UnauthorizedAccess on post build of Visual Studio

Question

I am trying to work on a Windows laptop and setup a post_build.ps1 after the regular build of Visual Studio in VB.NET

When I run the script on powershell command, it doesn't have any error. But when I do it through Build in Visual Studio, I have this:

powershell ./_POST_BUILD.ps1 exited with code 1

If I enable the diagnostic output, I can see through the output this:

1>  AuthorizationManager check failed. (TaskId:39)
1>      + CategoryInfo          : SecurityError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException (TaskId:39)
1>      + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess (TaskId:39)

What I tried:

1. Set the policies to unrestricted with Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -scope LocalMachine and Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -scope CurrentUser
2. Change the post build event in Visual Studio to Powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -file "$(SolutionDir)bin\\debug\\_POST_BUILD.ps1"
3. Unblock file with right click -> properties -> unblock
4. Run Visual Studio as administrator always

Answer 1

I don't like to answer my own questions, but I managed to fix it.

For some reason, unblocking the file with Right Click -> Properties -> Unblock -> Apply. I had to run on Powershell the following:

unblock-file --path ./_POST_BUILD.ps1

Answer 2

Try adding debug output to your powershell script. This can help you determine if the script is even starting and hitting an error while it runs, or if the error is in trying to run the script in the first place.

Also, try adding the -ExecutionPolicy switch directly to your powershell.exe arguments to be sure that the execution policy isn't an issue (probably not, if it was you'd get an explicit message telling you that).

Make sure your test run of the script is running under the same user account (probably is) and UAC elevated/not elevated state as Visual Studio (since you tried using VS elevated that is unlkely a problem).

This page ( http://tgnp.me/2011/09/powershell-authorizationmanager-check-failed-resolution/ ) recommends ensuring the WMI service is running.

Answer 3

Copy on Visual Studio Powershell, run and after close VS. Reopen VS, it worked.

Set-ExecutionPolicy –ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned