Windows – How to run copy-item (as admin) inside a non-elevated powershell

powershellwindowswindows 10

so I have a ps1 script which I'm running inside a non-elevated powershell windows.

But I want to modify my script so I can run copy-item and this needs to write to one of the folders inside c:\windows.

I've looked at copy-item and there's a parameter called "credential" but I do not know the admin password for my setup.

I'm hoping something like Debian's "sudo cp -a myfilehere.txt /etc/" would be possible.

Best Answer

To Copy-Item as Administrator you should start a PowerShell as Administrator like:

Start-Process PowerShell.exe -ArgumentList "copy source-dir/file.txt dest-dir/" -Wait -Verb RunAs

In my use-case, I wait end of copy, but it not mandatory. The drawback of this solution is that -NoNewWindow is not available then.

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Windows – Powershell Start-Process -Credential

The -credential parameter is used like this:

-credential "ComputerNameOrIP\admin"

Examples:

-credential "192.168.1.1\admin\"

-credential "SomeComputerName\SomeUsername"

In the case of domain accounts, just use the domain name instead of computer name and it works just the same.

If you use this correctly, when started, it will spawn a logon screen where you just have to type the password and click OK.

You can store the password in an external file and then use it in the script.

 read-host -assecurestring | convertfrom-securestring | out-file C:\pass.txt

$password = get-content C:\pass.txt | convertto-securestring

$credentials = new-object -typename System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist "UserName",$password

Best Answer

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