Installing a PowerShell Module

Article
11/15/2022

After you have created your PowerShell module, you will likely want to install the module on a system, so that you or others may use it. Generally speaking, this consists of copying the module files (ie, the .psm1, or the binary assembly, the module manifest, and any other associated files) onto a directory on that computer. For a very small project, this may be as simple as copying and pasting the files with Windows Explorer onto a single remote computer; however, for larger solutions you may wish to use a more sophisticated installation process. Regardless of how you get your module onto the system, PowerShell can use a number of techniques that will let users find and use your modules. Therefore, the main issue for installation is ensuring that PowerShell will be able to find your module. For more information, see Importing a PowerShell Module.

Rules for Installing Modules

The following information pertains to all modules, including modules that you create for your own use, modules that you get from other parties, and modules that you distribute to others.

Install Modules in PSModulePath

Whenever possible, install all modules in a path that is listed in the PSModulePath environment variable or add the module path to the PSModulePath environment variable value.

The PSModulePath environment variable ($Env:PSModulePath) contains the locations of Windows PowerShell modules. Cmdlets rely on the value of this environment variable to find modules.

By default, the PSModulePath environment variable value contains the following system and user module directories, but you can add to and edit the value.

$PSHome\Modules (%Windir%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules)

Warning

This location is reserved for modules that ship with Windows. Do not install modules to this location.
$HOME\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules (%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules)
$Env:ProgramFiles\WindowsPowerShell\Modules (%ProgramFiles%\WindowsPowerShell\Modules)

To get the value of the PSModulePath environment variable, use either of the following commands.
```
$Env:PSModulePath
[Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PSModulePath")
```
To add a module path to value of the PSModulePath environment variable value, use the following command format. This format uses the SetEnvironmentVariable method of the System.Environment class to make a session-independent change to the PSModulePath environment variable.
```
#Save the current value in the $p variable.
$p = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PSModulePath")

#Add the new path to the $p variable. Begin with a semi-colon separator.
$p += ";C:\Program Files (x86)\MyCompany\Modules\"

#Add the paths in $p to the PSModulePath value.
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PSModulePath",$p)
```
Important

Once you have added the path to PSModulePath, you should broadcast an environment message about the change. Broadcasting the change allows other applications, such as the shell, to pick up the change. To broadcast the change, have your product installation code send a WM_SETTINGCHANGE message with lParam set to the string "Environment". Be sure to send the message after your module installation code has updated PSModulePath.

Use the Correct Module Directory Name

A well-formed module is a module that is stored in a directory that has the same name as the base name of at least one file in the module directory. If a module is not well-formed, Windows PowerShell does not recognize it as a module.

The "base name" of a file is the name without the file name extension. In a well-formed module, the name of the directory that contains the module files must match the base name of at least one file in the module.

For example, in the sample Fabrikam module, the directory that contains the module files is named "Fabrikam" and at least one file has the "Fabrikam" base name. In this case, both Fabrikam.psd1 and Fabrikam.dll have the "Fabrikam" base name.

C:\Program Files
  Fabrikam Technologies
    Fabrikam Manager
      Modules
        Fabrikam
          Fabrikam.psd1 (module manifest)
          Fabrikam.dll (module assembly)

Effect of Incorrect Installation

If the module is not well-formed and its location is not included in the value of the PSModulePath environment variable, basic discovery features of Windows PowerShell, such as the following, do not work.

The Module Auto-Loading feature cannot import the module automatically.
The ListAvailable parameter of the Get-Module cmdlet cannot find the module.
The Import-Module cmdlet cannot find the module. To import the module, you must provide the full path to the root module file or module manifest file.

Additional features, such as the following, do not work unless the module is imported into the session. In well-formed modules in the PSModulePath environment variable, these features work even when the module is not imported into the session.
The Get-Command cmdlet cannot find commands in the module.
The Update-Help and Save-Help cmdlets cannot update or save help for the module.
The Show-Command cmdlet cannot find and display the commands in the module.

The commands in the module are missing from the Show-Command window in Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE).

Where to Install Modules

This section explains where in the file system to install Windows PowerShell modules. The location depends on how the module is used.

Installing Modules for a Specific User

If you create your own module or get a module from another party, such as a Windows PowerShell community website, and you want the module to be available for your user account only, install the module in your user-specific Modules directory.

$HOME\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\<Module Folder>\<Module Files>

The user-specific Modules directory is added to the value of the PSModulePath environment variable by default.

Installing Modules for all Users in Program Files

If you want a module to be available to all user accounts on the computer, install the module in the Program Files location.

$Env:ProgramFiles\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\<Module Folder>\<Module Files>

Note

The Program Files location is added to the value of the PSModulePath environment variable by default in Windows PowerShell 4.0 and later. For earlier versions of Windows PowerShell, you can manually create the Program Files location (%ProgramFiles%\WindowsPowerShell\Modules) and add this path to your PSModulePath environment variable as described above.

