How to start cmd from within powershell and pass a command to the cmd instance?

Question

I am trying to create an instance of a windows cmd terminal from powershell every minute for a maximum of 8 times and get each cmd instance to run a nodejs script from there.

Here is my code so far:

For ($i=0; $i -le 8; $i++) {
    start cmd.exe /k node index.js
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 60
    }

but I keep on getting errors:

Start-Process : A positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument 'node'.
At C:\Users\user\Documents\x\x\build\src\start.ps1:2 char:5
+     start cmd.exe /k node index.js
+     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Start-Process], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StartProcessCommand

I have already looked at this answer posted on SuperUser, however, it is not clear to me what I am doing wrong.

The second answer on this stack overflow thread seems to be doing exactly what I am trying to do, but I keep getting the above error.

start is an alias in PowerShell for Start-Process. Have you reviewed the information from help Start-Process -Full? What version of PowerShell are you using? $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.ToString() — lit
– lit, Commented Apr 9, 2021 at 23:07
@AbrahamZinala Unfortunately that doesnt work, because it does not create a new instance of cmd in a new window like it would if it had the start before it — knowledge_seeker
– knowledge_seeker, Commented Apr 9, 2021 at 23:15
See especially help Start-Process -Full Example 7 in PowerShell 7.1.2. — lit
– lit, Commented Apr 9, 2021 at 23:15
Similar to Abrahams comment, I would probably try replacing start cmd.exe /k node index.js with & cmd /D /K "node index.js" — Compo
– Compo, Commented Apr 10, 2021 at 0:59

Mathias R. Jessen · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-10 11:52:06Z

2

Start is an alias for the Start-Process cmdlet as mentioned by @lit

Any arguments have to passed on with the -ArgumentList parameter.

start "cmd.exe"  -ArgumentList "/k node index.js"

edited Apr 10, 2021 at 11:52

Mathias R. Jessen

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answered Apr 10, 2021 at 2:29

alexzelaya

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