Windows PowerShell SDK

Purpose

Microsoft® Windows® PowerShell is a Microsoft .NET-connected environment designed for administrative automation. Windows PowerShell provides a new approach to building commands, composing solutions, and creating management GUI tools.

Where Applicable

Windows PowerShell enables a system administrator to automate the administration of system resources by the execution of commands either directly or through scripts.

Developer Audience

The Windows PowerShell SDK is written for command developers who require reference information about the APIs provided by Windows PowerShell. Command developers use Windows PowerShell to create both commands and providers that extend the tasks that can be performed by the Microsoft® Windows® PowerShell.

Related Documents

In addition to the Windows PowerShell SDK, the following resources provide more information.

Windows PowerShell Team Blog. The best resource for learning from and collaborating with other Microsoft® Windows® PowerShell users. Read the Windows PowerShell Team blog, and then join the Windows PowerShell User Forum (microsoft.public.windows.powershell). Use Windows Live Search to find other Windows PowerShell blogs and resources. Then, as you develop your expertise, please freely contribute your ideas.

Windows PowerShell SDK. Provides reference content used to develop cmdlets, providers, and hosting applications.

Windows PowerShell Programmer's Guide. Provides tutorials for creating cmdlets, providers, and hosting applications. Also contains information about fundamental Windows PowerShell concepts.

Windows PowerShell TechNet Library. Provides the latest versions of the command line Help topics.

Installing Windows PowerShell

For more information about installing Microsoft® Windows® PowerShell and where to download the Microsoft® Windows® PowerShell Software Development Kit (SDK), see How to Install Windows PowerShell in the Windows PowerShell Programmer's Guide.

Class Library

• System.Management.Automation
  This is the root namespace for Windows PowerShell. It contains the classes, enumerations, and interfaces required to implement custom cmdlets. In particular, the Cmdlet class is the base class from which all cmdlet classes must be derived. For more information about cmdlets, see Windows PowerShell Cmdlets in the Windows PowerShell Programmer's Guide.

• System.Management.Automation.Provider
  This namespace contains the classes, enumerations, and interfaces required to implement a Windows PowerShell provider. In particular, the CmdletProvider class is the base class from which all Windows PowerShell provider classes must be derived.

• Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands
  This namespace contains the classes for the cmdlets and providers implemented by Windows PowerShell. Similarly, it is recommended that you create a [YourName].Commands namespace for those cmdlets that you implement.

• System.Management.Automation.Host
  This namespace contains the classes, enumerations, and interfaces that the cmdlet uses to interact with the Host application user.

• System.Management.Automation.Internal
  This namespace contains the base classes used by other namespace classes. For example, the CmdletMetadataAttribute class is the base class for the CmdletAttribute class.

• System.Management.Automation.Runspaces
  This namespace contains the classes, enumerations, and interfaces used to create a Windows PowerShell Runspace. In this context, the Windows PowerShell runspace is the context in which one or more Windows PowerShell pipelines invoke cmdlets. That is, cmdlets work within the context of a Windows PowerShell runspace. For more information about Windows PowerShell runspaces, see Windows PowerShell Runspaces in the Windows PowerShell Programmer's Guide.