PowerShell - Passing a variable to an Invioke-Command

Question

For some reason when I try to use the $scanpath variable after the Get-ChildItem in the below code, it doesnt work. But if I put the actual path in place of $scanpath, it works. What am I doing wrong? Both the $computer and $savepath variables work fine.

$computer = 'Server'
$scanpath = 'P$\Directory\Directory\Z'
$savepath = 'C:\Z-Media.csv'
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $computer -scriptblock {Get-ChildItem $scanpath -recurse -include *.mp3,*.wma,*.wmv,*.mov,*.mpg,*.ogg,*.jpg -force | select FullName, Length | Sort-Object { [long]$_.Length } -descending} | Export-Csv $savepath -NoTypeInformation

What do you mean by "it doesnt work"? Do you get an error message in PowerShell, can you share what that message is? — MatthewG
– MatthewG, Commented Feb 6, 2015 at 20:21

briantist · Accepted Answer · 2015-02-06 20:22:25Z

3

$scanpath is not in the same scope as the script block. You have 2 ways to fix this:

PowerShell 3+ - The `Using` Scope Modifier

Invoke-Command -ComputerName $computer -scriptblock {Get-ChildItem $Using:scanpath -recurse}

See about_Scopes for more information.

Using is a special scope modifier that identifies a local variable in a remote command. By default, variables in remote commands are assumed to be defined in the remote session.

Any Version - Parameters

Invoke-Command -ComputerName $computer -scriptblock {param($thisPath) Get-ChildItem $thisPath -recurse} -ArgumentList $scanpath

You can give a script block parameters, just like a function. Invoke-Command takes an -ArgumentList parameter which passes the values into the scriptblock's parameters.

answered Feb 6, 2015 at 20:22

briantist

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1 Comment

shank Over a year ago

$Using:scanpath is what I needed. Thank you!

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PowerShell 3+ - The `Using` Scope Modifier