NAME
Invoke-AsWorkflow
SYNOPSIS
Runs a command or expression as a Windows PowerShell Workflow.SYNTAX
Invoke-AsWorkflow [-CommandName
] [-Parameter ] [-InputObject Invoke-AsWorkflow [-Expression
] [-InputObject DESCRIPTION
The Invoke-AsWorkflow workflow runs any command or expression as an inline script in a workflow. These workflows
use the standard workflow semantics, have all workflow common parameters, and have all benefits of workflows. These include the ability to stop, resume, and recover.Workflows are designed for long-running commands that collect critical data, but can be used to run any command.
For more information, see about_Workflows. You can also add workflow common parameters to this command. For more information about workflow common parameters, see about_WorkflowCommonParameters. This workflow is introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.PARAMETERS
-CommandName
Specifies the cmdlet or advanced function that this cmdlet runs as a workflow. Enter the cmdlet or functionname, such as Update-Help, Set-ExecutionPolicy, or Set-NetFirewallRule.
Required? false Position? named Default value None Accept pipeline input? False Accept wildcard characters? false-Expression
Specifies the expression that this cmdlet runs as a workflow. Enter the expression as a string, such as `"ipconfig /all"`. If the expression includes spaces or special characters, enclose the expression in quotation marks. Required? false Position? named Default value None Accept pipeline input? False Accept wildcard characters? false-Parameter
Specifies the parameters and parameter values of the command that is specified in the CommandName parameter.
Enter a hash table in which each key is a parameter name and its value is the parameter value, such as `@{ExecutionPolicy="AllSigned"}`. For information about hash tables, see about_Hash_Tables. Required? false Position? named Default value None Accept pipeline input? False Accept wildcard characters? false-InputObject
{{Fill InputObject Description}} Required? false Position? named Default value None Accept pipeline input? True (ByValue) Accept wildcard characters? falseThis cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug, ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable, OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters (https:/go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113216). INPUTS
System.Object You can pipe any object to the InputObject workflow common parameter. For information, see about_WorkflowCommonParameters.OUTPUTS
None This command does not generate any output. However, it runs the workflow, which might generate output.NOTES
Example 1: Run a cmdlet as a workflow
PS C:\>Invoke-AsWorkflow -CommandName "Get-ExecutionPolicy" -PSComputerName (Get-Content Servers.txt)
PSComputerName PSSourceJobInstanceId Value
-------------- --------------------- -----
Server01 77b1cdf8-8226-4662-9067-cd2fa5c3b711 AllSigned
Server02 a33542d7-3cdd-4339-ab99-0e7cd8e59462 Unrestricted
Server03 279bac28-066a-4646-9497-8fcdcfe9757e AllSigned
localhost 0d858009-2cc4-47a4-a2e0-da17dc2883d0 RemoteSigned
ƒ?ÝThis command runs the Get-ExecutionPolicy cmdlet as a workflow on hundreds of computers.
The command uses the CommandName parameter to specify the cmdlet that runs in the workflow. It uses the
PSComputerName workflow common parameter to specify the computers on which the command runs. The value of
PSComputerName is a Get-Content command that gets a list of computer names from the Servers.txt file. The
parameter value is enclosed in parentheses to direct Windows PowerShell to run the Get-Command cmdlet before using
the value. As with all remote commands, if the command runs on the local computer, you must start Windows PowerShell by usingthe Run as administrator option. That is, if the value of the PSComputerName parameter includes the local computer.
Example 2: Run a cmdlet with parameters
The first command uses the Import-Csv cmdlet to create an object from the content in the Servers.csv file. The
command uses the *Header* parameter to create a **ServerName** property for the column that contains the names of
the target computers, also known as remote nodes. The command saves the result in the $s variable.
PS C:\>$s = Import-Csv .\Servers.csv -Header ServerName, ServerID
The second command uses the **Invoke-AsWorkflow** workflow to run a **Get-ExecutionPolicy** command on the
computers in the Servers.csv file.The command uses the *CommandName* parameter of **Invoke-AsWorkflow** to specify
the command to run in the workflow. It uses the *Parameter* parameter of **Invoke-AsWorkflow** to specify the
*Scope* parameter of the **Get-ExecutionPolicy** cmdlet with a value of **Process**.The command also uses the
**PSConnectionRetryCount** workflow common parameter to limit the command to five attempts on each computer and
the **PSComputerName** workflow common parameter to specify the names of the remote nodes, target computers. The
value of the **PSComputerName** parameter is an expression that gets the **ServerName** property of every object
in the $s variable.
PS C:\>Invoke-AsWorkflow -CommandName "Get-ExecutionPolicy" -Parameter @{Scope="Process"} -PSComputerName
{$s.ServerName}-PSConnectionRetryCount 5
These commands run a Get-ExecutionPolicy command as a workflow on hundreds of computers. The command uses the
Scope parameter of the Get-ExecutionPolicy cmdlet with a value of Process to get the execution policy in the
current session.Example 3: Run an expression as a workflow
PS C:\>Invoke-AsWorkflow -Expression "ipconfig /all" -PSComputerName (Get-Content DomainControllers.txt) -AsJob
-JobName "IPConfig"
Id Name PSJobTypeName State HasMoreData Location Command
-- ---- ------------- ----- ----------- -------- -------
2 IpConfig PSWorkflowJob Completed True Server01, Server01... Invoke-AsWorkflow
This command uses the Invoke-AsWorkflow workflow to run an Ipconfig command as a workflow job on the computers
listed in the DomainControllers.txt file.The command uses the Expression parameter to specify the expression to run. It uses the PSComputerName workflow
common parameter to specify the names of the remote nodes (target computers).The command also uses the AsJob and JobName workflow common parameters to run the workflow as a background job on
each computer with the Ipconfig job name. The command returns a ContainerParentJob object (System.Management.Automation.ContainerParentJob) that contains the workflow jobs on each computer.RELATED LINKS
Online Version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=821723