Windows PowerShell updated your execution policy successfully, but the setting is overridden by a policy defined at a more specific scope

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:

PowerShell starts and loads as Admin
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.

Have you tried this switches -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted ? — bot_insane
– bot_insane, Commented Jun 15, 2015 at 11:53
Hmm. How about changing the script to a Copy-Item call so you can trace if it actually does something? Sadly, cannot test the C# code, although I can emulate it in Powershell. EDIT: emulated and in case of my PC, Powershell->Powershell did work with a test script, that is, it waited for Read-Host to provide data. — Vesper
– Vesper, Commented Jun 15, 2015 at 13:05
Please post exact code on how do you set execution policy, and whether it's a C# or Powershell code, and how it's called. Probably you might just ignore the error, especially if you're setting the policy to a more restrictive one. — Vesper
– Vesper, Commented Jun 15, 2015 at 13:11

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:14:08Z

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);
                }

            }

mklement0 · Accepted Answer · 2024-08-15 23:07:42Z

Preface:

An alternative, more efficient and flexible way to execute PowerShell code from a .NET executable is to use the PowerShell SDK, which enables in-process execution with full .NET type support - see this answer for an example.

While your own answer provides an effective solution, there is a simpler solution that also works with script-file paths that happen to contain ' characters:

In order to execute a .ps1 file via powershell.exe, the Windows PowerShell CLI (the same applies analogously to pwsh, the PowerShell (Core) 7 CLI), use its
-File parameter:

Enclosure of the script-file path in "..." on the process command line is then sufficient, and all subsequent arguments, if any, are passed literally to the script (which too situationally require "..." enclosure).
In the context of the System.Diagnostics.Process API, this means, as illustrated below:
- If you use the .Arguments property - the only option in .NET Framework - you only need to use embedded "..." if a script-file path or its pass-through arguments contain embedded spaces.
- In .NET (Core / 5+), the preferred approach is to use the .ArgumentList property, to which both the script-file path and its pass-through arguments can be added, one by one, as-is, whether or not these values contain embedded spaces.

// ... 
string strCmdText = Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "Start.ps1");
var process = new Process();
process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false; // implied in .NET (Core / 5+)
// ...
process.StartInfo.FileName = @"C:\windows\system32\windowspowershell\v1.0\powershell.exe";
// Use '-File' with embedded "..." quoting.
process.StartInfo.Arguments = string.Format("-File \"{0}\"", strCmdText);
// In a .NET (Core / 5+) application you can alternatively use:
//   process.StartInfo.ArgumentList.Add("-File");
//   process.StartInfo.ArgumentList.Add(strCmdText);
// ...

Note:

If -File isn't specified, powershell.exe defaults to -Command as the target parameter (whereas pwsh defaults to -File), which, after stripping (unescaped) " from all subsequent arguments, then subjects them to interpretation as PowerShell code - see this answer for background information.
For a comprehensive overview of the PowerShell CLI, in both PowerShell editions, see this answer.

Vesper · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-15 11:58:01Z

-1

As you list the policies, apparently there is a group policy implemented against your computer (even if it's not in the domain, there's still local GP in effect) that changes MachinePolicy which is above all the locally set policies to "RemoteSigned", which is more strong policy than "Unrestricted" in terms of code execution. If your PC is in a domain, you can run "Resultant set of policy (Logging)" as local administrator and get the domain policy that affects your PC. If not, run Local Security Policy from Control Panel/Administrative Tools and navigate "Computer configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows Components - Windows PowerShell" and check the value of policies there ("Enable scenario execution" - roughly translated from localized), and if needed, you can change the value in there. After you do, reload Powershell.

answered Jun 15, 2015 at 11:58

Vesper

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1 Comment

Ioana Nicu Over a year ago

I set the Machine policy hoping that it will fix the issue. That is how I noticed that running the script by rightclicking it does a hidden bypass. Setting it to Unrestricted does not fix it.

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