Can't find syntax error in double quoted powershell command

Question

powershell "Start-Process -FilePath 'c:\PSexec.exe' -ArgumentList "-s -i -d -u .\USERNAME -p PASSWORD \\192.168.1.1 cmd /C "O: && cd O:\SOMEDIR && perl run.pl --socket 192.168.0.1:7890 & pause"" -Wait -Passthru -WindowStyle Hidden"

Launches a remote psexec process and uses powershell wrapper to wait for the process to finish.

It all works except when I add the powershell wrapper I can't seem to figure out how to correctly escape the internal double quotes.

The string is missing the terminator: '.
    + CategoryInfo          : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : TerminatorExpectedAtEndOfString

'pause'`" -Wait -Passthru -WindowStyle Hidden"' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

What I've Tried:

I don't want to encode it into base64 using -EncodedString because the command will be called with some parts substituted potentially 1000s of times. Also this is being called from a perl script and don't want to have a powershell file that has to be checked for every time the perl script runs. (i.e. I would prefer to have to powershell command contained within the perl script)

From How to escape powershell double quotes from a bat file? it suggests replacing double quotes with quadruple quotes. However when I do that I get

powershell "Start-Process -FilePath 'c:\PSexec.exe' -ArgumentList ""-s -i -d -u .\USERNAME -p PASSWORD \\192.168.1.1 cmd /C ""O: && cd O:\SOMEDIR && perl run.pl --socket 192.168.0.1:7890 & pause"""" -Wait -Passthru -WindowStyle Hidden"

At line:1 char:1
+ Start-Process -FilePath 'c:\PSexec.exe' -ArgumentList -EncodedCommand ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (:) [Start-Process], ParameterBindingException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PositionalParameterNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StartProcessCommand

` escaping doesn't work because you need to escape the " from the command prompt so that it can be passed to powershell.

As a wrapper so that the command called by psexec blocks until completion — TheAschr
– TheAschr, Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 21:04
Perhaps you're asking a lot of XY Problem without realizing it? — Hovercraft Full Of Eels
– Hovercraft Full Of Eels, Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 23:14
@TheAschr, that wouldn't happen if you weren't trying to abuse PowerShell from within some other programming environment. It's not a loop-hole or short-cut out of your environment. Either write your scripts in PowerShell or use Perl or something else. — jwdonahue
– jwdonahue, Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 23:14

jwdonahue · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-19 23:10:39Z

2

Drop the PowerShell call, it's not needed. Drop the -d option from the psexec invocation and it will wait for whatever process that it launched to complete. Read the psexec docs. From the docs we have:

-d Don't wait for process to terminate (non-interactive).

edited Jan 19, 2018 at 23:10

answered Jan 19, 2018 at 23:07

jwdonahue

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3 Comments

TheAschr Over a year ago

The -d is being passed. It still exits prematurely. From above: 'c:\PSexec.exe' -ArgumentList "-s -i -d -u

TheAschr Over a year ago

Worked perfectly. Thank you.

jwdonahue Over a year ago

You're welcome! Please take the time to edit your original question so that folks who actually need assistance with PowerShell quotes/escapes won't waste their time rolling in here.

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