Pass variable from PHP to Powershell script

Question

I am trying to pass a variable from PHP to a powershell script.

My PHP code is :

shell_exec("powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NoProfile -InputFormat none -file test.ps1 '$txt' < NUL ");

And I am trying to capture it in powershell using :

param (
  [string]$txt
)

Add-Content "test.txt" $txt

The $txt is a string variable as I can write it in a txt file from PHP. I do not know exactly where I am wrong as the powershell is executed.

The text.txt is created, but empty. No $txt variable value is parsed. — DanielB
– DanielB, Commented Jan 21, 2022 at 13:04
According to the docs the -InputFormat parameter supports 'Text' or 'XML'. You give it 'none'. Try changing that to Text. And shouldn't < NUL be > $null ?? — Theo
– Theo, Commented Jan 21, 2022 at 15:05
@mklement0 Sorry, I did not get the chance to check your solution until now. Many thanks, it did fix my problem. — DanielB
– DanielB, Commented Jan 23, 2022 at 13:29

mklement0 · Accepted Answer · 2022-01-21 19:04:49Z

1

Use the following:

shell_exec("powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -NoProfile -file test.ps1 \"$txt\"");

^{Note: If the value of $txt had embedded " chars., they'd need to be escaped.}

The PowerShell CLI doesn't recognize '...' quoting when passing arguments to a script file executed via -File; use "...".
- Your attempt with '$txt' shouldn't have resulted in an empty file, but it would have included the ' chars. as part of the argument; if $txt happens to contain spaces, each space-separated word would have become a separate argument, with the first starting with ' and the last ending in '
Since you're not providing input via stdin, there is no need for -inputFormat and < NUL

answered Jan 21, 2022 at 19:04

mklement0

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