Installing Modules in a Product Directory

If you are distributing the module to other parties, use the default Program Files location described above, or create your own company-specific or product-specific subdirectory of the %ProgramFiles% directory.

For example, Fabrikam Technologies, a fictitious company, is shipping a Windows PowerShell module for their Fabrikam Manager product. Their module installer creates a Modules subdirectory in the Fabrikam Manager product subdirectory.

C:\Program Files
  Fabrikam Technologies
    Fabrikam Manager
      Modules
        Fabrikam
          Fabrikam.psd1 (module manifest)
          Fabrikam.dll (module assembly)

To enable the Windows PowerShell module discovery features to find the Fabrikam module, the Fabrikam module installer adds the module location to the value of the PSModulePath environment variable.

$p = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PSModulePath")
$p += ";C:\Program Files\Fabrikam Technologies\Fabrikam Manager\Modules\"
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PSModulePath",$p)

Installing Modules in the Common Files Directory

If a module is used by multiple components of a product or by multiple versions of a product, install the module in a module-specific subdirectory of the %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Modules subdirectory.

In the following example, the Fabrikam module is installed in a Fabrikam subdirectory of the %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Modules subdirectory. Note that each module resides in its own subdirectory in the Modules subdirectory.

C:\Program Files
  Common Files
    Modules
      Fabrikam
        Fabrikam.psd1 (module manifest)
        Fabrikam.dll (module assembly)

Then, the installer assures the value of the PSModulePath environment variable includes the path of the common files modules subdirectory.

$m = $env:ProgramFiles + '\Common Files\Modules'
$p = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PSModulePath")
$q = $p -split ';'
if ($q -notContains $m) {
    $q += ";$m"
}
$p = $q -join ';'
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PSModulePath", $p)

Installing Multiple Versions of a Module

To install multiple versions of the same module, use the following procedure.

Create a directory for each version of the module. Include the version number in the directory name.
Create a module manifest for each version of the module. In the value of the ModuleVersion key in the manifest, enter the module version number. Save the manifest file (.psd1) in the version-specific directory for the module.
Add the module root folder path to the value of the PSModulePath environment variable, as shown in the following examples.

To import a particular version of the module, the end-user can use the MinimumVersion or RequiredVersion parameters of the Import-Module cmdlet.

For example, if the Fabrikam module is available in versions 8.0 and 9.0, the Fabrikam module directory structure might resemble the following.

C:\Program Files
Fabrikam Manager
 Fabrikam8
   Fabrikam
     Fabrikam.psd1 (module manifest: ModuleVersion = "8.0")
     Fabrikam.dll (module assembly)
 Fabrikam9
   Fabrikam
     Fabrikam.psd1 (module manifest: ModuleVersion = "9.0")
     Fabrikam.dll (module assembly)

The installer adds both of the module paths to the PSModulePath environment variable value.

$p = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PSModulePath")
$p += ";C:\Program Files\Fabrikam\Fabrikam8;C:\Program Files\Fabrikam\Fabrikam9"
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PSModulePath",$p)

When these steps are complete, the ListAvailable parameter of the Get-Module cmdlet gets both of the Fabrikam modules. To import a particular module, use the MinimumVersion or RequiredVersion parameters of the Import-Module cmdlet.

If both modules are imported into the same session, and the modules contain cmdlets with the same names, the cmdlets that are imported last are effective in the session.

Handling Command Name Conflicts

Command name conflicts can occur when the commands that a module exports have the same name as commands in the user's session.

When a session contains two commands that have the same name, Windows PowerShell runs the command type that takes precedence. When a session contains two commands that have the same name and the same type, Windows PowerShell runs the command that was added to the session most recently. To run a command that is not run by default, users can qualify the command name with the module name.

For example, if the session contains a Get-Date function and the Get-Date cmdlet, Windows PowerShell runs the function by default. To run the cmdlet, preface the command with the module name, such as:

Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Get-Date

To prevent name conflicts, module authors can use the DefaultCommandPrefix key in the module manifest to specify a noun prefix for all commands exported from the module.

Users can use the Prefix parameter of the Import-Module cmdlet to use an alternate prefix. The value of the Prefix parameter takes precedence over the value of the DefaultCommandPrefix key.

Supporting paths on non-Windows systems

Non-Windows platforms use the colon (:) character as a path separator and a forward-slash (/) character as a directory separator. The [System.IO.Path] class has static members that can be used to make your code work on any platform:

[System.IO.Path]::PathSeparator - returns the character used to separate paths in a PATH environment variable for the host platform
[System.IO.Path]::DirectorySeparatorChar - returns the character used to separate directory names with a path for the host platform

Use these static properties to in place of the ; and \ characters when you are constructing path strings.

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