How a ps1 script can set $LASTEXITCODE after running several tools?

Question

If a .ps1 script simply runs one tool, the tool's exit code effectively propagates to the caller, which might be another ps1 script or the shell. It can cause CI's to fail (which is good).

But if a .ps1 script wants to run two tools, and ultimately return the failing exit code if either script fails, how to do this? Running the second tool after the first one fails obliterates $LASTEXITCODE from the first and 'passes' in CI.

Even if directly after the running the first tool, I add this:

    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
        exit 4
    }

The script exits, but $LASTEXITCODE still equals 0.

Some other techniques I've found have the very negative side effect of terminating that powershell.exe process with the exit code, but I don't want to force terminating the user's shell when the ps1 script was run directly by the user, or if my ps1 script was invoked from another ps1 script, I don't want to terminate the caller. I just want to set the exit code.

Is there no way to accomplish this in PowerShell?

Are you telling, that executing powershell -command "exit 27" and checking $LASTEXITCODE afterwards, does not show 27? — stackprotector
– stackprotector, Commented Jul 3, 2020 at 15:15

RetiredGeek · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-03 16:08:10Z

2

Andrew,

You need to save the codes:

& ".\Test\Test-Exit27.ps1"
$Exit27 =  $LASTEXITCODE

& ".\Test\Test-Exit4.ps1"
$Exit4 = $LASTEXITCODE

"Results:`n Exit27 = $Exit27`n Exit4 = $Exit4"

Each of the .ps1 files called contains a single line Exit #, e.g. Exit 27.

Results:

Results:
 Exit27 = 27
 Exit4 = 4

HTH

answered Jul 3, 2020 at 16:08

RetiredGeek

3,1881 gold badge11 silver badges23 bronze badges

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

5 Comments

Andrew Arnott Over a year ago

No go. A ps1 script with exit 27 does not even set $LASTEXITCODE, which remains 0 after the script executes. And capturing the $LASTEXITCODE within the script is pointless if the script itself still returns 0.

Andrew Arnott Over a year ago

How very strange. It does work as you say, in a clean Windows PowerShell or PowerShell Core environment, but not in the VS Dev2019 PowerShell prompt

Andrew Arnott Over a year ago

Oh, it wasn't the VS PowerShell prompt... it's Posh-Git! When I'm in a git repo, the $LASTEXITCODE is cleared by the prompt function itself. Thanks for insisting this worked. :) I'll take it up with the Posh-Git folks.

Andrew Arnott Over a year ago

I guess posh-git had that bug but fixed it a long time ago. In fact from my powershell profile script it is Set-Theme Paradox that is responsible. If I comment that out, it works.

Andrew Arnott Over a year ago

Filed bug: github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/issues/273

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How a ps1 script can set $LASTEXITCODE after running several tools?

1 Answer 1

5 Comments

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

5 Comments

Related