Powershell script Cannot bind argument to parameter 'String' because it is null

Question

I am switching user in powershell script

# password is secret variable from azure devops pipeline 
$username = 'user2'
$password = convertto-securestring $env:password -AsPlainText -Force

Note: it work for normal string and it wont work for secure variable string

I am getting below error:

ConvertTo-SecureString : Cannot bind argument to parameter 'String' because it is null.
At D:\azdo\_work\_temp\cb1ff41e-8df7-48b7-bc48-f23f47d47b8a.ps1:9 char:36
+ $password = convertto-securestring $env:password -AsPlainText ...
+                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [ConvertTo-SecureString], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ConvertToSe 
   cureStringCommand

There is actually no environment variable named ansible_password in your context and then, it's evaluated as $null — Cid
– Cid, Commented Jan 25, 2023 at 6:20
@Cid, update variable in error, but it is failing for secure variable and normal string it is working — GoneCase123
– GoneCase123, Commented Jan 25, 2023 at 6:23
What happens if you explicitly set the environment password: $env:password = 'MyPassword'? — iRon
– iRon, Commented Jan 25, 2023 at 6:54
@sagar same comment applies with the corrected name : there is no env variable named password, that's why it's null — Cid
– Cid, Commented Jan 25, 2023 at 7:11

Chris · Accepted Answer · 2023-01-25 08:28:50Z

1

In Azure DevOps YAML pipelines you need to explicitly map the secret variables to make them available in scripts (this is documented here):

- powershell: |
    Write-Host "Using the mapped env var for this task works and is recommended: $env:MY_MAPPED_ENV_VAR"
  env:
    MY_MAPPED_ENV_VAR: $(mySecret) # the recommended way to map to an env variable

answered Jan 25, 2023 at 8:28

Chris

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