[SOLVED] Running 7-Zip from within a Powershell script

Running 7-Zip from within a Powershell script

I'm trying to use 7-Zip to backup some files inside a Powershell (v2) script.

I have:

$zipPath = "C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe"
[Array]$zipArgs = "-mx=9 a", "`"c:\BackupFolder\backup.zip`"", "`"c:\BackupFrom\backMeUp.txt`""

&$zipPath $zipArgs;

But when I run this I get:

7-Zip [64] 9.20  Copyright (c) 1999-2010 Igor Pavlov  2010-11-18


Error:
Incorrect command line

Writing this to the screen I get:

C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe -mx=9 a "c:\BackupFolder\backup.zip" "c:\BackupFrom\backMeUp.txt"

So I assumed that I needed to put quotes around the path to 7z.exe, that gave me:

$zipPath = "C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe"
$zipPath = " `"$zipPath`" "
[Array]$zipArgs = "-mx=9 a", "`"c:\BackupFolder\backup.zip`"", "`"c:\BackupFrom\backMeUp.txt`""

&$zipPath $zipArgs;

But then I get the following error:

    The term '"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe"' 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 c
orrect and try again.
At C:\BackupScript\Backup.ps1:45 char:22
+                     & <<<< `"$zipPath`" $zipArgs;                    
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: ("C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe":String) [], CommandNotFound 
   Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

Writing it out gives me:

"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" -mx=9 a "c:\BackupFolder\backup.zip" "c:\BackupFrom\backMeUp.txt"

Which works as expected when pasting straight into a command window. I have been trying to figure this out for a while, but assume I am missing something (probably quite obvious). Can anybody see what I need to do to make this run?

Solution

This might help you:

$7zipPath = "$env:ProgramFiles\7-Zip\7z.exe"

if (-not (Test-Path -Path $7zipPath -PathType Leaf)) {
    throw "7 zip executable '$7zipPath' not found"
}

Set-Alias Start-SevenZip $7zipPath

$Source = "c:\BackupFrom\backMeUp.txt"
$Target = "c:\BackupTo\backup.zip"

Start-SevenZip a -mx=9 $Target $Source