlacl_cmd var so I just put the command and it worked.

answered Nov 11, 2022 at 18:54

ccaj

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js2010 · Accepted Answer · 2022-11-05 17:13:30Z

0

This is a common question. For the call operator, the arguments have to be in an array (or completely seperate), like $myargs. $args is reserved.

set-content -path file -value hi
$cmd = 'findstr'
$myargs = '/n','hi','file'  # line number
& $cmd $myargs

1:hi

edited Nov 5, 2022 at 17:13

answered Nov 5, 2022 at 16:36

js2010

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