Powershell Megathread: Verb-Noun Scripting is the future

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Cavern of COBOL > Powershell Megathread: Verb-Noun Scripting is the future

Clanpot Shake: Aug 10, 2006; shake shake!

I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask, but I've got a question for people who know Windows scripting. We have an AD setup where about half of the users are missing a piece of required software. Rather than installing this one by one, we want to run a logon script to install and configure it using elevated privileges. We're a newly setup department so we don't have SCCM or similar to push out software yet, so this will be a one-time thing.

I started looking into this and found we could use VBScript to run commands, but I haven't been able to get it to do what I want. I've got the logic right, I'm just struggling with how VBScript handles certain things. In particular, I can't seem to get it to call the installer .exe file, but I also can't see any errors because it's running quiet.

Is this the right approach, or is there a better/easier alternative for installing software than VBScript? Are there any resources/examples of doing this?

# ¿ Sep 1, 2011 19:04

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# ¿ May 6, 2024 15:49

Clanpot Shake: Aug 10, 2006; shake shake!

I'm writing a pre-commit git hook in powershell that checks the syntax of Ruby files. The command I'd like to run is:

code:

  ($file is loop variable)
$erb = "C:\opscode\chef\embedded\bin\erb.bat -P -x -T '-'"
$ruby_exe = "C:\opscode\chef\embedded\bin\ruby.exe"
& $erb $file | $ruby_exe -c

I get this error:

quote:

The term 'C:\opscode\chef\embedded\bin\erb.bat -P -x -T '-' <file path> | C:\opscode\chef\embedded\bin\ruby.exe -c' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.

I'm clearly not doing this right. How do I run a command and pipe the output to another command?

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 17:51

Clanpot Shake: Aug 10, 2006; shake shake!

SniperWoreConverse posted:

Try dropping the quotes, that way your variables will be the files you want instead of a string that happens to be the path to the file. (I think, dunno about the -P -x -T stuff)

e:
code:
Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) 2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

PS C:\> .\b.bat

C:\>echo butts
butts
PS C:\> C:\b.bat

C:\>echo butts
butts
PS C:\> $b = ".\b.bat"
PS C:\> $b
.\b.bat
PS C:\> $b = .\b.bat
PS C:\> $b

C:\>echo butts
butts

$erb = C:\opscode\chef\embedded\bin\erb.bat -P -x

C:\chef-repo>powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -File .git\hooks\pre-commit-hook.ps1
You must provide a value expression on the right-hand side of the '-' operator.
At C:\chef-repo\.git\hooks\pre-commit-hook.ps1:58 char:48
+ $errors = & $erb $file | $php_bin - <<<< c $file
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (

[], ParentContainsErrorRecordEx
ception
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ExpectedValueExpression

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 19:44

Clanpot Shake: Aug 10, 2006; shake shake!

I changed it to

code:

$errors = & C:\opscode\chef\embedded\bin\erb.bat -P -x $file | C:\opscode\chef\embedded\bin\ruby.exe -c

and it works. I don't fully understand it, but playing around with it told me it wasn't necessarily the -c it had a problem with.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 21:41

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