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Well, Mike F. reminded me to write this article on 5/29 and I am FINALLY getting around to doing it. Also wanted to give a shout out to Max T. who provided some inspiration on this one as well. For the code, I borrow very heavily from the article written by Jean-Paul Mikkers found at:
https://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/HowToRunPowerShell.aspx
NOTE: There is an async version of his code that he does as a follow up. I don't use it because I want to remove extra code noise to focus on the act of calling the script itself. If you want to take a stab at the async version (and there are LOTS of good reasons to do so) then you can go here:
https://www.codeproject.com/KB/threads/AsyncPowerShell.aspx
So, on to the goodness!
First, you need to make sure you have Visual Studio (any version) installed and have PowerShell installed. You can get PowerShell from here:
https://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/management/powershell/default.mspx
You will also need to do this (WARNING: MAJOR SECURITY ISSUE HERE AND THIS IS JUST FOR TESTING SO DON'T DO THIS ON PRODUCTION MACHINES):
https://www.cubiczone.com/Articles/tabid/65/EntryID/17/Default.aspx
1. Now, let's crank out a simple PoweShell script that we are interested in calling. We will call a simple script that takes a couple of numbers and returns the sum of those numbers. This may seem overly simplistic but it is an easy way to demonstrate a complete round-trip between our app and the script without getting bogged down in extra BS that comes with a fancier script. I'll call the script AddItUp.ps1 and it is included in the source code download, just put it anywhere you can get to easily. Feel free to dig into the guts of it later on but for now just assume it does what we need it to do.
Here is the code for the script if you just want to make your own real quick:
# begin
function AddStuff($x,$y)
{
$x + $y
}
AddStuff 6 5
# end
NOTE: Some inspiration and just a cool site for scripts came from https://www.powershellpro.com just as an fyi
2. Test the script by opening PowerShell and navigating to the directory where it is and typing what you see in the graphic, you should get the expected result.
3. Okay! We have a script that works but now what? Well we have to call that puppy from our code so let's create a project and get ready to make our magic happen. Crank out a new Windows App for us to use. Call the Project CallMeCS or CallMeVB depending on your language.
4. For the interface, just gimme a button and a label. Resize the form a bit so we don't have wasted space. Real simple stuff...
5. Double-click on the button to go into our code.
C#:
VB:
6. Now we need to add an assembly that is one of a set we got with our install of PowerShell. You can find these assemblies at C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
7. Right-click on your project and choose Add Reference...
8. Select the Browse Tab and locate these assemblies then add a reference to the System.Management.Automation.dll
NOTE: If you want to dig deeper into the contents of this namespace, you can check it out here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.management.automation(VS.85).aspx
9. Now that we have our reference we need to add some using/imports statements to make getting to the classes we want to use easier. Make sure to put these at the top of your code page outside any other code.
C#:
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.Management.Automation;
using System.Management.Automation.Runspaces;
using System.IO;
VB:
Imports System.Collections.ObjectModel
Imports System.Management.Automation
Imports System.Management.Automation.Runspaces
Imports System.Text
Imports System.IO
10. Okay, this next part is a little funkier. While I liked the code that Mikkers had, I wanted to be able to load up a file from my file system and use it instead of just putting code into a textbox. That created some VERY interesting new challenges but the end result worked out well. So, to that end, we will create two helper methods: RunScript and LoadScript. RunScript is the code essentially unchanged from Mikkers' article and LoadScript is my helper function that will load the contents of a script file and return a string.
11. Let's begin with the RunScript method. We will add this method to the Form1 class to make our life easier.
C#:
private string RunScript(string scriptText)
{
// create Powershell runspace
Runspace runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace();
// open it
runspace.Open();
// create a pipeline and feed it the script text
Pipeline pipeline = runspace.CreatePipeline();
pipeline.Commands.AddScript(scriptText);
// add an extra command to transform the script output objects into nicely formatted strings
// remove this line to get the actual objects that the script returns. For example, the script
// "Get-Process" returns a collection of System.Diagnostics.Process instances.
