Spaces cause split in path with PowerShell

Question

I\'m having an issue with powershell when invoking an exe at a path containing spaces.

PS C:\\Windows Services> invoke-expression \"C:\\Windows Services\\My

Answer 1

This worked for me:

$scanresults = Invoke-Expression "& 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Nmap\nmap.exe' -vv -sn 192.168.1.1-150 --open"

Answer 2

You can escape the space by using single quotations and a backtick before the space:

$path = 'C:\Windows Services\MyService.exe'
$path -replace ' ', '` '
invoke-expression $path

Answer 3

Try this, simple and without much change:

invoke-expression "'C:\Windows Services\MyService.exe'"

using single quotations at the beginning and end of the path.

Answer 4

Would this do what you want?:

& "C:\Windows Services\MyService.exe"

Use &, the call operator, to invoke commands whose names or paths are stored in quoted strings and/or are referenced via variables, as in the accepted answer. Invoke-Expression is not only the wrong tool to use in this particular case, it should generally be avoided.

Answer 5

"&'C:\Windows Services\MyService.exe'" | Invoke-Expression

via https://www.vistax64.com/powershell/52905-invoke-expression-exe-has-spaces-its-path.html

Answer 6

Not sure if someone still needs it... I needed to invoke msbuild in powershell and following worked fine:

$MSBuild = "${Env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\Professional\MSBuild\15.0\Bin\MSBuild.exe"

& $MSBuild $PathToSolution /p:OutDir=$OutDirVar /t:Rebuild /p:Configuration=Release