If you have ever used Linux you will be used to the idea of applications like yum, apt-get, or rpm. For a long time Windows had nothing like this, so third parties filled this gap e.g. NuGet, and Chocolatey.
Since 2003 Windows did have a package management system but it wasn't very good. Since version 5x (2016), it has become more comprehensive and a lot easier to work with. The new architecture looks like this
- EndUser: As a user or sysadmin, you are in the “EndUser” section: This gives you access to several PowerShell cmdlets that we will use in the next section of this article.
- PackageManagementCore: This corresponds to the actions that can be performed on your machine. Available actions are: discovery, install / uninstall and inventory.
- PackageManagementProviders: This section regroups the providers that can interconnect to PackageManagementCore. It can be an officially-supported “Microsoft” provider or a 3rd party provider to expand the possibilities.
- Package Sources: Also called “Repositories”. This is the place where the software packages are stored. These sources are managed by the providers themselves. Their location can be an online URL, a local folder or a network shared folder.
Basically an end user can install packages (libraries and executable software) from various sources.
Listing available Package Management CommandLets
Using a PowerShell window run the following command
shell command
get-command -module packagemanagement | sort noun, verb
It will yield the following result
Listing Available Package Providers
shell command
find-packageprovider
Listing Installed Package Providers
shell command
get-packageprovider
Adding a Package Provider
shell command
// install the package provider install-packageprovider <provider-name> -verbose // add the package provider to the list of available providers on your machine import-packageprovider <provider-name> // check if package provider installed correctly get-packageprovider -verbose
Sample Code
// install the package provider
install-packageprovider ChocolateyGet -verbose
// add the package provider to the list of available providers on your machine
import-packageprovider ChocolateyGet
// you might have to install something from the package provider to allow its commands to be executed, for example chocolatey requires the choco.exe file to be available as a Windows application, use the command below to install chocolatey as a separate Windows application
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))
// check if package provider installed correctly
get-packageprovider -verbose
Installing a Package
shell command
// check if a package provider is available on your local machine get-packageprovider -verbose install-package <package-name> // OR install-package -source <provider-name> -name <package-name>
Sample Code
// see what package providers are available on your machine get-packageprovider -verbose install-package mysql // you might get a warning ssaying there are multiple source providers, rerun the command as follows install-package -source chocolatey -name mysql
Complete example of installing a Package Provider and a Package
Sample Code
// Check if the package provider exists
find-packageprovider ChocolateyGet -verbose
// install the package provider
install-packageprovider ChocolateyGet -verbose
// add the package provider to the list of available providers on your machine
import-packageprovider ChocolateyGet
// now install a package
get-packageprovider -verbose
// if the above might fail because choco.exe needs to be aavailable, use the command below to install chocolatey as a separate Windows application
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))
install-package mysql
// you might get a warning ssaying there are multiple source providers, rerun the command as follows
install-package -source chocolatey -name mysql