pipeline.Commands.Add("Out-String");
// execute the script
Collection<PSObject> results = pipeline.Invoke();
// close the runspace
runspace.Close();
// convert the script result into a single string
StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
foreach (PSObject obj in results)
{
stringBuilder.AppendLine(obj.ToString());
}
// return the results of the script that has
// now been converted to text
return stringBuilder.ToString();
}
VB:
' Takes script text as input and runs it, then converts
' the results to a string to return to the user
Private Function RunScript(ByVal scriptText As String) As String
' create Powershell runspace
Dim MyRunSpace As Runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace()
' open it
MyRunSpace.Open()
' create a pipeline and feed it the script text
Dim MyPipeline As Pipeline = MyRunSpace.CreatePipeline()
MyPipeline.Commands.AddScript(scriptText)
' add an extra command to transform the script output objects into nicely formatted strings
' remove this line to get the actual objects that the script returns. For example, the script
' "Get-Process" returns a collection of System.Diagnostics.Process instances.
MyPipeline.Commands.Add("Out-String")
' execute the script
Dim results As Collection(Of PSObject) = MyPipeline.Invoke()
' close the runspace
MyRunSpace.Close()
' convert the script result into a single string
Dim MyStringBuilder As New StringBuilder()
For Each obj As PSObject In results
MyStringBuilder.AppendLine(obj.ToString())
Next
' return the results of the script that has
' now been converted to text
Return MyStringBuilder.ToString()
End Function
12. Now we want to add in our LoadScript method to make getting the script into a variable easier.
C#:
// helper method that takes your script path, loads up the script
// into a variable, and passes the variable to the RunScript method
// that will then execute the contents
private string LoadScript(string filename)
{
try
{
// Create an instance of StreamReader to read from our file.
// The using statement also closes the StreamReader.
using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(filename))
{
// use a string builder to get all our lines from the file
StringBuilder fileContents = new StringBuilder();
// string to hold the current line
string curLine;
// loop through our file and read each line into our
// stringbuilder as we go along
while ((curLine = sr.ReadLine()) != null)
{
// read each line and MAKE SURE YOU ADD BACK THE
// LINEFEED THAT IT THE ReadLine() METHOD STRIPS OFF
fileContents.Append(curLine + "\n");
}
// call RunScript and pass in our file contents
// converted to a string
return fileContents.ToString();
}
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// Let the user know what went wrong.
string errorText = "The file could not be read:";
errorText += e.Message + "\n";
return errorText;
}
}
VB:
' helper method that takes your script path, loads up the script
' into a variable, and passes the variable to the RunScript method
' that will then execute the contents
Private Function LoadScript(ByVal filename As String) As String
Try
' Create an instance of StreamReader to read from our file.
' The using statement also closes the StreamReader.
Dim sr As New StreamReader(filename)
' use a string builder to get all our lines from the file
Dim fileContents As New StringBuilder()
' string to hold the current line
Dim curLine As String = ""
' loop through our file and read each line into our
' stringbuilder as we go along
Do
' read each line and MAKE SURE YOU ADD BACK THE
' LINEFEED THAT IT THE ReadLine() METHOD STRIPS OFF
curLine = sr.ReadLine()
fileContents.Append(curLine + vbCrLf)
Loop Until curLine Is Nothing
' close our reader now that we are done
sr.Close()
' call RunScript and pass in our file contents
' converted to a string
Return fileContents.ToString()
Catch e As Exception
' Let the user know what went wrong.
Dim errorText As String = "The file could not be read:"
errorText += e.Message + "\n"
Return errorText
End Try
End Function
13. Finally, we just need to add some code for our button's click event.
C#:
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// run our script and put the result into our textbox
// NOTE: make sure to change the path to the correct location of your script
textBox1.Text = RunScript(LoadScript(@"c:\users\zainnab\AddItUp.ps1"));
}
VB:
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
'run our script and put the result into our textbox
'NOTE: make sure to change the path to the correct location of your script
TextBox1.Text = RunScript(LoadScript("c:\users\zainnab\AddItUp.ps1"))
End Sub
14. That's it!! You should be able to run your code and you should get this:
Don't sweat it if you think this is a lot to type. I have included the source code for you to use. Enjoy!
