How to start PowerShell script from BAT file with proper Working Directory?

Question

I'm trying to create bat script that can start PowerShell script named the same as bat file in proper working directotry.

This is what I got:

@ECHO OFF
PowerShell.exe -NoProfile -Command "& {Start-Process PowerShell.exe -ArgumentList '-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File ""%~dpn0.ps1""' -WorkingDirectory '%~dp0' -Verb RunAs}"
PAUSE

Passing working directory this way does not work.

How to make script that will pass proper working directroy and also command line arguments?

Solution

The -WorkingDirectory parameter doesn't work when using -Verb RunAs. Instead, you have to set the working directory by calling cd within a -Command string.

This is what I use: (cmd/batch-file command)

powershell -command "   Start-Process PowerShell -Verb RunAs \""-Command `\""cd '%cd%'; & 'PathToPS1File';`\""\""   "

---

If you want to make a "Run script as admin" right-click command in Windows Explorer, create a new registry key at HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell\Run with PowerShell (Admin)\Command, and set its value to the command above -- except replacing %cd% with %W, and PathToPS1File with %1 (if you want it to execute the right-clicked file).

Result: (Windows Explorer context-menu shell command)

powershell -command "   Start-Process PowerShell -Verb RunAs \""-Command `\""cd '%W'; & '%1';`\""\""   "

EDIT: There's an alternative way to have the script be run as admin from Explorer, by using the "runas" sub-key: https://winaero.com/blog/run-as-administrator-context-menu-for-power-shell-ps1-files

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If you want to run your script as admin from an existing powershell, remove the outer powershell call, replace %W with $pwd, replace %1 with the ps1 file-path, and replace each \"" with just ".

Note: The \""'s are just escaped quotes, for when calling from the Windows shell/command-line (it's quote-handling is terrible). In this particular case, just \" should also work, but I use the more robust \"" for easier extension.

See here for more info: https://stackoverflow.com/a/31413730/2441655

Result: (PowerShell command)

Start-Process PowerShell -Verb RunAs "-Command `"cd '$pwd'; & 'PathToPS1File';`""

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Important note: The commands above are assuming that your computer has already been configured to allow script execution. If that's not the case, you may need to add -ExecutionPolicy Bypass to your powershell flags. (you may also want -NoProfile to avoid running profile scripts)

Comments

[Bill_Stewart]

You can't set an initial working directory for the process when elevating - it will default to System32 (or SysWOW64 for 32-bit process). This is by design.

[mklement0]

Nice; however, it's problematic to use ' for quoting filesystem paths, given that ' is a legal filename character - better to use ". In the case of your last command this means: Start-Process PowerShell -Verb RunAs "-Command cd \`"$pwd\`"; & \`"PathToPS1File\`""

[Michael Villani]

Is it possible to pass parameters to the .ps1 file to be executed with PathToPS1File?

[Jay]

Also trying to figure this out. I need arguments to be passed in to the script.