How to Provide Double Quotes in a String

PowerShell is full of little mysteries to uncover. Here is one using the PowerShell Escape Character.

The problem that we are addressing is that a string needed to be created in code that contains a path that had a space in it that was provided by a variable. In order to provide the value of a variable to a string, we have a few options.

$uninst = "MsiExec.exe /X{26A24AE4-039D-4CA4-87B4-2F32180101F0}"

$Path = "/c `"$uninst`" /quiet /norestart"

$Path

This example uses the PowerShell escape character. We place the back tick in front of both of the double quotes surrounding $uninst. Here is the result.

/c "MsiExec.exe /X{26A24AE4-039D-4CA4-87B4-2F32180101F0}" /quiet /norestart

You can clearly see the double quotes are now inside the string. Here is what it looked like without the escape characters.

You can see PowerShell considers this an error.

Here is another example using a combination of the string Join “+” operator and the single quotes.

$uninst = "MsiExec.exe /X{26A24AE4-039D-4CA4-87B4-2F32180101F0}"

$Path = '/c "'+"$uninst"+'"/quiet /norestart'

$Path

/c "MsiExec.exe /X{26A24AE4-039D-4CA4-87B4-2F32180101F0}"/quiet /norestart

We are only using the double quotes to extract the value of $uninst. The other double quotes are inside of the single quotes. This treats them as the literal character of a double quote. We actually created 3 different strings and joined them together into one string using the “+” operator.

Comments

How to list all the AD LDS instances on a server

AD LDS allows you to provide directory services to applications that are free of the confines of Active Directory. To list all the AD LDS instances on a server, follow this procedure: Log into the server in question Open a command prompt. Type dsdbutil and press Enter Type List Instances and press Enter . You will receive a list of the instance name, both the LDAP and SSL port numbers, the location of the database, and its status.

How to run GPResult on a remote client with PowerShell

In the past, to run the GPResult command, you would need to either physically visit this client, have the user do it, or use and RDP connection. In all cases, this will disrupt the user. First, you need PowerShell remoting enabled on the target machine. You can do this via Group Policy . Open PowerShell and type this command. Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock {GPResult /r} –ComputerName <ComputerName> Replace <ComputerName> with the name of the target. Remember, the target needs to be online and accessible to you.

Error icon when creating a GPO Preference drive map

You may not have an error at all. Take a look at the drive mapping below. The red triangle is what threw us off. It is not an error. It is simply a color representation of the Replace option of the Action field in the properties of the drive mappings. Create action This give you a green triangle. The Create action creates a new mapped drive for users. Replace Action The Replace action gives you a red triangle. This action will delete and recreate mapped drives for users. The net result of the Replace action is to overwrite all existing settings associated with the mapped drive. If the drive mapping does not exist, then the Replace action creates a new drive mapping. Update Action The Update action will have a yellow triangle. Update will modify settings of an existing mapped drive for users. This action differs from Replace in that it only updates settings defined within the preference item. All other settings remain as configured on the mapped drive. If the

Jason Yoder, MCT

Search This Blog