This is really basic, but I can't find the answer. The installer sets up my path so that I can just type the command:
ng serve
at the command prompt and the script runs. I don't want to wait for this program to finish (it's a server, after all). How do I launch the same script (it's a CMD script as far as I can tell) from Powershell without waiting for it to finish (and without having to find the source directory for the script)?
If it's acceptable to terminate the server when the PowerShell session exits, use a background job:
In PowerShell (Core) 7+
ng server &
In Windows PowerShell, explicit use of Start-Job is required:
Start-Job { ng server }
Both commands return a job-information object, which you can either save in a variable ($jb = ...) or discard ($null = ...)
If the server process produces output you'd like to monitor, you can use the Receive-Job cmdlet.
See the conceptual about_Jobs topic for more information.
If the server must continue to run even after the launching PowerShell session exits, use the Start-Process cmdlet, which on Windows launches an independent process in a new console window (by default); use the -WindowStyle parameter to control the visibility / state of that window:
Start-Process ng server # short for: Start-Process -FilePath ng -ArgumentList server
Note: On Unix-like platforms, where Start-Process doesn't support creating independent new terminal windows, you must additionally use nohup - see this answer.
Start-Process with -NoNewWindow option create process (external GUI program) that will be terminated after PowerShell session exists. In order to run GUI program even after PowerShell session exists and without additional console window, Start-Process -WindowStyle Hidden worked. E.g. Start-Process -WindowStyle Hidden winmergeu.exe "/s /t text ""${file1}"" ""${file2}"""
-NoNewWindow has no effect on GUI-subystem applications, and the application always lives on after the launching PowerShell session exits.Similarly, the use of -WindowStyle has no impact on the lifetime of the launched process (but -WindowStyle Hidden hides the process' window, both for console-subsystem and GUI subsystem applications). .Only if the launched process is a console-subsystem application and you use -NoNewWindow does closing the calling window terminate the launched process too.