Stop Powershell from exiting

Question

I know that there is that little -noexit switch for PowerShell.

Is there anyway of staying in the shell without using that switch?

In other words, I want a script command(s) that executes then leaves the shell open.

Answer 1

The while loop at the end of this trivial script prompts me for a command and executes it. It runs with the environment of the script, so it is possible to check the values of variables. Entering "exit" terminates the loop when it is executed.

# Do something.

cd D:\temp
$current_directory = $(pwd)
dir

write-host  # Just add a little space after the dir

# Stay in the shell and execute commands.

while ($TRUE) {
  $cmd = Read-Host "PS $(pwd)"
  if ($cmd[0] -eq '"') { iex "& $cmd" } 
    else { iex $cmd }
}

I'm sure that others will be able to share some refinements, but this is a start. Regards.

Answer 2

I'm not aware of a command you could run in the script that would prevent the shell from exiting if it had not been invoked using the -noexit command.

I typically use Read-Host "Press ENTER to continue" at the end if I don't want the shell to close. However this won't prevent the shell from closing after you press enter if it had not been started with -noexit.

Answer 3

"do stuff"
Pause

Yes, just like commandline -- output:

do stuff
Press Enter to continue...:

Answer 4

Not to revive a 6-year-old thread or anything, but it should be noted to anyone reading that you can end your script with

Stop-Process -processname regedit

if you have the registry tweak (global fix) enabled and actually want to run an automatically-closing script.

Answer 5

Have you tried

$host.enternestedprompt()

That will stop execution and drop them to a nested prompt. When they exit that prompt, then the script will finish and the window will close.

Answer 6

This script will not exit if you run it without arguments, e.g. by double-clicking on it:

param($Work)

# restart PowerShell with -noexit, the same script, and 1
if (!$Work) {
    powershell -noexit -file $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path 1
    return
}

# now the script does something
# this script just outputs this:
'I am not exiting'