asked on

Powershell script that will read all of the Outlook profiles and run a command on each Mail profile.

I need a powershell script that will do the following.

1. I have a powershell command that will read the subkeys of a mail profile

Get-ChildItem -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles

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The output of the subkeys are below...

Name Property
---- --------
cool Outlook Profile
Outlook Profile
outlook

2. I need each of the subkeys into a variable, how do I do that in Powershell?

3. After I have that answer, I would like to run the command for each subkey variable, inst.exe /u /service dmol /p "Variable=mailprofile"

I really appreciate the feedback!

Jeremy Weisinger

Here's an example. It's gets the profile names from the registry key you specified, loops through those names and runs the command:

#Get the profile names from Registry Key
$ProfileNames = Get-ChildItem -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles | %{Split-Path $_.Name -Leaf}

#loop through profile names
foreach ($profilename in $ProfileNames) {

    $command = "inst.exe /u /service dmol /p `"$($profilename)=mailprofile`""
    Write-Host $command
    #Invoke-Expression $command
    }

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You'll notice that I have Write-Host $command and #Invoke-Expression $command in the script. Write-Host will just echo out what command it will run. If that looks correct when you run the script. You can then remove the hash (#) from in front of Invoke-Expression (i.e. Invoke-Expression $command) and it will execute the command.

Let me know if that works for you.

mystikal1000

ASKER

Thanks Jeremy, it looks good when it writes the host command, but fails when I invoke it. See error below.

I accidentally left out the "program files (x86)" path, also I need one for 32-bit, which is just "program files".

#Get the profile names from Registry Key
$ProfileNames = Get-ChildItem -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles | %{Split-Path $_.Name -Leaf}

#loop through profile names
foreach ($profilename in $ProfileNames) {

    $command = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Ops hxrext\op extensions\inst.exe /u /service dmol /p `"$($profilename)`""
    #Write-Host $command
    Invoke-Expression $command
    }

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Error:

x86 : The term 'x86' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was
included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:19
+ C:\Program Files (x86)\Ops hxrext\op extensions\inst. ...
+ ~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (x86:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

x86 : The term 'x86' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was
included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:19
+ C:\Program Files (x86)\Ops hxrext\op extensions\inst. ...
+ ~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (x86:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

x86 : The term 'x86' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was
included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:19
+ C:\Program Files (x86)\Ops hxrext\op extensions\inst. ...
+ ~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (x86:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

Jeremy Weisinger

If the path has spaces, it needs to be surrounded by quotes. e.g.:

#Get the profile names from Registry Key
$ProfileNames = Get-ChildItem -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles | %{Split-Path $_.Name -Leaf}

#loop through profile names
foreach ($profilename in $ProfileNames) {

    $command = "`"C:\Program Files (x86)\Ops hxrext\op extensions\inst.exe`" /u /service dmol /p `"$($profilename)`""
    Write-Host $command
    #Invoke-Expression $command
    }

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Jeremy Weisinger

Note the use of the backtick (`) in the script. It forces Powershell to interpret the double quote literally instead of using it as a string delimiter. For more info see this link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/about/about_quoting_rules?view=powershell-6

mystikal1000

ASKER

Updated it, now it gives me this error.

Invoke-Expression : At line:1 char:88
+ ... instl.exe" /u /service dmol /p "cool"
+ ~
You must provide a value expression on the right-hand side of the '/' operator.
At line:1 char:88
+ ... instl.exe" /u /service dmol /p "cool"
+ ~
Unexpected token 'u' in expression or statement.
At line:9 char:5
+ Invoke-Expression $command
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [Invoke-Expression], ParseException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ExpectedValueExpression,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.InvokeExpressionCommand

Invoke-Expression : At line:1 char:88
+ ... instl.exe" /u /service dmol /p "Default Outlook Profile"
+ ~
You must provide a value expression on the right-hand side of the '/' operator.
At line:1 char:88
+ ... instl.exe" /u /service dmol /p "Default Outlook Profile"
+ ~
Unexpected token 'u' in expression or statement.
At line:9 char:5
+ Invoke-Expression $command
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [Invoke-Expression], ParseException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ExpectedValueExpression,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.InvokeExpressionCommand

Invoke-Expression : At line:1 char:88
+ ... instl.exe" /u /service dmol /p "outlook"
+ ~
You must provide a value expression on the right-hand side of the '/' operator.
At line:1 char:88
+ ... instl.exe" /u /service dmol /p "outlook"
+ ~
Unexpected token 'u' in expression or statement.
At line:9 char:5
+ Invoke-Expression $command
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [Invoke-Expression], ParseException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : ExpectedValueExpression,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.InvokeExpressionCommand

mystikal1000

ASKER

When I run it from the command line it works fine...this is the correct syntax

C:\Program Files (x86)\Ops hxrext\op extensions\inst.exe /u /service dmol /p "Outlook"

- Where "Outlook" is the name of the e-mail profile.

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Jeremy Weisinger

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mystikal1000

ASKER

Crazy, Powershell ISE x86 crashes when I run that command.

Jeremy Weisinger

Can you run the 64bit version?

mystikal1000

ASKER

Same issue.

Jeremy Weisinger

Strange indeed. So I'm not sure why it's crashing. What is this inst.exe program?

You could try something like this so that it will just crash a new process:

#Get the profile names from Registry Key
$ProfileNames = Get-ChildItem -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles | %{Split-Path $_.Name -Leaf}

#loop through profile names
foreach ($profilename in $ProfileNames) {

    $ExePath = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Ops hxrext\op extensions\inst.exe"
    $ExeArgs = "/u /service dmol /p `"$($profilename)`""
    Start-Process -FilePath $ExePath -ArgumentList $ExeArgs
    }

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Michael B. Smith

Change $command back to this:

$command = "`"C:\Program Files (x86)\Ops hxrext\op extensions\inst.exe`" /u /service dmol /p `"$($profilename)`""

And instead of using Invoke-Expression, use

cmd /c $command

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mystikal1000

ASKER

Michael, I receive this error message

cmd : 'C:\Program' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
At line:9 char:5
+ cmd /c $command
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: ('C:\Program' is...ternal command,:String) [], RemoteException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError

operable program or batch file.
cmd : 'C:\Program' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
At line:9 char:5
+ cmd /c $command
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: ('C:\Program' is...ternal command,:String) [], RemoteException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NativeCommandError

operable program or batch file.

mystikal1000

ASKER

Thanks Jeremy, I was able to figure the crash. It had to do with our antimalware software. I appreciate your help!

Jeremy Weisinger

Glad to help. :)