PowerShell "=" not a recognised cmdlet error

Question

Further to the response given here: PowerShell Enter Session find path bug, I've hit another wall in my script that I can't work around. The below script returns the error:

The term '=' 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.

$sb = [ScriptBlock]::Create(@"
$Acl = (Get-Item -path D:\Websites\$Sitename).GetAccessControl('Access')
$Ar = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule('BUILTIN\IIS_IUSRS', 'Modify', 'ContainerInherit,ObjectInherit', 'None', 'Allow')
$Acl.SetAccessRule($Ar)
Set-Acl -path $Path -AclObject $Acl
"@)

Invoke-Command -Session $Session -ScriptBlock $sb

I can create the script block variable ($sb), but when I invoke it, I get the error. I have narrowed it down to the setting of the $Acl variable, and tried rewriting various ways with no luck. What am I missing?

Change @""@ to @''@ (single-quoted here strings rather than double-quoted) — Mathias R. Jessen
– Mathias R. Jessen, Commented Sep 5, 2017 at 13:56
That won't work as the $sitename variable is being passed into the script block, so needs to be expanded? I need the $acl, $ar $acl and $path variables to be handled as variables, but have the $sitename variable expanded — Karl
– Karl, Commented Sep 5, 2017 at 14:03

Mathias R. Jessen · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-05 14:07:26Z

2

When you use a double-quoted here-string, it behaves just like a regular double-quoted string - the parser will evaluate and expand any variable or sub-expression between the quotation marks.

Since the variables in the scriptblock definition doesn't already exist in the defining context, you end up with a scriptblock with the following definition:

 = (Get-Item -path D:\Websites\).GetAccessControl('Access')
 = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule('BUILTIN\IIS_IUSRS', 'Modify', 'ContainerInherit,ObjectInherit', 'None', 'Allow')
.SetAccessRule()
Set-Acl -path  -AclObject

As you can see, the first two statements start out with just a bare = as the first non-whitespace character, and this is the reason for the error you're seeing.

Switch to a single-quoted here-string instead:

$sb = [ScriptBlock]::Create(@'
$Acl = (Get-Item -path D:\Websites\$Sitename).GetAccessControl('Access')
$Ar = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule('BUILTIN\IIS_IUSRS', 'Modify', 'ContainerInherit,ObjectInherit', 'None', 'Allow')
$Acl.SetAccessRule($Ar)
Set-Acl -path $Path -AclObject $Acl
'@)

If you need to pass in a variable value from the defining scope, I'd suggest either defining a param block in the scriptblock:

$sb = [ScriptBlock]::Create(@'
param($Sitename)
$Acl = (Get-Item -path D:\Websites\$Sitename).GetAccessControl('Access')
$Ar = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule('BUILTIN\IIS_IUSRS', 'Modify', 'ContainerInherit,ObjectInherit', 'None', 'Allow')
$Acl.SetAccessRule($Ar)
Set-Acl -path $Path -AclObject $Acl
'@)
 Invoke-Command -Session $Session -ScriptBlock $sb -ArgumentList $Sitename

or use the -f string format operator to replace it in the string before creating the scriptblock:

$sb = [ScriptBlock]::Create(@'
$Acl = (Get-Item -path D:\Websites\{0}).GetAccessControl('Access')
$Ar = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule('BUILTIN\IIS_IUSRS', 'Modify', 'ContainerInherit,ObjectInherit', 'None', 'Allow')
$Acl.SetAccessRule($Ar)
Set-Acl -path $Path -AclObject $Acl
'@ -f $Sitename)

See the about_Quoting_Rules help topic for more information about quoting and variable expansion

edited Sep 5, 2017 at 14:07

answered Sep 5, 2017 at 14:01

Mathias R. Jessen

178k13 gold badges175 silver badges234 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Karl Over a year ago

That's worked perfectly, thank you very much. i wasn't aware of the -f switch

Maximilian Burszley Over a year ago

@Karl It's referred to as the format operator in case you google it in the future.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

PowerShell "=" not a recognised cmdlet error

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related