Anonymous
July 27, 2008
Webcasts Page MSDN and TechNet Search Pages MSDN Webcast Page: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/events/aa740361.aspxAnonymous
July 27, 2008
Hey Now Zain, Nice post, Max sure loves his Powershell. Way to put it together. Also I've been in SL & attended a session on Microsoft island. As always, Thx 4 the info, CattoAnonymous
July 27, 2008
Great content!! Its good to see different techniques from other people. Thanks for the info and keep the good work, Max TrinidadAnonymous
May 14, 2009
wanted to know how to handle if you want to pass in the numbers as parms?Anonymous
May 14, 2009
The comment has been removedAnonymous
December 10, 2009
zainnab, I also have a requirement to pass some params ... I am trying your solution of concat the params, but not sure how I pass them to the methods you have created ... Am i missing something? The LoadScript method only accepts filename as a param, so how would passing fileName param param be evaulated by the StreamReader in the LoadScript Method?Anonymous
April 29, 2010
Wow, this is what I've been looking for. Thanks! Yes, I'm interested in how to pass params too.Anonymous
September 28, 2010
Quick question for anybody dropping by. If I install powershell on my machine, create a script and program similar to the one above. Will it be able to run on a Windows machine without powershell? I have a tool that I develop in VB.NET and would like to use powershell scripts to assist me, but I can't gaurantee that all the machines that use my tool will have powershell installed and I don't really want to require it for running the tool. ThanksAnonymous
September 28, 2010
The comment has been removedAnonymous
August 22, 2011
The comment has been removedAnonymous
March 27, 2012
Please remember the System.IO.File.ReadAllText function which would make your LoadScript function, well ... unnecessary. Also, "return errorText;" definitely looks like the wrong way to go. In fact, you shouldn't swallow the exception at all. If the exception happens, the program should end, and the user should see the exception test so that they will know what went wrong. Don't catch, just use ReadAllText.Anonymous
November 15, 2012
Hi all, While I an using this code I got worked in small commands like addition, etc. But i worked with IIS command it failed working. I give you the sample code below: $pathname="iis:Sitesdemoproject" $protocol="http" $port=":8080" $ppath="C:inetpubwwwroot" New-Item $pathname -bindings (@{protocol=$protocol;bindingInformation=$port}) -physicalPath $ppath Will it work with the above code? Felix AntonyAnonymous
March 09, 2013
Thanks! I've written quite a few programs from this.Anonymous
August 20, 2013
The comment has been removedAnonymous
September 16, 2013
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April 29, 2014
The comment has been removedAnonymous
May 01, 2014
If you have parameters that you want to pass to your script, why not just REPLACE the variable in your script file with the VB/C variable when building the script string?Anonymous
July 09, 2014
does any one know how I can do this exact same thing but instead do with exchange 2014Anonymous
March 02, 2015
hey here an example in C# - Powershell with parameters. i just added the Parameters as variable in the Function LoadScript private string LoadScript(string filename) { try { using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(filename)) { StringBuilder fileContents = new StringBuilder(); fileContents.Append("$server = '" + servername + "'n"); // write on top of the Powershel script -> $server= "servername" fileContents.Append("$userName = '" + user + "'n"); string curLine; while ((curLine = sr.ReadLine()) != null) { fileContents.Append(curLine + "n"); } return fileContents.ToString(); } } catch (Exception e) { string errorText = "The file could not be read:"; errorText += e.Message + "n"; return errorText; } } btw tyvm for this post :DAnonymous
May 13, 2015
HI Everybody, I want a automation code to be implemented in the master page, automation is to cancel/reject the request after 22 days and send a mail to the the user using SMTP? Is there a code all in one which can be implemented clean? Thank you in anticipationAnonymous
May 22, 2015
This code runs Powershell 1.0. Is there a way to run Powershell 4.0?Anonymous
September 29, 2015
Hi, I want to run below powershell code using c#. Can someone help me how to to do it in c#? $bookInPolicy = (Get-CalendarProcessing -Identity abc@test.com).BookInPolicy $bookInPolicy += "xyz@test.com" Set-CalendarProcessing -Identity abc@test.com -BookInPolicy $bookInPolicy Thanks