Converting PowerShell to Batch

Here is a fun PowerShell function called Convert-PowerShellToBatch. Provide it with the path to a PowerShell script, or pipe in the results from Get-ChildItem to batch-convert many scripts.

How It Works: Batch File Generation

The function creates a batch file per script. When you double-click the batch file, the PowerShell code executes.

function Convert-PowerShellToBatch
{
    param
    (
        [Parameter(Mandatory,ValueFromPipeline,ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName)]
        [string]
        [Alias("FullName")]
        $Path
    )
 
    process
    {
        $encoded = [Convert]::ToBase64String([System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode.GetBytes((Get-Content -Path $Path -Raw -Encoding UTF8)))
        $newPath = [Io.Path]::ChangeExtension($Path, ".bat")
        "@echo off`npowershell.exe -NoExit -encodedCommand $encoded" | Set-Content -Path $newPath -Encoding Ascii
    }
}
 
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\path\to\powershell\scripts -Filter *.ps1 |
  Convert-PowerShellToBatch

Inside the Batch File: Base64 Conversion

When you look inside one of the generated batch files, you’ll see that your PowerShell code was converted to a base64-encoded string. So the conversion to batch serves a number of real-world purposes:

• It may be easier for some to run a PowerShell tool via double-clicking a batch file
• Inexperienced users are less tempted to fiddle with the code when it is base64-encoded

Disclaimer: Base64-encoding is not an encryption. It is trivial to turn base64-encoded text back into readable plain text. So the technique used here is not at all useful to hide secrets such as passwords.

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