Guides
PS Cmdlets
22.1.16
The two PowerShell Cmdlets that are used are
Invoke-RestMethodand Invoke-Expression. It is also important that these cmdlets are processed in this order, which I will touch on at the bottom of this pageInvoke-RestMethod
This cmdlet is used to return the contents of a provided URL in a structured, typically Raw format
Invoke-RestMethod (Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility) - PowerShell
docsmsft
Here are some examples of how to use Invoke-RestMethod to get the raw content from a Url
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PS C:\> Invoke-RestMethod -Uri https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OSDeploy/PSCloudScript/main/ps-cmdlets.txt
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This is a test to see if this raw content can be saved as a PowerShell string
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​
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PS C:\> irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/OSDeploy/PSCloudScript/main/ps-cmdlets.txt
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This is a test to see if this raw content can be saved as a PowerShell string
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​
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PS C:\> $String = irm raw.githubusercontent.com/OSDeploy/PSCloudScript/main/ps-cmdlets.txt
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PS C:\> $String
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This is a test to see if this raw content can be saved as a PowerShell string
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Invoke-Expression
This cmdlet is used to execute a PowerShell Command. You can read Microsoft's documentation here
Invoke-Expression (Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility) - PowerShell
docsmsft
If you read the Microsoft Doc, you'll understand that
iex commands can come from a String. This can be easily demonstrated in this example1
PS D:\> $String = @'
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Write-Host 'This is PowerShell String'
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'@
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​
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PS D:\> Invoke-Expression -Command $String
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This is PowerShell String
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​
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PS D:\> Invoke-Expression $String
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This is PowerShell String
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​
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PS D:\> iex $String
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This is PowerShell String
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This method even works if there is a PowerShell function in the String. Keep in mind this function is only available in the current PowerShell session
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PS D:\> $StringFunction = @'
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function Test-PowerShell
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{
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[CmdletBinding()]
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param()
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Write-Host 'This is a PowerShell Function'
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Write-Verbose 'And this is a Verbose PowerShell Function'
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}
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'@
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​
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PS D:\> Invoke-Expression -Command $StringFunction
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​
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PS D:\> Test-PowerShell
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This is a PowerShell Function
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​
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PS D:\> Test-PowerShell -Verbose
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This is a PowerShell Function
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VERBOSE: And this is a Verbose PowerShell Function
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Order
These commands have to follow a specific order. You need the content from
Invoke-RestMethod before you can execute in Invoke-Expression1
#Command in parenthesis is processed first in both of these examples
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Invoke-Expression -Command (Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $Uri)
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#Alternate using Alias
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iex(irm $Uri)
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​
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#Pipeline can be used
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Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $Uri | Invoke-Expression
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#Alternate using Alias
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irm $Uri | iex
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