Run Powershell script from URL without temporary file

Question

I want to write a PowerShell script that runs a PowerShell script stored at a URL, passing both custom arguments and forwarding any arguments that are given to this PowerShell. Concretely, I can do:

$VAR=Invoke-WebRequest http://example.com/powershell.ps1
$TEMP=New-TemporaryFile
$FILE=$TEMP.FullName + ".ps1"
$VAR.Content | Out-File $FILE
& $FILE somearguments $args

I'd ideally like to do that without using a temporary file, however powershell -content - doesn't seem to allow also passing arguments. Is there any way to avoid the temporary file?

Look how [chocolatey does it](https://chocolatey.org/install) — , May 10 '17 at 21:50

score 32 · Answer 1 · answered May 11 '17 at 02:50

32

Stolen straight from chocolatey's site. I use this more often than i should

iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

source

answered May 11 '17 at 02:50

Daniel Agans

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This is what I use, easiest and most direct way.... the `DownloadString()` method pulls the raw contents, then `iex` (`Invoke-Expression`) runs the string that's pulled – scrthq May 11 '17 at 04:45
7

That doesn't seem to permit additional command line arguments to be given to the remote powershell script. – Neil Mitchell May 12 '17 at 11:08
And will give you this error "This script contains malicious content and has been blocked by your antivirus software." – Max Barrass Mar 13 '21 at 12:29

score 13 · Accepted Answer · edited May 16 '17 at 21:36

13

You can convert content to script block and then invoke it as command with arguments

$Script = Invoke-WebRequest 'http://example.com/powershell.ps1'
$ScriptBlock = [Scriptblock]::Create($Script.Content)
Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock $ScriptBlock -ArgumentList ($args + @('someargument'))

edited May 16 '17 at 21:36

Neil Mitchell

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answered May 10 '17 at 21:47

Igor

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$args + @('someargument') seems to be required, or it flattens the $args and turns it into a string – Neil Mitchell May 12 '17 at 14:17
Thanks @NeilMitchell – Igor May 16 '17 at 22:00

SynCap · Answer 3 · 2021-07-26T14:49:01.630

5

Automatic download and start remote PowerShell script w/0 save (on the fly):

iex (iwr $ScriptURL).Content

WTF:

alias iex,iwr

More help:

Get-Help Invoke-Expression
Get-Help Invoke-WebRequest

edited Jul 26 '21 at 14:49

answered Jul 26 '21 at 13:08

SynCap

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score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 13 '21 at 13:13

This one-liner will download and source the file from a URL

. ([Scriptblock]::Create((([System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII).getString((Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "${FUNCTIONS_URI}").Content))))

example $FUNCTIONS_URI = "https://github.com/aem-design/aemdesign-docker/releases/latest/download/functions.ps1"

Run Powershell script from URL without temporary file

4 Answers4

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