Use powershell variable to execute a program at the filepath in the variable

Question

I want to store an absolute file path in a power shell variable and use it to execute a program with arguments. I want to do this on a build server so I can have a utility on that build server used by build agents. Consider this:

$pathToExe = "C:\path\to\program.exe"

#build server does stuff in a working dir

$pathToExe arg1 arg2

When this runs, $pathToExe does not expand to its value. Instead, I see in the logs: "Unexpected token 'arg1' in expression or statement."

What's the proper way to do this kind of thing in power shell? I've tried other syntax with quotes but I can't get it to work without hardcoding the file path, which is what I'm trying to avoid.

Here is an example of one I use currently. I hardcoded my arguments but variables can be used. Start-Process -FilePath ($Firefox + "Firefox_62.exe") -ArgumentList ("-ms /INI=$Firefox" + "Firefox_Settings.ini") -Verbose -Wait -NoNewWindow — Clayton Lewis
– Clayton Lewis, Commented Oct 10, 2018 at 13:24

Paweł Dyl · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-10 13:57:50Z

4

You should use call operator &. See examples below:

$executable = 'notepad.exe'
$argument = 'E:\Temp\Test.xml'

& $executable $argument
& $executable 'E:\Temp\Test.xml'

See Get-Help about_Operators or this MSDN link.

edited Oct 10, 2018 at 13:57

answered Oct 10, 2018 at 13:38

Paweł Dyl

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3 Comments

Clayton Lewis Over a year ago

I did not know about this method. I like it. ss64.com/ps/call.html for further information. Thanks @Pawel Dyl

lit Over a year ago

The call operator is also called the invocation operator.

Sly_Boots Over a year ago

Thank you! This worked perfectly when I had $executable = "C:\path\program.exe".

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