Cross-Platform PowerShell Scripting Tips

may

            April 16, 2024

        Cross-Platform PowerShell Scripting Tips

            I was at the PowerShell+DevOps Global Summit last week, helping to run the OnRamp program. I was demonstrating a PowerShell example in PowerShell 7 on my Windows 11 desktop. My partner, kindly reminded me that what I was showing would only work on Windows. He was right, of course. In my haste to prepare the demo, I didn't take cross-platform compatibility into account. And I should. You should. Even though you may not be specifically writing code that will run cross-platform, it is possible that code you write today *may* end up on non-Windows machines. Or maybe you are developing code on a Mac that might be run on Windows. I thought it would be a good idea to review items you should keep in mind when writing PowerShell code that might run cross-platform.

## #Requires

I would recommend you at least take advantage of the `#requires` feature of PowerShell scripts. If you are writing a script that will only work on Windows PowerShell, specify the `PSEdition`.

#requires -PSEdition Desktop

If the script requires PowerShell 7, set the value to `Core`. It would also be a good idea to specify the version.

#requires -version 7.4

Unfortunately, there is no requirement statement that will say "Windows only". But there are ways around this limitation with a little code at the beginning of your script.

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I was at the PowerShell+DevOps Global Summit last week, helping to run the OnRamp program. I was demonstrating a PowerShell example in PowerShell 7 on my Windows 11 desktop. My partner, kindly reminded me that what I was showing would only work on Windows. He was right, of course. In my haste to prepare the demo, I didn't take cross-platform compatibility into account. And I should. You should. Even though you may not be specifically writing code that will run cross-platform, it is possible that code you write today may end up on non-Windows machines. Or maybe you are developing code on a Mac that might be run on Windows. I thought it would be a good idea to review items you should keep in mind when writing PowerShell code that might run cross-platform.
#Requires
I would recommend you at least take advantage of the #requires feature of PowerShell scripts. If you are writing a script that will only work on Windows PowerShell, specify the PSEdition.

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Cross-Platform PowerShell Scripting Tips

#Requires