Windows PowerShell System Requirements

Windows PowerShell 3.0 runs on the following versions of Windows.

• Windows 8
  
  
• Windows Server 2012
  
  
• Windows® 7 with Service Pack 1
  
  
• Windows Server® 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1
  
  
• Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2
  
  

Windows PowerShell 3.0 requires the full installation of Microsoft .NET Framework 4. Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 include Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5, which fulfills this requirement.

To install Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 (dotNetFx45_Full_setup.exe), see "Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5" on the Microsoft Download Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=242919.

To install the full installation of Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (dotNetFx40_Full_setup.exe), see "Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Web Installer)" on the Microsoft Download Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=212931.

Windows PowerShell 3.0 requires WS-Management 3.0, which supports the WinRM service and WSMan protocol. This program is included in Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Management Framework 3.0.

Windows PowerShell 3.0 requires Windows Management Instrumentation 3.0 (WMI). This program is included in Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Management Framework 3.0. If this program is not installed on the computer, features that require WMI, such as CIM commands, do not run.

Windows PowerShell 3.0 is compiled against Common Language Runtime (CLR) 4.0.

Windows PowerShell is a console-based application that does not require a graphical user interface. As such, is it well suited to computers that do not have screens or monitors, or a user interface, such as the Server Core installation of Windows Server 2012.

However, some items, such as the following, require a graphical user interface. For details, see the help topic for each item.

• Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE)
  
  
• Cmdlets
  
  
  1. Out-GridView
     
     
  2. Show-Command
     
     
  3. Show-ControlPanelItem
     
     
  4. Show-EventLog
     
     
• Parameters
  
  
  1. ShowWindow parameter of the Get-Help cmdlet.
     
     
  2. ShowSecurityDescriptorUi parameter of the Register-PSSessionConfiguration and Set-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlets.
     
     

Windows PowerShell 3.0 is designed to be backwards compatible with Windows PowerShell 2.0. Cmdlets, providers, snap-ins, modules, and scripts written for Windows PowerShell 2.0 run unchanged in Windows PowerShell 3.0.

However, due to a change in the runtime activation policy in Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0, Windows PowerShell host programs that were written for Windows PowerShell 2.0 and compiled with Common Language Runtime (CLR) 2.0 cannot run without modification in Windows PowerShell 3.0, which is compiled with CLR 4.0.

The Windows PowerShell 2.0 engine requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.50727 at a minimum. This requirement is fulfilled by Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1. This requirement is not fulfilled by Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 and later versions of the Microsoft .NET Framework.

For information about adding or installing the Windows PowerShell 2.0 engine, and adding or installing the required versions of the Microsoft .NET Framework, see Installing the Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine. For information about starting the Windows PowerShell 2.0 engine, see Starting the Windows PowerShell 2.0 Engine.

Windows PowerShell 2.0 and Windows PowerShell 3.0 run in the Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE). However, the following cmdlets are not supported.

• Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) Cmdlets
  
  
• Get-EventLog
  
  
• Get-WinEvent
  
  
• Save-Help
  
  
• Update-Help
  
  

Also, the WinRm service is not present on Windows PE.

Concepts

Other Resources