How to pass parameters in PowerShell script which executes in WinSCP command?

Question

I have a PowerShell script

cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\WinSCP"
. .\WinSCP.exe /console /script="L:\Work\SAS Data\FTP\local2remote.txt"  /log=log.txt

It calls WinSCP command file

option batch on
open ftp://user:pass@host -passive=on
lcd "J:\Work\SAS Data\Roman\Lists"
put target.csv
exit

I want to convert "J:\Work\SAS Data\Roman\Lists" to a parameter in the PowerShell script where the parameter can be passed in the txt file. Same goes for the file target.csv. Any help appreciated.

You better use WinSCP .NET assembly from your PowerShell script. — Martin Prikryl
– Martin Prikryl, Commented Nov 18, 2016 at 21:16

Joey · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-18 09:41:58Z

4

The easiest way (and one that doesn't involve writing a temporary script file) would be to switch to /command for WinSCP:

# You don't need the . operator to run external programs
.\WinSCP.exe /console /log=log.txt /command `
  'open ftp://user:pass@host -passive=on' `
  'lcd "J:\Work\SAS Data\Roman\Lists"' `
  'put target.csv' `
  'exit'

Now you have a much easier time incorporating script parameters:

param([string] $Path, [string] $FileName)

& 'C:\Program Files (x86)\WinSCP\WinSCP.exe' /console /log=log.txt /command `
  'open ftp://user:pass@host -passive=on' `
  "lcd `"$Path`"" `
  "put `"$FileName`"" `
  'exit'

However, you can of course, still write a command file and pass that:

$script = Join-Path $Env:TEMP winscp-commands.txt

"open ftp://user:pass@host -passive=on
lcd ""$Path""
put ""$FileName""
exit" | Out-File -Encoding Default $script

& 'C:\Program Files (x86)\WinSCP\WinSCP.exe' /console /log=log.txt /script=$script
Remove-Item $script

edited Nov 18, 2016 at 9:41

answered Nov 16, 2016 at 9:36

Joey

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10 Comments

Karan Pappala Over a year ago

Thank you for the swift method. However, I get an error as follows for the second script. Error changing directory to $Path

Joey Over a year ago

$Path shouldn't even appear in the commands WinSCP gets. Did you use single quotes instead of double quotes by any chance?

Karan Pappala Over a year ago

Yup that's it. Thanks @Joey !

Karan Pappala Over a year ago

Hey @Joey, it prompts an error 'too many parameters for command lcd'. Do you know any solution around this?

Joey Over a year ago

@KaranPappala: Are you sure your original code worked? Since you already were using lcd with a path that contains spaces, I was assuming things to work. It appears that you have to quote such names, then. I'll edit, accordingly.

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