How to execute a .bat file from psake?

Question

I am trying in a powershell psake script to execute a .bat file. Is this possible? Or do I have to do a workaround?

Answer 1

Try the following:

task CallBatch {
  exec {cmd.exe /c "path\to\my\testscript.bat"}
}

It is not necessary to wrap the call to cmd.exe in PSake's exec {} function, but if you do it, the build fails if the batch returns anything but 0.

The task below always lets the build fail:

task Return1FromCmd {
  exec {cmd.exe /c "@exit 1"}
}

Answer 2

To execute a .bat (or .cmd) from PowerShell:

foo.bat:

@echo off
echo "foo"

foo.ps1:

. .\foo.bat
#or
.\foo.bat
#or
& .\foo.bat

we can then run the script:

D:\dev> .\foo.ps1
"foo"

Answer 3

This works for me:

properties {
  $mybat = 'C:\path\tool.bat'
}

task Test -depends ... { 
  "Bla bla"

  Exec { & $mybat }
}

No need to directly mention cmd.exe -- using & in the Exec script block seems to be enough.