How to use Wait-Process in Powershell?
Wait-Process cmdlet in PowerShell is used to wait for the process to stop before the execution moves on to the next step.
Example
We have a snipping tool application running and we need to wait for the process to stop first and then move on to the next step.
PS C:\> Get-Process SnippingTool | Select Name,Id,CPU
Name Id CPU
---- -- ---
SnippingTool 7440 2.0625
To wait for the process to stop first we will use the Wait-Process command. You can provide ProcessName or ID.
Write-Output "Waiting for the Process to Stop"
Wait-Process -Name 'SnippingTool'
Write-Output 'Snipping tool Process is stopped'
Output
PS C:\> C:\Temp\TestPS1.ps1
Waiting for the Process to Stop
Once the process is stopped,
PS C:\> C:\Temp\TestPS1.ps1
Waiting for the Process to Stop
Snipping tool Process is stopped
If the desired process can’t stop, the execution waits forever. You can also provide the timeout parameter in seconds so if the process can’t stop in the mentioned time, it will throw an error.
Example
Write-Output "Waiting for the Process to Stop"
Wait-Process -Name 'SnippingTool' -Timeout 5
Write-Output 'Snipping tool Process is stopped'
Output
PS C:\> C:\Temp\TestPS1.ps1
Waiting for the Process to Stop
CloseError: (System.Diagnostics.…cess (SnippingTool):Process) [Wait-Process],
TimeoutException
Snipping tool Process is stopped
In such instance we can use the change the ErrorAction setting to Stop.
Example
Write-Output "Waiting for the Process to Stop"
Wait-Process -Name 'SnippingTool' -Timeout 5 -ErrorAction Stop
Write-Output 'Snipping tool Process is stopped'
Output
PS C:\> C:\Temp\TestPS1.ps1
Waiting for the Process to Stop
CloseError: (System.Diagnostics.…cess (SnippingTool):Process) [Wait-Process],
TimeoutException
Published on 04-Jan-2021 14:25:24
