How do I loop through a CSV file with a batch or PowerShell script?

Question

I have a CSV file with two different columns, one with PC names and one with MAC addresses like this:

PCxxxx 00-11-22-33-44-55
...
...

These values should be placed into the following CLI command:

wdsutil /Set-Device /Device:PCxxxx /ID:00-11-22-33-44-55

Now since there are about 200 of them, I want to automate this.

As a matter of interest, could one do this with batch? It would be quite complicated, right? I thought of arrays, but don't think one can do this in batch.

Maybe with PowerShell it'd be a bit easier.

Will this help - social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverpowershell/… — Angshuman Agarwal
– Angshuman Agarwal, Commented Apr 26, 2012 at 8:43

Joey · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-26 08:53:30Z

12

In a batch file:

for /f "tokens=1,2 delims= " %%a in (foo.csv) do (
    wdsutil /Set-Device /Device:%%a /ID:%%b
)

Actually, you can do that as a one-liner from cmd directly:

for /f "tokens=1,2 delims= " %a in (foo.csv) do wdsutil /Set-Device /Device:%a /ID:%b

In PowerShell you can use a similar idea:

Get-Content foo.csv | ForEach-Object {
  $name,$mac = -split $_
  wdsutil /Set-Device /Device:$name /ID:$mac
}

Or use the CSV import cmdlet, but given your question you don't seem to have column headers, so you need to provide them manually:

Import-CSV -Delim ' ' -Path foo.csv -Header Name,Mac | ForEach-Object {
    wdsutil /Set-Device "/Device:$($_.Name)" "/ID:$($_.Mac)"
}

answered Apr 26, 2012 at 8:53

Joey

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2 Comments

Aacini Over a year ago

The FOR ... delims= " option is not necessary because the space is the default delimiter. You may use just for /f "tokens=1,2" %%a in ...

Joey Over a year ago

Yes, I just chose to be explicit here. Besides, the default delimiters are spaces and tabs.

David Brabant · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-26 08:47:13Z

3

# First column in csv file must be titled PCName, second column must be titled MacAddress.
Import-Csv myfile.csv | %{ wdsutil /Set-Device /Device:$_.PCName /ID:$_.MacAddress }

Warning: not tested.

answered Apr 26, 2012 at 8:47

David Brabant

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1 Comment

Joey Over a year ago

The file doesn't appear to have headers so you'd need to provide them manually. Also the default delimiter wouldn't work.

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