Running a Powershell script from c#

Question

I'm trying to run a PowerShell script from C# code, but I'm having some (maybe environmental) issues:

On a machine where I try to run it, the following occur:

1. PowerShell starts and loads as Admin
2. PowerShell window immediately closes (apparently) without error

Notes:

• The script works. When I run it from ISE, it runs without errors.
• If I right click the script and choose Run with PowerShell, I get a Execution Policy error even though I don't change it in the script.

---

Set-ExecutionPolicy : Windows PowerShell updated your execution policy successfully, but the setting is overridden by a policy defined at a more specific scope. Due to the override, your shell will retain its current effective execution policy of RemoteSigned. Type "Get-ExecutionPolicy -List" to view your execution policy settings. For more information please see "Get-Help Set-ExecutionPolicy". At line:1 char:46 + if((Get-ExecutionPolicy ) -ne 'AllSigned') { Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : PermissionDenied: (:) [Set-ExecutionPolicy], SecurityException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ExecutionPolicyOverride,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.SetExecutionPolicyCommand

• Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

       Scope                ExecutionPolicy
       -----                ---------------
   MachinePolicy              Unrestricted
      UserPolicy                 Undefined
         Process                    Bypass
     CurrentUser              Unrestricted
    LocalMachine              Unrestricted
  

• I believe that this is environmental because:

  • It ran fine a few days ago
  • It runs fine on other computers

This is the code I use to invoke the script:

if (File.Exists("Start.ps1"))
{
    string strCmdText = Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "Start.ps1");

    var process = System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(@"C:\windows\system32\windowspowershell\v1.0\powershell.exe ", strCmdText);
    process.WaitForExit();
}

The script itself is irrelevant, as I have changed it to a simple

Write-Host "Hello"
$d=Read-Host

and I have the same issue.

Answer 1

The problem was in the path of the script. It had spaces on this particular machine and I had not handled that.

The window closed too fast to see any error but setting

process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;

helped me catch it.

The execution policy had nothing to do with my error.

To fix it I changed the path in the c# code like explained here: Executing a Powershell script in CMD.EXE from a location with "Illegal characters in path"

Complete code:

if (File.Exists("Start.ps1"))
            {
                File.GetAttributes("Start.ps1");
                string strCmdText =   Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "Start.ps1");
                var process = new Process();
                process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
                process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
                process.StartInfo.FileName = @"C:\windows\system32\windowspowershell\v1.0\powershell.exe";
                process.StartInfo.Arguments = "\"&'"+strCmdText+"'\"";

                process.Start();
                string s = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
                process.WaitForExit();

                using (StreamWriter outfile = new StreamWriter("StandardOutput.txt", true))
                {
                    outfile.Write(s);
                }

            }