5 PowerShell Gallery modules for Windows Server Administration

by | Apr 26, 2021 | Technology | 0 comments

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

PowerShell Gallery contains lots of modules that you can add to a Windows Server deployment to make it easier to manage. In this article, I’ll cover a few of the ones I’ve found most useful over the years when it comes to managing Windows Server.


 


Before you can install any of these modules, you need to install the NuGet package provider with:


 


 

Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -Force

 


 



The next step is to install the PowerShellGet for module installation using:


 


 

Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet -Force

 


 



Or, if you have it already installed, ensure that it is up to date with:


 


 

Update-Module -Name PowerShellGet

 


 


 


You can learn more about PowerShellGet at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/powershellget/?view=powershell-7.1?WT.mc_id=modinfra-24781-orthomas


 


Now that you’ve got the necessary bits in place, here are the five modules I recommend:


 


1: PSWindowsUpdate.


 


Use this module to manage Windows Updates from PowerShell (functionality that I’m endlessly surprised isn’t there in the base operating system). Especially useful if you’re working with Server Core machines and you don’t want to use sconfig.cmd to install software updates.


 


Install using:


 


 


 

Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate

 


 


 


Notable cmdlets include:


 



  • Add-WUServiceManager

  • Enable-WURemoting

  • Get-WindowsUpdate

  • Get-WUApiVersion

  • Get-WUHistory

  • Get-WUInstallerStatus

  • Get-WUJob

  • Get-WULastResults

  • Get-WURebootStatus

  • Get-WUServiceManager

  • Get-WUSettings

  • Invoke-WUJob

  • Remove-WindowsUpdate

  • Remove-WUServiceManager

  • Set-WUSettings

  • Update-WUModule

  • Set-PSWUSettings

  • Reset-WUComponents

  • Get-WUOfflineMSU


You can learn more about this module at: https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/PSWindowsUpdate/2.2.0.2


 


2: Package Management


 


Use this module to install software packages using PowerShell in a manner reminiscent of apt-get or Chocolatey.
Install using:


 


 

Install-Module -Name PackageManagement

 


 


Notable cmdlets include:


 




  • Find-Package




  • Get-Package




  • Get-PackageProvider




  • Get-PackageSource




  • Install-Package




  • Import-PackageProvider




  • Find-PackageProvider




  • Install-PackageProvider




  • Register-PackageSource




  • Set-PackageSource




  • Unregister-PackageSource




  • Uninstall-Package




  • Save-Package


     




You can learn more about this module at:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/packagemanagement/?view=powershell-7.1?WT.mc_id=modinfra-24781-orthomas


 


3. PSLogging


 


Use this module to manage log files for PowerShell scripts.
Install using:


 


 

Install-Module -Name PSLogging

 


 


Notable cmdlets/functions:



  • Start-Log

  • Write-LogInfo

  • Write-LogWarning

  • Write-LogError

  • Stop-Log

  • Send-Log


 


You can learn more about this module at: https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/PSLogging/2.5.2


 


4. Invoke-CommandAs


 


This module allows you to invoke commands as a specific user or as system on either the local or remote computers through ScheduleTask.
Install using:


 


 

Install-Module -Name Invoke-CommandAs

 


 


Notable cmdlets/functions


 



  • Invoke-CommandAs


You can learn more about this module at:


 


https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/Invoke-CommandAs/3.1.6


 


5.0 IISAdministration


 


This module allows you to manage Internet Information Server using PowerShell.


 


Install using:


 


 

Install-Module -Name IISAdministration

 


 


 


Notable cmdlets/functions


 



  • Get-IISAppPool

  • Start-IISCommitDelay

  • Stop-IISCommitDelay

  • Get-IISSite

  • Remove-IISSite

  • New-IISSite

  • Stop-IISSite

  • Start-IISSite

  • Get-IISConfigSection

  • Get-IISConfigCollection

  • Get-IISConfigCollectionElement

  • New-IISConfigCollectionElement

  • Remove-IISConfigCollectionElement

  • Remove-IISConfigElement

  • Clear-IISConfigCollection

  • Get-IISConfigElement

  • Get-IISConfigAttributeValue

  • Remove-IISConfigAttribute

  • Set-IISConfigAttributeValue

  • Get-IISServerManager

  • Reset-IISServerManager

  • Get-IISCentralCertProvider

  • Set-IISCentralCertProvider

  • Set-IISCentralCertProviderCredential

  • Clear-IISCentralCertProvider

  • Disable-IISCentralCertProvider

  • Enable-IISCentralCertProvider

  • Enable-IISSharedConfig

  • Disable-IISSharedConfig

  • Export-IISConfiguration

  • Get-IISSharedConfig

  • Get-IISSiteBinding

  • Remove-IISSiteBinding

  • New-IISSiteBinding


You can learn more about this module at: https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/IISAdministration/1.1.0.0


 


 


 

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