Batch file to run a command in cmd within a directory

Question

I want to have a batch file(must be placed on desktop) which does the following;

opens cmd
navigates to a directory, e.g. C:\activiti-5.9\setup
runs a command within the directory, e.g. ant demo.start (this command runs the activiti server)

I tried the following to reach to the directory but how to run command, "ant demo.start"?

START cmd.exe /k "cd C:\activiti-5.9\setup"

Thank you for the help.

EDIT:

Referring to zb226's answer below: One more question if you can answer me is how to make that cmd to be run as administrator? will the following work?

START cmd /K "runas /user:administrator & cd C:\activiti-5.9\setup & ant demo.start"

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-20 10:18:21Z

35

Chain arbitrary commands using & like this:

command1 & command2 & command3 & ...

Thus, in your particular case, put this line in a batch file on your desktop:

START cmd.exe /k "cd C:\activiti-5.9\setup & ant demo.start"

You can also use && to chain commands, albeit this will perform error checking and the execution chain will break if one of the commands fails. The behaviour is detailed here.

Edit: Intrigued by @James K's comment "You CAN chain the commands, but they will have no effect", I tested some more and to my surprise discovered, that the program I was starting in my original test - firefox.exe - while not existing in a directory in the PATH environment variable, is actually executable anywhere on my system (which really made me wonder - see bottom of answer for explanation). So in fact executing...

START cmd.exe /k "cd C:\progra~1\mozill~1 && firefox"

...didn't prove the solution was working. So I chose another program (nLite) after making sure that it was not executable anywhere on my system:

START cmd.exe /k "cd C:\progra~1\nlite && nlite"

And that works just as my original answer already suggested. A Windows version is not given in the question, but I'm using Windows XP, btw.

If anybody is interested why firefox.exe, while not being in PATH, is executable anywhere on my system - and very probably on yours as well - this is due to a registry key where applications can be registered to be available everywhere. See this SU answer for details.

edited Mar 20, 2017 at 10:18

CommunityBot

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answered Aug 28, 2012 at 23:26

zb226

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5 Comments

James K Over a year ago

You should test before you post. You CAN chain the commands, but they will have no effect.

nommyravian Over a year ago

Thank you very much zb226, it worked for me in the same string and I'm able to run the activiti server. One more question if you can answer me is how to make that cmd to be run as administrator? will the following work? START cmd /K "runas /user:administrator & cd C:\activiti-5.9\setup & ant demo.start" It's actually working but I don't know if cmd is running in admin mode or not.

zb226 Over a year ago

This really should be a separate question or included in your original question, but here you go: No, that won't run it as administrator. You've chained runas in front, but you need to give my answer as parameter to runas. To do that, escaping is needed, and the START command will cause trouble (but I don't think you need that anyway, because clicking a batch file on the desktop spawns a new window). Long story short, try this: runas /user:administrator "cmd.exe /k \"cd C:\activiti-5.9\setup ^& ant demo.start\"".

zb226 Over a year ago

Btw, you can always check which user runs a program in Windows' task manager, on the "processes" tab.

nommyravian Over a year ago

Hi, I tried with your solution but it wasn't showing me the actual results (activiti wasn't showing up) so I changed it a little bit and now the following is working.

START "runas /user:administrator" cmd /K "cd C:\activiti-5.9\setup & ant demo.start" START /wait localhost:8080/activiti-explorer

nommyravian · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-30 12:51:17Z

16

For me, the following is working and running activiti server as well as opening the explorer in browser (with the help of zb226's answer and comment);

START "runas /user:administrator" cmd /K "cd C:\activiti-5.9\setup & ant demo.start"

START /wait localhost:8080/activiti-explorer

answered Aug 30, 2012 at 12:51

nommyravian

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Comments

Stephan · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-11 08:39:34Z

14

This question is 5 years old. I wonder why still nobody has found the /d switch to set the working folder:

start /d "c:\activiti-5.9\setup" cmd /k ant demo.start

answered Sep 11, 2017 at 8:39

Stephan

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Comments

James K · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-28 23:56:45Z

3

CMD.EXE will not execute internal commands contained inside the string. Only actual files can be launched with that string.

You will need to actually call a batch file to do what you want.

BAT1.bat

start cmd.exe /k bat2.bat

BAT2.bat

cd C:\activiti-5.9\setup
ant demo.start

You may want to create a folder called BAT, and add it's location to your path. So if you create C:\BAT, add C:\BAT\; to the path. The path is located at:

    click -> Start -> right-click Computer -> Properties ->
    click -> Avanced System Settings -> Environment Variables
   select -> Path (From either list. User Variables are specific to 
                   your profile, System Variables are, duh, system-wide.)
    Click -> Edit
Press the -> the [END] or [HOME] key.
     Type -> C:\BAT\;
    Click -> OK -> OK

Now place all your batch files in C:\BAT and they will be found, regardless of the current directory.

answered Aug 28, 2012 at 23:56

James K

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2 Comments

zb226 Over a year ago

Are you sure about that bit with the internal commands? On my end, chaining with & works just fine (see my answer). But if I'm missing something, please elaborate, learning is never a bad thing :)

James K Over a year ago

Well, I've never gotten internal commands to execute that way (although it will run actual files that way). I suppose that I may be missing something, but I've tried it on Windows 7 Ultimate, XP, 2000 Server and 98. Not exactly exhaustive testing, but the results have been consistent.

Jonathan · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-09 21:53:20Z

1

Mine DID execute commands in order. Here's my version of what I was using it for:

START cmd.exe /k "U: & cd U:\Design_stuff\new_lcso_website_2017 & python -m http.server"

I needed to

Change to my U drive
CD to a specific folder containing a website I'm redesigning
Execute python with the http server module (to display the contents in my browser).

If those commands are out of order, it would not display the correct files. I initially forgot to change to U: and, running the batch file on my Desktop, it created a web page in my browser at http://localhost:8000 showing me the contents of my Desktop instead of the folder I wanted.

edited Aug 9, 2017 at 21:53

Jonathan

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answered Aug 9, 2017 at 21:41

bkvagnini

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Comments

Praveen Maurya · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-11 06:46:59Z

-1

You Can Also Check It:

cmd /c cd /d C:\activiti-5.9\setup & ant demo.start

answered Sep 11, 2017 at 6:46

Praveen Maurya

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