Because of the cross-platform heterogeneous support design goal in #PsCore6, many platform specific #powershell functionality on the Windows operating system simply cannot, may not or have not yet been migrated over. Since Microsoft does not always fully document details of changes across product versions, this series of blog posts will attempt to identify any similarities and differences between these two PowerShell editions from the command perspective in a typical deployment, namely that of Windows PowerShell 5.x and the newly Release to Manufacturing/Web (RTM/RTW) GA version of PowerShell Core 6.0.0.
Let us kick start with the topic of Modules where the key functionality of PowerShell resides. Out of the box, executing powershell.exe (<= PS5.1) and pwsh.exe (PSCore6) will load a basic set of commands from core modules with exactly the same names:
ModuleType Version Name
———- ——- —-
Manifest 3.1.0.0 Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility
Script 1.2 PSReadline
Even though module names and versions carry the same information, … the difference ends there as the number and type of ExportedCommands do not necessarily match:
PS C:\> Get-Module | % { “$PsItem`t$($PsItem.ExportedCommands.count)” }
Microsoft.PowerShell.Management 94 #59 in #pscore6
Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility 109 #105 in #pscore6
PSReadline 6 #6 in #pscore6
On our test system, the automatic Module loading feature kicked in where the Microsoft.PowerShell.Management module was added to the list in the background.
Although at first glance the quantity of ExportedCommands appears lower in #PsCore6 compared with #powershell, newer commands are introduced (such as Get-Uptime) with older ones updated, removed or not migrated to #PSCore6. In addition, certain commands manifested as Functions are now reborn as Cmdlets (e.g. Get-Verb).
Here is a list of command discrepancies for the above set of standard Modules:
#PsCore6 New Commands x4
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| Remove-Service | |
| Get-Uptime | |
| Get-Verb | Cmdlet (Function in #powershell) |
| Remove-Alias |
PRE #PsCore6 Only #powershell Commands* x43
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| Add-Computer | |
| Checkpoint-Computer | |
| Clear-EventLog | |
| Clear-RecycleBin | |
| Complete-Transaction | |
| Disable-ComputerRestore | |
| Enable-ComputerRestore | |
| gcb | |
| Get-Clipboard | |
| Get-ComputerRestorePoint | |
| Get-ControlPanelItem | |
| Get-EventLog | |
| Get-HotFix | |
| Get-Transaction | |
| Get-WmiObject | |
| Invoke-WmiMethod | |
| Limit-EventLog | |
| New-EventLog | |
| New-WebServiceProxy | |
| Register-WmiEvent | |
| Remove-Computer | |
| Remove-EventLog | |
| Remove-WmiObject | |
| Reset-ComputerMachinePassword | |
| Restore-Computer | |
| scb | |
| Set-Clipboard | |
| Set-WmiInstance | |
| Show-ControlPanelItem | |
| Show-EventLog | |
| Start-Transaction | |
| Test-ComputerSecureChannel | |
| Test-Connection | |
| Undo-Transaction | |
| Use-Transaction | |
| Write-EventLog | |
| CFS | |
| ConvertFrom-String | |
| Convert-String | |
| Out-GridView | |
| Out-Printer | |
| Show-Command | |
| Update-List |
* only availble in Windows PowerShell 5.10 or earlier
Test platform
Windows Server 2016 RTM Build (Version 1607 OS Build 14393.693)
+ PowerShell Core 6.0.0 GA