Exception handling in powershell when it's invoked from batch script

Question

Unfortunately, my host application can't directly execute PowerShell scripts, so I have written a batch script which calls PowerShell script with content

@echo off
echo calling upgrade product with argument %2
if [%1] == [] (
    powershell -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -command "%~dp0Product1.ps1 "ProductConfig.xml" -verbose; exit $LASTEXITCODE"
) else (
cd %1
powershell -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted -command "%1\UpgradeProduct.ps1 %2 -verbose; exit $LASTEXITCODE"
)

And in my powershell script i have code like

$ErrorActionPreference="Stop"
try{
    Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest
}catch{
    Write-Warning "Some Error"
}

This executes fine when i execute the script from the PowerShell window(if $source is not found it will throw a terminating error and prints Some Error). But when executed from batch script if $source is not found Copy-Item throws a non terminating error and continues(Dosen't print Some Error).
How can i make the Copy-Item to throw a terminating error if $Source is not found?

try to use return instead of exit

Loïc MICHEL
– Loïc MICHEL

2018-01-29 12:28:44 +00:00
Commented Jan 29, 2018 at 12:28 — Loïc MICHEL
– Loïc MICHEL, Commented Jan 29, 2018 at 12:28

Manea · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-29 10:37:08Z

1

You have nothing that stop in your catch block. I presume Your Write-Warning is triggered, but code after your block is runned.

You must return something in your catch block, like:

$ErrorActionPreference="Stop"
try{
    Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest
}catch{
    Write-Warning "Some Error"

    #$LASTEXITCODE is a special variable in powershell
    $LASTEXITCODE = 1
    exit $LASTEXITCODE
}

Note $LASTEXITCODE variable, it is a special variable, the equivalent to %errorlevel%, that is used by commands like "cmd calls" by PowerShell.

You can test it by using this command in PowerShell:

cmd.exe /c exit 5
$LASTEXITCODE

I suggest you to first do a check if path exists:

try{
    if(Test-Path $source){
        Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest -ErrorAction Stop
    }else{
        Write-Warning "$source not found."
            $LASTEXITCODE = 1
                exit $LASTEXITCODE
    }
}catch{
    Write-Error "Exception during copy: $($_)"
        $LASTEXITCODE = 1
        exit $LASTEXITCODE
}

Point of interest: ErrorAction is used at Function level. Set it at script level will include this settings for many commands. Exception will be thrown only if copy fail for something else: bad ACL, overwrite etc.

edited Jan 29, 2018 at 10:37

answered Jan 29, 2018 at 10:21

Manea

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4 Comments

Pramod Over a year ago

The Write-Warning itself not triggered. It's just prints the error message and continues. It' won't print Some Error

Pramod Over a year ago

Thanks for the update. I have multiple instructions in the try catch block and I don't want to modify all of them and test again. I have even created a PS profile which defaults $ErrorActionPreference="Stop". I think I will modify all instructions to handle errors separately.

Manea Over a year ago

$ErrorActionPreference="Stop" is not setted in your script? If you load it inside a profile, the problem should be that your profile is not loaded by batch. Try print is value of $ErrorActionPreference before your commands .

Pramod Over a year ago

When I print $ErrorActionPreference before the cmdlet it shows it's set to Stop but still it throws a nonterminating error. When I pass -ErrorAction Stop argument then it behaves as expected. If I just execute the PowerShell script then it works as expected but when I call the script from a batch file it's not throwing terminating errors.

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