Powershell - Version

This tutorial outlines multiple methods for determining the installed version of PowerShell.

Get Installed Powershell Version

There are multiple ways to get installed version in powershell

• Using $PSVersionTable Variable: The $PSVersionTable variable contains essential version information for PowerShell.

  PS E:\work\powershell> $PSVersionTable
  
  Name                           Value
  ----                           -----
  PSVersion                      5.1.21996.1
  PSEdition                      Desktop
  PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
  BuildVersion                   10.0.21996.1
  CLRVersion                     4.0.30319.42000
  WSManStackVersion              3.0
  PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
  SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
  

  It includes various properties such as PSVersion, PSEdition, PSCompatibleVersions, and BuildVersion, each providing details about the PowerShell environment.

  To retrieve the current installed PowerShell version:

  PS E:\work\powershell> $PSVersionTable.PSVersion
  
  Major  Minor  Build  Revision
  -----  -----  -----  --------
  5      1      21996  1
  

• use Get-Host cmdlet The Get-Host cmdlet offers information about the running program, including the PowerShell version.

  PS E:\work\powershell> Get-Host
  Name             : ConsoleHost
  Version          : 5.1.21996.1
  InstanceId       : 832c43e6-41ec-47b2-9b74-d1488ecb1b21
  UI               : System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHostUserInterface
  CurrentCulture   : en-IN
  CurrentUICulture : en-US
  PrivateData      : Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost+ConsoleColorProxy
  DebuggerEnabled  : True
  IsRunspacePushed : False
  Runspace         : System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalRunspace
  

• use pwsh command in 6.x version

  The pwsh command is specific to PowerShell Core versions 6.x and above. It is used to launch PowerShell Core.

  pwsh -v
  pwsh --version
  

• using $host command The $host variable is an inbuilt variable in PowerShell that provides version information.

  PS C:\> $host
  Name             : ConsoleHost
  Version          : 5.1.21996.1
  InstanceId       : 84e4a464-a52e-43d0-9d26-f09ab52cf76d
  UI               : System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHostUserInterface
  CurrentCulture   : en-IN
  CurrentUICulture : en-US
  PrivateData      : Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost+ConsoleColorProxy
  DebuggerEnabled  : True
  IsRunspacePushed : False
  Runspace         : System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalRunspace