Question

I am attempting to add a username to file path so I can create a directory that contains their username.

This is how I want my User Folder to Look:

D:\Test Space\ArtP$

When I do this in a Shell:

PS > $samAccountName = "ArtP"
PS > $user_folder = "D:\Test Space\$samAccountName$"
PS > $user_folder
D:\Test Space\ArtP$

It works as expected. I then try this in a script that is supposed to do this on a remote server:

 $samAccountName = "ArtP"
 $user_folder = "D:\Test Space\$samAccountName$"
 invoke-command -computername remote_server -scriptblock {
     new-item -path $user_folder -type directory -Force
 }

I get the following error:

Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Path' because it is null.
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (:) [New-Item], ParameterBindingValidationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewItemComm
   and

It is saying my path is null and I believe there is some discrepancy about how the shell interprets quotes and how the script is. How do I get my user name in the file path above properly?

Answer 1

Refer to the section about Passing Local Values in How to pass arguments for remote commands

$samAccountName = "ArtP"
$user_folderLocalValue = "D:\Test Space\$samAccountName"

With Param:

invoke-command -computername remote_server -scriptblock {
param($user_folder)
new-item -path $user_folder -type directory -Force
} -Args $user_folderLocalValue

or with $args

invoke-command -computername remote_server -scriptblock {
new-item -path $args[0] -type directory -Force
} -Args $user_folderLocalValue