1 00:00:01,140 --> 00:00:04,090 Alrighty, it's demo time. Let's kick off 2 00:00:04,090 --> 00:00:05,880 by taking a look at the paths PowerShell 3 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:08,370 will look in to find any modules that have 4 00:00:08,370 --> 00:00:10,360 been installed which are stored in that 5 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,430 environment variable we just spoke about, 6 00:00:12,430 --> 00:00:15,930 PSModulePath. Over here in the PowerShell 7 00:00:15,930 --> 00:00:21,060 7 console, if I run $env:PSModulePath to 8 00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:22,980 take a look at the current value, we've 9 00:00:22,980 --> 00:00:24,650 got a few folders in here that are 10 00:00:24,650 --> 00:00:27,780 separated by a semi‑colon. Let's run that 11 00:00:27,780 --> 00:00:30,600 again, but use the split operator to split 12 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,110 that value on the semi‑colon. There we go, 13 00:00:33,110 --> 00:00:35,320 that's a bit easier to read. These are the 14 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,870 paths to the locations of the modules that 15 00:00:37,870 --> 00:00:40,490 are installed on disk, and PowerShell uses 16 00:00:40,490 --> 00:00:43,460 these paths in order to locate modules 17 00:00:43,460 --> 00:00:45,600 when you don't specify the full path to a 18 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:47,750 module. Given we're working with 19 00:00:47,750 --> 00:00:50,170 PowerShell 7 here, just a quick sidebar on 20 00:00:50,170 --> 00:00:52,460 something I want you to be aware of. By 21 00:00:52,460 --> 00:00:55,120 default, Windows PowerShell and PowerShell 22 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,640 7 store modules in different locations. 23 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,490 PowerShell 7 combines these locations in 24 00:01:01,490 --> 00:01:04,660 the PSModulePath. environment variable. So 25 00:01:04,660 --> 00:01:06,430 if you looked at this default environment 26 00:01:06,430 --> 00:01:08,440 variable in Windows PowerShell, it 27 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:10,740 wouldn't list these two folders, but 28 00:01:10,740 --> 00:01:13,320 PowerShell 7 automatically combines all of 29 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:15,490 these paths into the variable to make it 30 00:01:15,490 --> 00:01:17,570 easier for you to migrate across from 31 00:01:17,570 --> 00:01:20,200 Windows PowerShell. You can add a path 32 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,250 into this environment variable to tell 33 00:01:22,250 --> 00:01:24,030 PowerShell to search for modules in 34 00:01:24,030 --> 00:01:26,640 another location on your machine. Let's 35 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,240 say, for example, I had a folder in the C 36 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,350 Drive named MyPowerShellModules. You can 37 00:01:32,350 --> 00:01:37,680 add this path by running $env:PSModulePath 38 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:42,370 =, then repeat $env:PSModulePath, 39 00:01:42,370 --> 00:01:44,940 indicating that we want the current value 40 00:01:44,940 --> 00:01:47,090 plus my additional path of 41 00:01:47,090 --> 00:01:51,500 C:\MyPowerShellModules. Note there that I 42 00:01:51,500 --> 00:01:54,130 have also put a semi‑colon at the start of 43 00:01:54,130 --> 00:01:56,060 that, because I'm adding this value to a 44 00:01:56,060 --> 00:01:58,190 string of paths separated by the 45 00:01:58,190 --> 00:02:01,300 semi‑colon. If I up arrow and rerun the 46 00:02:01,300 --> 00:02:03,550 value splitting it on the semi‑colon, 47 00:02:03,550 --> 00:02:04,540 you'll see the path to 48 00:02:04,540 --> 00:02:08,350 C:\MyPowerShellModules is now added to the 49 00:02:08,350 --> 00:02:11,420 list. Now, that is only persistent for 50 00:02:11,420 --> 00:02:14,010 this PowerShell session. If I close 51 00:02:14,010 --> 00:02:16,970 PowerShell and then relaunch it, and then 52 00:02:16,970 --> 00:02:18,520 look at the value of that environment 53 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:21,120 variable again, actually let's split it on 54 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,260 that semi‑colon to make it easier to see, 55 00:02:23,260 --> 00:02:25,100 you will notice we no longer have our 56 00:02:25,100 --> 00:02:27,920 custom path listed. There are a couple of 57 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,400 ways we can make sure that the value of 58 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:32,740 PSModulePath has our custom folder in 59 00:02:32,740 --> 00:02:35,770 every session. The first way is to add the 60 00:02:35,770 --> 00:02:38,250 previous command to a PowerShell profile, 61 00:02:38,250 --> 00:02:40,730 so every time PowerShell is launched it 62 00:02:40,730 --> 00:02:43,470 will amend that variable. Another way is 63 00:02:43,470 --> 00:02:45,180 to make a permanent change to the 64 00:02:45,180 --> 00:02:46,890 environment variable in the operating 65 00:02:46,890 --> 00:02:49,180 system. Now, I could show you how to do 66 00:02:49,180 --> 00:02:51,430 that using the Windows interface, but, 67 00:02:51,430 --> 00:02:53,650 hey, this is a PowerShell course, so let 68 00:02:53,650 --> 00:02:55,100 