Hello Community,
these days I tried to build my first own VBO. I thought a Code Stage that executes a PowerShell script might be a good example. So I developed a small routine that reads and executes a PowerShell script. It also offers the possibility to pass parameters to the script. Here the code:
//-Begin----------------------------------------------------------------
//-Initialization of output variables-----------------------------------
ErrorMessage = "";
Result = "";
//-Check if file exists-------------------------------------------------
if(!File.Exists(PowerShellFileName)) {
ErrorMessage = "File not found";
return;
}
//-Read the content of the file and check-------------------------------
string PSCode = File.ReadAllText(PowerShellFileName);
if(System.String.IsNullOrEmpty(PSCode)) {
ErrorMessage = "Code missed";
return;
}
//-Checking the Separator-----------------------------------------------
if(System.String.IsNullOrEmpty(Separator)) {
Separator = ",";
}
//-Read parameters and add it to a list---------------------------------
object[] Params = null;
if(!System.String.IsNullOrEmpty(Parameters)) {
string[] partsParam = Parameters.Split(new char[] {Separator[0]});
Params = new List<string>(partsParam).ToArray();
}
//-Open the runspace----------------------------------------------------
Runspace runspace;
try {
runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace();
if(STA == true) {
runspace.ApartmentState = System.Threading.ApartmentState.STA;
} else {
runspace.ApartmentState = System.Threading.ApartmentState.MTA;
}
runspace.ThreadOptions = PSThreadOptions.ReuseThread;
runspace.Open();
} catch(System.Exception ex) {
ErrorMessage = ex.Message;
return;
}
//-Create PowerShell----------------------------------------------------
System.Management.Automation.PowerShell PS;
try {
PS = System.Management.Automation.PowerShell.Create();
PS.Runspace = runspace;
PS.AddScript(PSCode);
} catch(System.Exception ex) {
runspace.Close();
ErrorMessage = ex.Message;
return;
}
//-Add parameters to PowerShell-----------------------------------------
if(Params != null) {
foreach(string PSParam in Params) {
string[] partsPSParam = PSParam.Split('=');
PS.AddParameter(partsPSParam[0].Trim(), partsPSParam[1].Trim());
}
}
//-Invoke PowerShell----------------------------------------------------
try {
Collection<PSObject> Ret = PS.Invoke();
runspace.Close();
//-Set Result---------------------------------------------------------
StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
foreach(PSObject oPS in Ret) {
stringBuilder.AppendLine(oPS.ToString());
}
Result = stringBuilder.ToString();
} catch(System.Exception ex) {
runspace.Close();
ErrorMessage = ex.Message;
return;
}
//-End------------------------------------------------------------------There are the input parameters
- PowerShellFileName = Path and name of the PowerShell script which should be executed.
- Parameters = Parameters of the PowerShell script, if available.
- Separator = The separator between the parameters, default is a comma.
- STA = Single-Threaded Apartment if true, Multi Threaded Apartment if false, default is true.
There are the output parameters
- Result = Output of the PowerShell script.
- ErrorMessage = In case of error an explanatory text.
To test it I use this PowerShell script example, with a few parameters and an output:
#-Begin-----------------------------------------------------------------
Param (
[String]$var1,
[String]$var2,
[String]$desc,
[Int]$i
)
$varHost = Get-Host;
$Ret = $Null;
For($j = 1; $j -le $i; $j++) {
$Ret += "PowerShell greets " + $j + "`r`n";
}
$Ret += "Hello World via " + $var1 + " version " + $var2 + " from ";
$Ret += $varHost.Name + " " + $varHost.Version + "`r`n";
$Ret += $desc;
$Ret | Out-String;
#-End-------------------------------------------------------------------
It works as expected. As far as I can see, this should make it easier to integrate PowerShell into Blue Prism processes. Since the basis is available with Windows, this approach should be executable without additional installations. In some cases, such integration can be very profitable, for example if consolidated scripts already exist and can be further used.
Best regards
Stefan
------------------------------
Stefan Schnell
Senior Systems Engineer at BWI GmbH
------------------------------
------------------------------
Mat
------------------------------
@Mat
Hello Mat,
thanks for your reply.
As far as I know PowerShell needs no elevated permissions.
I assume you have different execution policies for the scopes:
You can find more information about execution policies of PowerShell here.
This could be a possible reason.
I tried different settings but in my case all works well without any differences.
Let us know your execution policy settings.
Addition:
Interesting is after I set the the execution policy of the scopes Process, CurrentUser and LocalMachine to Restricted the BP VBO works, but the process not.
It seems that the PowerShell Automation object works independently from the execution policies of the scopes. So this would no longer be a possible reason.
Best regards
Stefan
------------------------------
Stefan Schnell
Senior Systems Engineer at BWI GmbH
------------------------------
Hello Mat,
thanks for your reply.
As far as I know PowerShell needs no elevated permissions.
I assume you have different execution policies for the scopes:
You can find more information about execution policies of PowerShell here.
This could be a possible reason.
I tried different settings but in my case all works well without any differences.
Let us know your execution policy settings.
Addition:
Interesting is after I set the the execution policy of the scopes Process, CurrentUser and LocalMachine to Restricted the BP VBO works, but the process not.
It seems that the PowerShell Automation object works independently from the execution policies of the scopes. So this would no longer be a possible reason.
Best regards
Stefan
------------------------------
Stefan Schnell
Senior Systems Engineer at BWI GmbH
------------------------------
