One Powershell Script calling another with parameters

Question

I am attempting to call another PS script B.ps1 which takes a parameter:

Invoke-Expression "C:\AzureFileShare\MEDsys\Powershell Scripts\B.ps1 -ServerName medsys-dev"

Then in B.ps1:

Param([string]$ServerName)
...
...

When I attempt to execute Invoke-Expression, I get the following error:

The term 'C:\AzureFileShare\MEDsys\Powershell' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.

I don't know why PowerShell is complaining about this since the B.ps1 script does actually exist in the referenced folder. Unless something else is wrong?

.\B.ps1 -parameter "Value" You have to change your directory to B.ps1's location. — Vivek Kumar Singh
– Vivek Kumar Singh, Commented Nov 2, 2017 at 12:19
No, you don't have to change locations. Just specify the path and filename of the script you want to run. — Bill_Stewart
– Bill_Stewart, Commented Nov 2, 2017 at 16:44

henrycarteruk · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-13 15:01:07Z

31

EDIT: dot-sourcing the script as shown in my original answer will load the script and variables, objects, functions, etc. into the current session - this might have unintended consequences in certain circumstances.

The alternative is to use the & call operator which runs the script in its own scope:

& "C:\AzureFileShare\MEDsys\Powershell Scripts\B.ps1" -ServerName medsys-dev

The problem is you have a space in your file path so you need to wrap the entire path in single quotes so it's recognised correctly. (See about_Quoting_Rules for more info on single vs double quotes). It ends up being a messy command in the end:

Invoke-Expression "&'C:\AzureFileShare\MEDsys\Powershell Scripts\B.ps1' -ServerName medsys-dev"

dot-sourcing is much nicer as you just wrap the script path in double quotes and leave the params as-is:

."C:\AzureFileShare\MEDsys\Powershell Scripts\B.ps1" -ServerName medsys-dev

edited Feb 13, 2019 at 15:01

answered Nov 2, 2017 at 12:35

henrycarteruk

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2 Comments

Randy Minder Over a year ago

Thank you. This is close. But now I'm getting the following error: A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument 'C:\AzureFileShare\MEDsys\Powershell Scripts\B.ps1'.

henrycarteruk Over a year ago

See edit, I'd copied the wrong line from my testing.

Bill_Stewart · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-02 16:43:14Z

18

You don't need Invoke-Expression or dot-sourcing. Just run the script:

& "C:\AzureFileShare\MEDsys\Powershell Scripts\B.ps1" -param1 arg1...

If the script's path and/or filename contain spaces, enclose the script in quotes and use the & (call) operator to run the script. If the script's path and/or filename does not contain quotes, you can run it without the quotes or the & operator:

C:\AzureFileShare\MEDsys\PowershellScripts\B.ps1 -param1 arg1...

The reason I don't recommend dot-sourcing the script is because the variables, functions, etc. from the script will appear in the current session. This is probably not the intent if you just want to run the script and not pollute the current session's namespace with stuff from the script.

answered Nov 2, 2017 at 16:43

Bill_Stewart

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4 Comments

metzelder Over a year ago

Can we use -Credential parameter with this call?

dns Over a year ago

& won't work if you want to pass multiple $args

Bill_Stewart Over a year ago

(?) I use & all the time with multiple arguments.

FearlessHyena Feb 3 at 9:27

Simple and works with multiple args

guiwhatsthat · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-02 12:15:01Z

1

Use dot sourcing

Like that:

."PathtoScript\script.ps1" "ParamValue"

answered Nov 2, 2017 at 12:15

guiwhatsthat

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