[SOLVED] Powershell Invoke-Command passing environment variables

Powershell Invoke-Command passing environment variables

I wish to use Invoke-Command passing environment variables from the calling machine to the server where Invoke-Command is being executed.

I want this to work:

Invoke-Command -ComputerName MyServer-ScriptBlock {
    $env:VAR=$using:env:USERNAME
    Write-Host $env:VAR
}

But the output for this command is empty. If I do not use the $using scope modifier, and just assign the variable directly I get the expected output ("VAR").

Invoke-Command -ComputerName MyServer -ScriptBlock {
   $env:VAR="VAR"
   Write-Host $env:VAR
}

So, can I use $using with environment variables? If not, is there an easy way to pass environment variables over to the remote computer where Invoke-Command is running?

Solution

One option would be to assign the environment variable to a standard variable before invoking:

$username = $env:USERNAME

Invoke-Command -ComputerName MyServer-ScriptBlock {
    $env:VAR=$using:userName
    Write-Host $env:VAR
}

Note that assigning environment variables like this ($env:VAR=<value>) won't persist once your session ends. Use the Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable() method to do that.