SendKeys Method in Powershell

I have batch file for telnet a server automatically, I want to do the same thing with PowerShell

Batch File named Script.bat :

:: Open a Telnet window start telnet.exe 10.84.10.85
:: Run the script cscript SendKeys.vbs

Command File named SendKeys.vbs :

set OBJECT=WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") WScript.sleep 1000 OBJECT.SendKeys "myPassword{ENTER}" WScript.sleep 1000 OBJECT.SendKeys "7{ENTER}" WScript.sleep 1000 OBJECT.SendKeys "1{ENTER}" WScript.sleep 1000 OBJECT.SendKeys "{ENTER}" WScript.sleep 1000 OBJECT.SendKeys "{ENTER}" WScript.sleep 1000 OBJECT.SendKeys "Y{ENTER}" WScript.sleep 3000 OBJECT.SendKeys ""

4 Answers

PowerShell has no built-in functionality to emulate keystrokes.

Practically, you have two options: COM-Automation and Interop.

1. SendKeys via COM

Like in VB(S) you can create a Shell-Object and SendKeys. Here is the PowerShell way to do it.

$wshell = New-Object -ComObject wscript.shell;
$wshell.SendKeys('a')

If you would like to send a keystroke to a window, you have to activate it first:

$wshell = New-Object -ComObject wscript.shell;
$wshell.AppActivate('title of the application window')
Sleep 1
$wshell.SendKeys('~')

Some keystrokes have special variables like ~ for RETURN. Here is a complete list.
After activating a window it's often necessary to wait a second until it becomes responsive, otherwise it'll send the key to the PowerShell window, or to nowhere. The scripting Host's SendKeys method can be unreliable, but luckily there is a better approach.

2. SendKeys via Interop

Like in C#, you can use the SendWait method from the .NET Framework in PowerShell.

[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("'System.Windows.Forms")
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("x")

If you want to activate a window, it can be done like this:

[void] [System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("'Microsoft.VisualBasic")
[Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction]::AppActivate("Internet Explorer - Windows")

To Sleep, you can use the Start-Sleep Cmdlet.

Regarding your original problem, I would suggest the following solution:

# Open a Telnet window
Start-Process telnet.exe -ArgumentList 10.84.10.85
# Run the keystrokes
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('myPassword{ENTER}')
Start-Sleep 1
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('7{ENTER}')
Start-Sleep 1
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('1{ENTER}')
Start-Sleep 1
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('{ENTER}')
Start-Sleep 1
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('{ENTER}')
Start-Sleep 1
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('Y{ENTER}')
Start-Sleep 1
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait('')

WARNING: Be extra careful if you're using this method to send a password because activating a different window between invoking AppActivate and invoking SendKeys will cause the password to be sent to that different window in plain text (e.g. your favorite messenger)!

I did some of modification in the script, I have a list of IP server which have the same password and I want to telnet the list automatically and sendKey for deactivate or activate the FTP server .

my script is :

 ## - List of IP $printers = get-content "C:\Dir2\servers.txt" foreach ($IPAddress in $printers){ ## - Start Telnet Session: start-process C:\Windows\System32\telnet.exe -argumentlist $IPAddress ## - SendKey for each IP $obj = New-Object -com Wscript.Shell sleep -s 3 $obj.SendKeys("MyPassword{ENTER}") sleep -s 3 $obj.SendKeys("7{ENTER}") sleep -s 3 $obj.SendKeys("1{ENTER}") sleep -s 3 $obj.SendKeys("{ENTER}") sleep -s 3 $obj.SendKeys("{ENTER}") sleep -s 3 $obj.SendKeys("Y{ENTER}") sleep -s 3 $obj.SendKeys("{ENTER}") sleep -s 3 }

function Do-SendKeys { param ( $SENDKEYS, $WINDOWTITLE ) $wshell = New-Object -ComObject wscript.shell; IF ($WINDOWTITLE) {$wshell.AppActivate($WINDOWTITLE)} Sleep 1 IF ($SENDKEYS) {$wshell.SendKeys($SENDKEYS)}
}
Do-SendKeys -WINDOWTITLE Print -SENDKEYS '{TAB}{TAB}'
Do-SendKeys -WINDOWTITLE Print
Do-SendKeys -SENDKEYS '%{f4}'

Here's a function that will run SendKeys and clean up the COM object when it's done. It's not perfect, but it works.

The -Delay parameter gives you some time to switch focus to another application before it sends the keys.

function Send-Keystrokes ([string] $Keys, [int] $Delay = 0)
{ try { Start-Sleep -Seconds $Delay $wshell = New-Object -ComObject WScript.Shell $wshell.SendKeys($Keys) Start-Sleep -Seconds 1 } finally { try { [System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal]::ReleaseComObject([System.__ComObject]$wshell) | Out-Null [System.GC]::Collect() [System.GC]::WaitForPendingFinalizers() } catch { } }
}