Get the Current Location of the PowerShell Script

1. Using the Split-Path Cmdlet to Get the Current Location of the PowerShell Script
2. Using the $PSScriptRoot Variable to Get the Current Location of the PowerShell Script
3. Getting the Working Directory in Windows PowerShell to Get the Current Location of the PowerShell Script

Whenever we need to reference a common module or script, we would like to use paths relative to the current script file. That way, the script can always find other scripts in the library.

In this article, we will discuss different ways to get the current location of the running PowerShell script.

Using the Split-Path Cmdlet to Get the Current Location of the PowerShell Script

Before PowerShell 3, there was no better way of querying the MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition property by using the Split-Path cmdlet.

Split-Path -Parent $($global:MyInvocation.MyCommand.Definition)

The Split-Path cmdlet is used with the -Parent parameter to return the current directory of the running script.

It is worth noting that this will only work if you include the syntax above on a saved PowerShell (.ps1) file. Running the syntax above in the command line will return a Null exception.

It is also worth noting that running the syntax above in PowerShell’s Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) as a selection (Run as a Selection or pressing F8) will trigger a ParameterArgumentValidationErrorNullNotAllowed or a Null exception.

A simple remedy to fix the issue is to call the $psISE variable and get the CurrentFile.FullPath property, and from there, you can get the current location of the script. Remember that this syntax is best used when testing in the PowerShell ISE.

Split-Path $psISE.CurrentFile.FullPath

Using the $PSScriptRoot Variable to Get the Current Location of the PowerShell Script

If you are running PowerShell version 3 or later, an automatic variable has been introduced to store the current file or module’s directory.

The $PSScriptRoot variable returns the value of the directory of the running script.

$PSScriptRoot

Getting the Working Directory in Windows PowerShell to Get the Current Location of the PowerShell Script

Now that we have discussed how to get the current location on the script, it wouldn’t hurt to learn to get our script’s current working directory.

In Windows PowerShell v2, the $ExecutionContext variable contains the EngineIntrinsics property. You can use this variable and property to find the execution objects available to cmdlets, including the current working directory of the running Windows PowerShell script.

$ExecutionContext.SessionState.Path.GetUnresolvedProviderPathFromPSPath('.\')

However, if you’re running the latest version of Windows PowerShell, a separate cmdlet has been introduced to make things convenient. We can use the Get-Location cmdlet and call in the Path property to get the script’s current working directory.

(Get-Location).Path