Call powershell script in post-built with parameters

Question

I'm trying to get Powershell to run my PS script in post built - but somehow it doesn't work like it's supposed to:

Following command in Post-Build:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\windowspowershell\1.0\powershell.exe
  -Command "& $(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\CreateSite.ps1 'auto'"

(inserted line break for better reading)

The command executes the powershell script sucessfully, but what it can't do is run the commands within (Output from Build): Rund Post-Build Command:

Add-PSSnapin : No snap-ins have been registered for Windows PowerShell version 2
At C:\path\CreateSite.ps1:4 char:
38
+ Add-PsSnapin <<<< Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell}
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell:String) [Add-PSSnapin], PSArgumentException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : AddPSSnapInRead,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.AddPSSnapinCommand

And following that are many errors because all subsequent commands need the Sharepoint Snap-In.

When running powershell C:\path\CreateSite.ps1 auto from cmd - everything works.
When opening powershell.exe and running C:\path\CreateSite.ps1 auto - everything works.
When right clicking CreateSite.ps1 --> run with powershell - everything works.

The relevant line in the script is simply Add-PsSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell.

How can I just run the darn script (and get it to include the PSSnapIn) passing it a parameter in Visual Studio post-build?

Alex Ferreira · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-07 14:55:30Z

16

(This thread is not new, but I got here from Google, so I thought sharing the solution I found would be interesting to others)

I tried changing the path to powershell.exe to "%WINDIR%\SysNative\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" and it worked perfect. The 64 bits version is called from the Post Build event and it successfully adds the SharePoint snapin.

Credits to this article: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff798298.aspx, "Using Windows PowerShell Scripts to Automate Tasks in Visual Studio".

answered Mar 7, 2012 at 14:55

Alex Ferreira

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2 Comments

Jen-Ari Over a year ago

+1 for very elegant and actually correct solution! Thx for sharing.

Brian Hinchey Over a year ago

My Jenkins slave was refusing to execute Powershell in a 64bit process by every other means I have tried, but your solution works!

Keith Hill · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-16 02:13:02Z

6

Because of file system virtualization, you can't really specify the path to the 64-bit version of PowerShell from a 32-bit process (ie Visual Studio - which hosts the msbuild engine). One hack-ish way to work around this is to create a 64-bit launcher that runs as 64-bit and will launch the 64-bit version of PowerShell. Here's a simple C# program that will do this:

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;

class App
{
  static int Main(string[] args)
  {
    Process process = Process.Start("PowerShell.exe", String.Join(" ", args));
    process.WaitForExit();
    return process.ExitCode;
  }
}

Be sure to compile this as 64-bit like so:

csc .\PowerShell64.cs /platform:x64

Then, from your post-build event execute this launcher exe passing it the parameters you want to invoke 64-bit PowerShell with. Also, with PowerShell 2.0 I would recommend using the File parameter to execute a script e.g.:

c:\path\PowerShell64.exe -File "$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\CreateSite.ps1" auto

That said, surely there has to be some other way (utility) that launches exes from a 64-bit process.

answered Feb 16, 2011 at 2:13

Keith Hill

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1 Comment

Dennis G Over a year ago

This, sir, is very interesting and works flawlessly! (no need to use csc.exe, though - setting the target platform to x64 is enough)

stej · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-15 20:41:55Z

1

When you run you script directly, you probably use 32bit PowerShell and in your msbuild script 64bit or vice versa. Also have a look at Error msg: “No snap-ins have been registered for Windows PowerShell version 2.”.

answered Feb 15, 2011 at 20:41

stej

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4 Comments

JasonMArcher Over a year ago

He is running the 64-bit PowerShell (which would be the default on a 64-bit OS).

Dennis G Over a year ago

I have read about the 64-bit/32-bit controversy, that's why I'm using the direct path C:\windows\system32\... to the 64-bit version powershell instead of the SysWOW64 path which leads to the 32bit PowerShell. Could it have anything to do with the Project building with "Any CPU" instead of x64?

stej Over a year ago

What version of msbuild do you use - 64bit or 32bit?

Keith Hill Over a year ago

From a 32-bit app that gets virtualized file system access, the path C:\windows\system32` is remapped to C:\Windows\SysWow64`.

Henrik · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-03 14:17:41Z

1

A slightly better variant of the output redirection:

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class App
    {
        static int Main(string[] args)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("sh64 args: " + string.Join(", ", args));
            var start = new ProcessStartInfo
                {
                    FileName = args.First(),
                    Arguments = string.Join(" ", args.Skip(1).ToArray()),
                    UseShellExecute = false,
                    RedirectStandardOutput = true,
                    RedirectStandardError = true,
                    RedirectStandardInput = false,
                    CreateNoWindow = true
                };

            using (var process = Process.Start(start))
            {
                while (!process.HasExited)
                {
                    using (var reader = process.StandardOutput)
                        Drain(reader, false);
                    using (var reader = process.StandardError)
                        Drain(reader, true);
                }
                process.WaitForExit();
                return process.ExitCode;
            }
        }

        static void Drain(TextReader reader, bool error)
        {
            ColourizeError(error, () =>
                {
                    var buf = new char[256];
                    int read;
                    while ((read = reader.Read(buf, 0, buf.Length)) != 0)
                        Console.Write(new string(buf, 0, read));
                });
        }

        static void ColourizeError(bool error, Action a)
        {
            var prev = Console.ForegroundColor;
            Console.ForegroundColor = error ? ConsoleColor.Red : ConsoleColor.White;
            var mre = new ManualResetEventSlim(false);
            try
            {
                a();
            }
            finally
            {
                Console.ForegroundColor = prev;
                mre.Set(); // runs on GC thread on servers and is reentrant/interleaved concurrency in workstations!
            }
            mre.Wait();
        }
    }
}

Call with sh64 powershell -File ./buildscripts/deploy.ps1 -Ex RemoteSigned

answered Jan 3, 2012 at 14:17

Henrik

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4 Comments

Dennis G Over a year ago

are you sure you wanted to post here? this question was about running Powershell in 64bit instead of 32bit - how do you get to output redirection from there?

Henrik Over a year ago

Because one would have the problem of the question if one is trying to create a CI environment. In a CI environment we need to be able to get the output from PS as a part of the build. Hence we need the fix of this thread as well as output redirection.

Dennis G Over a year ago

Very good. That's true about CI. Still I think it is somewhat unrelated to this question and people most likely won't find your answer ;-)

Henrik Over a year ago

That is fine, I just wanted to add it because it's why I came to this question myself.

Roman Koshelev · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-31 14:09:08Z

1

add cmd-file (e.g. run-script.cmd) with this content:

    @echo off
    set pspath=%windir%\Sysnative\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
    if not exist %pspath%\powershell.exe set pspath=%windir%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
    %pspath%\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned %*

and call it from build event in a such manner:

    $(SolutionDir)scripts\run-script.cmd $(SolutionDir)scripts\restore-default-file.ps1 -source $(ProjectDir)App_Data\Configs\Mip.Security.Sample.config -destination $(ProjectDir)App_Data\Configs\Mip.Security.config

edited Mar 31, 2015 at 14:09

answered Mar 31, 2015 at 11:12

Roman Koshelev

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