Enabling execution policy for PowerShell from C#

Question

I have an ASP.NET MVC 4 page that calls a piece of PowerShell. However, I am running into a problem as a module I am using is not signed, so I have to enable the Unrestricted policy. How can I force the PowerShell child to use Unrestricted policy?

I have enabled this in my script, but it is ignored. Also when I try to set the policy in code, an exception is thrown.

    using (Runspace myRunSpace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace())
    {
        myRunSpace.Open();

        using (PowerShell powerShell = PowerShell.Create())
        {
            powerShell.Runspace = myRunSpace;
            powerShell.AddCommand("Set-ExecutionPolicy").AddArgument("Unrestricted");
            powerShell.AddScript(script);

            objectRetVal = powerShell.Invoke();
        }
    }

Does generating a self signed certificate, setting the web app's identity to trust that certificate and then signing the script help? (There does not appear to be a way to create a Runspace with some equivalent of PowerShell.exe's -ExecutionPolicy parameter. — Richard
– Richard, Commented Nov 16, 2012 at 17:13
Thanks for the pointer. I set my Execution Policy in the Registry for Users and Computers to RemoteSigned. Then I self signed the modules I was using and also the script I am running. — albal
– albal, Commented Nov 19, 2012 at 16:18

Jacob Archambault · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-02 01:47:32Z

18

For PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7 Core, you can use an ExecutionPolicy Enum to set the Execution policy, like so:

using Microsoft.PowerShell;
using System.Management.Automation;
using System.Management.Automation.Runspaces;
...
public class MyClass
{
     public void MyMethod() 
     {
          // Create a default initial session state and set the execution policy.
          InitialSessionState initialSessionState = InitialSessionState.CreateDefault();
          initialSessionState.ExecutionPolicy = ExecutionPolicy.Unrestricted;

          // Create a runspace and open it. This example uses C#8 simplified using statements
          using Runspace runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace(initialSessionState);
          runspace.Open();

          // Create a PowerShell object 
          using PowerShell powerShell = PowerShell.Create(runspace);

          // Add commands, parameters, etc., etc.
          powerShell.AddCommand(<command>).AddParameter(<parameter>);

          // Invoke the PowerShell object.
          powerShell.Invoke()
     }
}

answered Sep 2, 2020 at 1:47

Jacob Archambault

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2 Comments

Jacob Archambault Over a year ago

An important caveat for PS 6 and up if you're not running on Windows, from the documentation: Beginning in PowerShell 6.0 for non-Windows computers, the default execution policy is Unrestricted and can't be changed. The Set-ExecutionPolicy cmdlet is available, but PowerShell displays a console message that it's not supported. Source: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/…

SuperJMN Over a year ago

This should be the accepted answer.

harriyott · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-19 16:27:25Z

12

If you only need to run the one script with no interactions you can set the execution policy via the command prompt like so:

string command = "/c powershell -executionpolicy unrestricted C:\script1.ps1";
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("cmd.exe",command);

edited Nov 19, 2012 at 16:27

harriyott

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answered Nov 19, 2012 at 3:28

kravits88

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1 Comment

albal Over a year ago

Nice thinking - that's got me to where I need to be now with the other discovery I made.

Akber Iqbal · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-06 02:32:31Z

5

You have to use parameter －Scope = CurrentUser:

  powershell.AddCommand("Set-ExecutionPolicy").AddArgument("Unrestricted")
    .AddParameter("Scope","CurrentUser");

edited Jul 6, 2019 at 2:32

Akber Iqbal

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answered Jul 6, 2019 at 2:00

Khan CAD

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Comments

FrakyDale · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-12 10:23:52Z

2

This is the same as @kravits88 answer but without displaying the cmd:

static void runPowerShellScript(string path, string args) {
        ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
        startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
        startInfo.Arguments = @"/c powershell -executionpolicy unrestricted " + path + " " + args;
        startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
        startInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
        startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
        Process process = new Process();
        process.StartInfo = startInfo;
        process.Start();
    }

answered Feb 12, 2018 at 10:23

FrakyDale

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Comments

albal · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-19 16:20:47Z

0

My solution was to self sign the modules and script I was running from IIS Express. I'm still developing and have found that IIS Express does not see all modules that you may have installed in the \System32\WindowsPowerShell...\Modules Path. I moved the modules I was using to another drive and used that location to import the module into my script.

Thanks for the replies :-)

answered Nov 19, 2012 at 16:20

albal

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