me show you how to do that using 69 00:02:55,100 --> 00:02:57,910 PowerShell. I'll start by creating a new 70 00:02:57,910 --> 00:03:00,670 variable named currentpath, and for the 71 00:03:00,670 --> 00:03:02,290 value I'm going to use the 72 00:03:02,290 --> 00:03:05,190 GetEnvironmentVariable method, and I want 73 00:03:05,190 --> 00:03:07,140 to get the environment variable named 74 00:03:07,140 --> 00:03:10,190 PSModulePath in the context of the 75 00:03:10,190 --> 00:03:12,610 Machine. Let's take a look at the value of 76 00:03:12,610 --> 00:03:15,130 that currentpath variable, and split it on 77 00:03:15,130 --> 00:03:17,320 the semi‑colon. We've got a couple of 78 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:19,180 paths returned there that we just saw in 79 00:03:19,180 --> 00:03:21,760 the previous example. We're not seeing all 80 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:23,190 of the paths that we did a few minutes 81 00:03:23,190 --> 00:03:25,560 ago, because not all of them are stored in 82 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,540 the Machine environment variable context. 83 00:03:28,540 --> 00:03:30,870 I'll create a new PowerShell variable 84 00:03:30,870 --> 00:03:34,770 named $newpath, and for the value I want 85 00:03:34,770 --> 00:03:37,080 those entries for the currentpath, and 86 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,430 similar to before, I'm going to add in the 87 00:03:39,430 --> 00:03:43,120 value for C:\MyPowerShellModules. Again, 88 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,770 note that I'm dropping a semi‑colon at the 89 00:03:45,770 --> 00:03:47,820 start because we're adding this to a 90 00:03:47,820 --> 00:03:51,140 string already separated by semi‑colons. 91 00:03:51,140 --> 00:03:53,570 To add our custom path, we can use the 92 00:03:53,570 --> 00:03:56,190 SetEnvironmentVariable method, noting that 93 00:03:56,190 --> 00:03:58,060 we want to set the PSModulePath 94 00:03:58,060 --> 00:04:00,530 environment variable, and the value we 95 00:04:00,530 --> 00:04:03,530 want to set is $newpath, which contains 96 00:04:03,530 --> 00:04:06,320 the semi‑colon‑separated string of paths, 97 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:08,870 including our custom path, and we're 98 00:04:08,870 --> 00:04:11,010 setting the Machine environment variable. 99 00:04:11,010 --> 00:04:13,920 In PowerShell, no news is usually good 100 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:16,340 news, but if I up arrow back to retrieving 101 00:04:16,340 --> 00:04:18,740 the value using the Get method, and then 102 00:04:18,740 --> 00:04:21,000 split that on the semi‑colon, you'll see 103 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,440 our custom path is now listed and will be 104 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,490 used by PowerShell. This time, if I close 105 00:04:26,490 --> 00:04:29,640 the PowerShell session and then reopen it, 106 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:31,670 and then check out the PSModulePath 107 00:04:31,670 --> 00:04:34,300 variable, in a brand‑new session you'll 108 00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:36,190 see the custom path is still listed, 109 00:04:36,190 --> 00:04:38,060 because it's now set in the Windows 110 00:04:38,060 --> 00:04:41,240 environment variable. To finish up here, 111 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,220 I'm going to run the command Get‑Module 112 00:04:43,220 --> 00:04:45,470 with no parameters, and we'll see what 113 00:04:45,470 --> 00:04:47,100 modules have been loaded into this 114 00:04:47,100 --> 00:04:49,760 specific PowerShell session. We've got a 115 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:51,710 couple there that's always loaded when 116 00:04:51,710 --> 00:04:54,070 PowerShell is launched. I want to repeat 117 00:04:54,070 --> 00:04:56,630 that so it's clear. Get‑Module with no 118 00:04:56,630 --> 00:04:58,790 parameters will show the modules that are 119 00:04:58,790 --> 00:05:01,420 currently loaded into this session. It 120 00:05:01,420 --> 00:05:03,580 doesn't return a list of all modules that 121 00:05:03,580 --> 00:05:05,820 are installed on this computer. To do 122 00:05:05,820 --> 00:05:08,280 that, you can run Get‑Module with the 123 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:11,280 ListAvailable parameter. And if I scroll 124 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:13,810 up to the top, check this out, these are 125 00:05:13,810 --> 00:05:15,470 the paths that are specified in the 126 00:05:15,470 --> 00:05:18,190 PSModulePath environment variable, and 127 00:05:18,190 --> 00:05:19,990 PowerShell has gone and looked in each of 128 00:05:19,990 --> 00:05:22,050 those paths to see if it can find any 129 00:05:22,050 --> 00:05:24,730 modules. And as you can see, it's found a 130 00:05:24,730 --> 00:05:26,940 heap that are installed by default. 131 00:05:26,940 --> 00:05:29,290 PowerShell will only be looking in paths 132 00:05:29,290 --> 00:05:30,930 that are stored in our PSModulePath 133 00:05:30,930 --> 00:05:33,820 variable. If we have PowerShell modules on 134 00:05:33,820 --> 00:05:35,670 our system that aren't stored in one of 135 00:05:35,670 --> 00:05:42,000 those paths, neither Get‑Module nor Get‑Module ListAvailable will locate them.