How can I pass an argument to a PowerShell script?

There's a PowerShell script named itunesForward.ps1 that makes iTunes fast forward 30 seconds:

$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application

if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
  $iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + 30
}

It is executed with a prompt line command:

powershell.exe itunesForward.ps1

Is it possible to pass an argument from the command line and have it applied in the script instead of the hardcoded 30 seconds value?

Tested as working:

#Must be the first statement in your script (not coutning comments)
param([Int32]$step=30) 

$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application

if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
  $iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $step
}

Call it with

powershell.exe -file itunesForward.ps1 -step 15

Multiple parameters syntax (comments are optional, but allowed):

<#
	Script description.

    Some notes.
#>
param (
	# height of largest column without top bar
	[int]$h = 4000,
	
	# name of the output image
	[string]$image = 'out.png'
)

And some example for advanced parameters, e.g. Mandatory:

<#
    Script description.

    Some notes.
#>
param (
    # height of largest column without top bar
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [int]$h,
    
    # name of the output image
    [string]$image = 'out.png'
)

Write-Host "$image $h"

A default value will not work with a mandatory parameter. You can omit the =$true for advanced parameters of type boolean [Parameter(Mandatory)].

You can use also the $args variable (that's like position parameters):

$step = $args[0]

$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application

if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
  $iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $step
}

Then it can be called like:

powershell.exe -file itunersforward.ps1 15

Call the script from a batch file (*.bat) or CMD

PowerShell Core

pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World"

pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "path-to-script/Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World"

pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 Hello -Param2 World"

pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 Hello World"

pwsh.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 -Param2 World Hello"

PowerShell

powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World"

powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "path-to-script/Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World"

powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 Hello -Param2 World"

powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 Hello World"

powershell.exe -NoLogo -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "./Script.ps1 -Param2 World Hello"

---

Call from PowerShell

PowerShell Core or Windows PowerShell

& path-to-script/Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World
& ./Script.ps1 -Param1 Hello -Param2 World

---

Script.ps1 - Script Code

param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True, Position=0, ValueFromPipeline=$false)]
    [System.String]
    $Param1,

    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True, Position=1, ValueFromPipeline=$false)]
    [System.String]
    $Param2
)

Write-Host $Param1
Write-Host $Param2

Let PowerShell analyze and decide the data type. It internally uses a 'Variant' for this.

And generally it does a good job...

param($x)
$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application
if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
    $iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $x
}

Or if you need to pass multiple parameters:

param($x1, $x2)
$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application
if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
    $iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $x1
    $iTunes.<AnyProperty>  = $x2
}

Create a PowerShell script with the following code in the file.

param([string]$path)
Get-ChildItem $path | Where-Object {$_.LinkType -eq 'SymbolicLink'} | select name, target

This creates a script with a path parameter. It will list all symbolic links within the path provided as well as the specified target of the symbolic link.

# ENTRY POINT MAIN()
Param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
    [String] $site,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
    [String] $application,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
    [String] $dir,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$True)]
    [String] $applicationPool
)

# Create Web IIS Application
function ValidateWebSite ([String] $webSiteName)
{
    $iisWebSite = Get-Website -Name $webSiteName
    if($Null -eq $iisWebSite)
    {
        Write-Error -Message "Error: Web Site Name: $($webSiteName) not exists."  -Category ObjectNotFound
    }
    else
    {
        return 1
    }
}

# Get full path from IIS WebSite
function GetWebSiteDir ([String] $webSiteName)
{
    $iisWebSite = Get-Website -Name $webSiteName
    if($Null -eq $iisWebSite)
    {
        Write-Error -Message "Error: Web Site Name: $($webSiteName) not exists."  -Category ObjectNotFound
    }
    else
    {
        return $iisWebSite.PhysicalPath
    }
}

# Create Directory
function CreateDirectory([string]$fullPath)
{
    $existEvaluation = Test-Path $fullPath -PathType Any
    if($existEvaluation -eq $false)
    {
        new-item $fullPath -itemtype directory
    }
    return 1
}

function CreateApplicationWeb
{
    Param(
        [String] $WebSite,
        [String] $WebSitePath,
        [String] $application,
        [String] $applicationPath,
        [String] $applicationPool
        )
    $fullDir = "$($WebSitePath)\$($applicationPath)"
    CreateDirectory($fullDir)
    New-WebApplication -Site $WebSite -Name $application -PhysicalPath $fullDir -ApplicationPool $applicationPool -Force
}

$fullWebSiteDir = GetWebSiteDir($Site)f($null -ne $fullWebSiteDir)
{
    CreateApplicationWeb -WebSite $Site -WebSitePath $fullWebSiteDir -application $application  -applicationPath $dir -applicationPool $applicationPool
}

You can also define a variable directly in the PowerShell command line and then execute the script. The variable will be defined there, too. This helped me in a case where I couldn't modify a signed script.

Example:

 PS C:\temp> $stepsize = 30
 PS C:\temp> .\itunesForward.ps1

with iTunesForward.ps1 being

$iTunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application

if ($iTunes.playerstate -eq 1)
{
  $iTunes.PlayerPosition = $iTunes.PlayerPosition + $stepsize
}