Windows – Running batch file on remote machine (VM) using PowerShell

batchpowershellremote desktopwindows

Quick question, have searched for awhile but can't find answer anywhere.
Some background:
I have a local machine and remote machine (Virtual Machine) that I am connecting through RDP.

I have a batch file that I run that starts the RDP session through powershell commands and logs in with credentials.
My next step is where I run into problems, I have another batch file on the remote machine that I want to run (also Powershell commands).

When I run this batch file physically through the RDP (by either double clicking or running through command prompt) all is well.

When I trigger the batch file remotely the batch file runs, but not the way I want. It seems like it runs in the background and not actually showing what its doing through the RDP session I have. The reason I don't want this running in silent mode is because I have a script that uninstalls and re installs a program. Since it is not MSI I have to have several "Send Keys" in my code.

So in the end my question is this, can I run a batch file remotely that will act as if I double clicked the batch file on the remote machine??? I believe that there is an option psexec, but I would prefer not to use any more programs than needed.

Best Answer

Have you tried Enter-PSSession?

$s = New-PSSession -ComputerName Server01 -Credential Domain01\User01 
# Enter the session yourself
Enter-PSSession -Session $s

or

Invoke-Command -Session $s -ScriptBlock {
    [SCRIPT GOES HERE]
}

Related Solutions

Windows – Batch file for starting powershell in a specific directory

Close Nate, but that doesn't work when I run it on a "New Folder". Had to move the CD outside the single quotes to make it work.

powershell.exe -noexit -command "cd 'c:\New folder'"
powershell.exe -noexit -command "cd 'c:\self\pooja\edu n career\programs\python'"

Shell – Batch Script using Powershell to download from the web

This method uses the PowerShell version 2 onward compatible and uses System.Net.WebClient class.

Creates an array then adds required URL's to the array. Specify your download location, then for each item in your array, generate a filename which the System.Net.WebClient file parameter requires by using the PowerShell -Split Operator for the string from the last occurrence of the forward slash.

$Urls = @()
$Urls += "https://your/first/download/path/.ext"
$Urls += "https://your/next/download/path/.ext"

$OutPath = "C:\Path\to\download\"

ForEach ( $item in $Urls) {
$file = $OutPath +  ($item).split('/')[-1]
(New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile($item, $file)
}

Alternatively use the Invoke-WebRequest as per @McDonald's comment or the Invoke-WebRequest alias wget which are both available from PowerShell version 3 onwards but may be slower

$Urls = @()
$Urls += "https://your/first/download/path/.ext"
$Urls += "https://your/next/download/path/.ext"

$OutPath = "C:\Path\to\download\"

ForEach ( $item in $Urls) {
$file = $OutPath +  ($item).split('/')[-1]
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $item -Outfile $file
}

Save either script as "C:\Path\to\download_script.ps1"

create and run .bat file with the content

PowerShell -File  "C:\Path\to\download_script.ps1"

or run the .ps1 file from PowerShell

EDIT To accommodate your comment into my answer you can change the array into a multi column array and call the item heading as a . attribute

$Urls = @()
$item = "" | Select path,outpath,name
$item.path = "https://your/first/download/path/.ext"
$item.outpath = "C:\Path\to\download\"
$item.name = "Name1.ext"
$Urls = $Urls + $item

$item = "" | Select path,outpath,name
$item.path = "https://your/next/download/path/.ext"
$item.outpath = "C:\Path\to\download\"
$item.name = "Name2.ext"
$Urls = $Urls + $item

ForEach ( $item in $Urls) {
$file = ($item.outpath) + ($item.name)
(New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile($item.path, $file)
}

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