Install PowerShell on Windows IoT and Nano Server

This article describes how to install PowerShell on Windows IoT and Nano Server.

Deploy on Windows 11 IoT

Windows 11 IoT Enterprise comes with Windows PowerShell, which is used to deploy PowerShell 7.

# Replace the placeholder information for the following variables:
$deviceip = '<device ip address>'
$zipfile = 'PowerShell-7.5.4-win-arm64.zip'
$downloadfolder = 'U:\Users\Administrator\Downloads'
# The download location is local to the device.
# There should be enough space for the zip file and the unzipped contents.

# Create PowerShell session to target device
Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts $deviceip
$S = New-PSSession -ComputerName $deviceIp -Credential Administrator
# Copy the ZIP package to the device
Copy-Item $zipfile -Destination $downloadfolder -ToSession $S

#Connect to the device and expand the archive
Enter-PSSession $S
Set-Location U:\Users\Administrator\Downloads
Expand-Archive .\PowerShell-7.5.4-win-arm64.zip

# Set up remoting to PowerShell 7
Set-Location .\PowerShell-7.5.4-win-arm64
# Be sure to use the -PowerShellHome parameter otherwise it tries to create a new
# endpoint with Windows PowerShell 5.1
.\Install-PowerShellRemoting.ps1 -PowerShellHome .

When you set up PowerShell Remoting you get an error message and are disconnected from the device. PowerShell has to restart WinRM. Now you can connect to PowerShell 7 endpoint on device.

# Be sure to use the -Configuration parameter. If you omit it, you connect to Windows PowerShell 5.1
Enter-PSSession -ComputerName $deviceIp -Credential Administrator -Configuration PowerShell.7.5.4

Windows 11 IoT Core adds Windows PowerShell when you include IOT_POWERSHELL feature. Use Windows PowerShell to deploy PowerShell 7 using the same steps as Windows 11 IoT Enterprise.

To add the latest PowerShell in the shipping image, use the Import-PSCoreRelease command to include the package in the workarea and add the OPENSRC_POWERSHELL feature to your image.

Deploying on Nano Server

These instructions assume that the Nano Server is a "headless" OS that has a version of PowerShell already running on it. For more information, see the Nano Server Image Builder documentation.

PowerShell binaries can be deployed using two different methods.

1. Offline - Mount the Nano Server VHD and unzip the contents of the zip file to your chosen location within the mounted image.
2. Online - Transfer the zip file over a PowerShell Session and unzip it in your chosen location.

In both cases, you need the Windows x64 ZIP release package. Run the commands within an "Administrator" instance of PowerShell.

Offline Deployment of PowerShell

1. Use your favorite zip utility to unzip the package to a directory within the mounted Nano Server image.
2. Unmount the image and boot it.
3. Connect to the built-in instance of Windows PowerShell.

Online Deployment of PowerShell

Deploy PowerShell to Nano Server using the following steps.

# Replace the placeholder information for the following variables:
$ipaddr = '<Nano Server IP address>'
$credential = Get-Credential # <An Administrator account on the system>
$zipfile = 'PowerShell-7.5.4-win-x64.zip'
# Connect to the built-in instance of Windows PowerShell
$session = New-PSSession -ComputerName $ipaddr -Credential $credential
# Copy the file to the Nano Server instance
Copy-Item $zipfile C:\ -ToSession $session
# Enter the interactive remote session
Enter-PSSession $session
# Extract the ZIP file
Expand-Archive -Path C:\PowerShell-7.5.4-win-x64.zip -DestinationPath 'C:\Program Files\PowerShell 7'

Supported versions of Windows

Microsoft supports PowerShell until PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of Windows reaches end-of-support.

The Docker images for the .NET SDK contain the latest versions of PowerShell. These images are available from the Microsoft Artifact Registry.

These images may not have the latest security updates. Microsoft recommends that you update the OS packages to the latest version to ensure the latest security updates are applied.

These images are provided for testing purposes. If you need a Docker image for a production workload, you should build and maintain your own.

You can check the version that you are using by running winver.exe.

Installation support

Microsoft supports the installation methods in this document. There may be other third-party methods of installation available from other sources. While those tools and methods may work, Microsoft can't support those methods.