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steps.powershell definition

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The powershell step runs a script using either Windows PowerShell (on Windows) or pwsh (Linux and macOS).

steps:
- powershell: string # Required as first property. Inline PowerShell or reference to a PowerShell file.
  errorActionPreference: string # Unless otherwise specified, the error action preference defaults to the value stop. See the following section for more information.
  failOnStderr: string # Fail the task if output is sent to Stderr?
  ignoreLASTEXITCODE: string # Check the final exit code of the script to determine whether the step succeeded?
  workingDirectory: string # Start the script with this working directory.
  condition: string # Evaluate this condition expression to determine whether to run this task.
  continueOnError: boolean # Continue running even on failure?
  displayName: string # Human-readable name for the task.
  target: string | target # Environment in which to run this task.
  enabled: boolean # Run this task when the job runs?
  env: # Variables to map into the process's environment.
    string: string # Name/value pairs
  name: string # ID of the step.
  timeoutInMinutes: string # Time to wait for this task to complete before the server kills it.
  retryCountOnTaskFailure: string # Number of retries if the task fails.

steps:
- powershell: string # Required as first property. Inline PowerShell or reference to a PowerShell file.
  errorActionPreference: string # Unless otherwise specified, the error action preference defaults to the value stop. See the following section for more information.
  failOnStderr: string # Fail the task if output is sent to Stderr?
  ignoreLASTEXITCODE: string # Check the final exit code of the script to determine whether the step succeeded?
  workingDirectory: string # Start the script with this working directory.
  condition: string # Evaluate this condition expression to determine whether to run this task.
  continueOnError: boolean # Continue running even on failure?
  displayName: string # Human-readable name for the task.
  target: string | target # Environment in which to run this task.
  enabled: boolean # Run this task when the job runs?
  env: # Variables to map into the process's environment.
    string: string # Name/value pairs
  name: string # ID of the step.
  timeoutInMinutes: string # Time to wait for this task to complete before the server kills it.

steps:
- powershell: string # Required as first property. Inline PowerShell or reference to a PowerShell file.
  errorActionPreference: string # Unless otherwise specified, the error action preference defaults to the value stop. See the following section for more information.
  failOnStderr: string # Fail the task if output is sent to Stderr?
  ignoreLASTEXITCODE: string # Check the final exit code of the script to determine whether the step succeeded?
  workingDirectory: string # Start the script with this working directory.
  condition: string # Evaluate this condition expression to determine whether to run this task.
  continueOnError: boolean # Continue running even on failure?
  displayName: string # Human-readable name for the task.
  enabled: boolean # Run this task when the job runs?
  env: # Variables to map into the process's environment.
    string: string # Name/value pairs
  name: string # ID of the step.
  timeoutInMinutes: string # Time to wait for this task to complete before the server kills it.

Definitions that that reference this definition: steps

Properties

powershell string. Required as first property.
Inline PowerShell or reference to a PowerShell file.

errorActionPreference string.
Unless otherwise specified, the error action preference defaults to the value stop. See the following section for more information.

failOnStderr string.
Fail the task if output is sent to Stderr?

ignoreLASTEXITCODE string.
Check the final exit code of the script to determine whether the step succeeded?

workingDirectory string.
Start the script with this working directory.

condition string.
Evaluate this condition expression to determine whether to run this task.

continueOnError boolean.
Continue running even on failure?

displayName string.
Human-readable name for the task.

target target.
Environment in which to run this task.

enabled boolean.
Run this task when the job runs?

env string dictionary.
Variables to map into the process's environment.

name string.
ID of the step. Acceptable values: [-_A-Za-z0-9]*.

timeoutInMinutes string.
Time to wait for this task to complete before the server kills it.

retryCountOnTaskFailure string.
Number of retries if the task fails.

Remarks

The powershell keyword is a shortcut for the PowerShell task. The task runs a script using either Windows PowerShell (on Windows) or pwsh (Linux and macOS).

Each PowerShell session lasts only for the duration of the job in which it runs. Tasks that depend on what has been bootstrapped must be in the same job as the bootstrap.

Learn more about conditions and timeouts.

Error action preference

Unless otherwise specified, the error action preference defaults to the value stop, and the line $ErrorActionPreference = 'stop' is prepended to the top of your script.

When the error action preference is set to stop, errors cause PowerShell to terminate the task and return a nonzero exit code. The task is also marked as Failed.

errorActionPreference: stop | continue | silentlyContinue

steps:
- powershell: |
    Write-Error 'Uh oh, an error occurred'
    Write-Host 'Trying again...'
  displayName: Error action preference
  errorActionPreference: continue

Ignore last exit code

The last exit code returned from your script is checked by default. A nonzero code indicates a step failure, in which case the system appends your script with:

if ((Test-Path -LiteralPath variable:\LASTEXITCODE)) { exit $LASTEXITCODE }

If you don't want this behavior, specify ignoreLASTEXITCODE: true.

ignoreLASTEXITCODE: boolean

steps:
- powershell: git nosuchcommand
  displayName: Ignore last exit code
  ignoreLASTEXITCODE: true

Learn more about conditions and timeouts.

Examples

steps:
- powershell: Write-Host Hello $(name)
  displayName: Say hello
  name: firstStep
  workingDirectory: $(build.sourcesDirectory)
  failOnStderr: true
  env:
    name: Microsoft

See also