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Installing PSFramework.NuGet

Generally, when documenting a module, we would skip the "How to install this?" step, as that is presumed completed. With the very module designed to help you with installing modules however, this becomes critical, as otherwise we risk leaving you facing the very problem you were looking for a solution for!

There are essentially two scenarios here:

  1. Live install it from the internet
  2. Offline transfer to an internal computer

1: From the Internet​

There are three ways to install it from the internet:

  • A bootstrap script
  • The classic Package Management Tools with Install-Module
  • The newer Package Management Tools with Install-PSResource

Bootstrap

Let's be honest here: The main motivation most people will have to use this project is to get a simple, "Just make this work" effect.

The bootstrap way is exactly that. It requires no setup, it requires no other tools than an arbitrary PowerShell console, and that's it:

Invoke-WebRequest 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PowershellFrameworkCollective/PSFramework.NuGet/refs/heads/master/bootstrap.ps1' -UseBasicParsing | Invoke-Expression

This solution will load a bootstrap script from github (see url above) and then download all that is needed from the PowerShellGallery (without requiring the usual Package Management Tools).

Install-Module

The classic way using a command available on every computer running PowerShell:

Install-Module PSFramework.NuGet -Scope CurrentUser

Problem: This may require some setting up - the very thing PSFramework.NuGet tries to help you with - so you may face a classic chicken/egg problem.

Install-PSResource

This is automatically available on PowerShell version 7.4 or later:

Install-PSResource PSFramework.NuGet

It offers better performance than Install-Module and needs no further setting up. But it means you already installed the latest PowerShell version, rather than having to deal with the defaults offered out of the box. Something not available to everybody.

2. Offline Transfer​

To deploy PSFramework.NuGet to a computer without internet access, we need to execute two steps:

  1. Download the modules needed to a folder
  2. Copy modules to the other computer

Download the modules needed to a folder

On an internet facing computer you have previously prepared (see "1: From the Internet"), download the modules needed like this:

Save-PSFModule PSFramework.NuGet -Path .

This will download everything you need into the current folder your console is in.

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Tip: Selecting an empty folder for this makes it easier to pick up what you need and not forget a dependency.

Copy modules to the other computer

Copy all the folders (and their contents) to the target computer - via whatever way you transport files into your offline environment - and then place them where PowerShell looks for modules.

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On a Windows computer, this is usually C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules

You can find out where PowerShell looks for modules by querying the PSModulePath within a PowerShell console:

$env:PSModulePath -split ";"

Any of the paths listed here will do, paths that point to a directory in your user profile only affect you, others - such as those under Program Files - will apply to all users on the computer.