Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

Installing the Amazon Tools for PowerShell on Windows

A Windows-based computer can run any of the Amazon Tools for PowerShell package options:

The package you choose depends on the release and edition of Windows that you're running.

Setting up the Amazon Tools for PowerShell involves the following high-level tasks, described in detail in this topic.

Prerequisites

Ensure that you meet the requirements listed in Prerequisites for Setting up the Amazon Tools for PowerShell.

Newer versions of PowerShell, including PowerShell Core, are available as downloads from Microsoft at Installing various versions of PowerShell on Microsoft's Web site.

Install AWS.Tools on Windows

You can install the modularized version of Amazon Tools for PowerShell on computers that are running Windows with Windows PowerShell 5.1, or PowerShell Core 6.0 or later. For information about how to install PowerShell Core, see Installing various versions of PowerShell on Microsoft's Web site.

You can install AWS.Tools in one of three ways:

Install AWSPowerShell.NetCore on Windows

You can install the AWSPowerShell.NetCore on computers that are running Windows with PowerShell version 3 through 5.1, or PowerShell Core 6.0 or later. For information about how to install PowerShell Core, see Installing various versions of PowerShell on the Microsoft PowerShell website.

You can install AWSPowerShell.NetCore in one of two ways

To install AWSPowerShell.NetCore from the PowerShell Gallery using the Install-Module cmdlet

To install the AWSPowerShell.NetCore from the PowerShell Gallery, your computer must be running PowerShell 5.0 or later, or running PowerShellGet on PowerShell 3 or later. Run the following command.

PS > Install-Module -name AWSPowerShell.NetCore

If you're running PowerShell as administrator, the previous command installs Amazon Tools for PowerShell for all users on the computer. If you're running PowerShell as a standard user without administrator permissions, that same command installs Amazon Tools for PowerShell for only the current user.

To install for only the current user when that user has administrator permissions, run the command with the -Scope CurrentUser parameter set, as follows.

PS > Install-Module -name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -Scope CurrentUser

Although PowerShell 3.0 and later releases typically load modules into your PowerShell session the first time you run a cmdlet in the module, the AWSPowerShell.NetCore module is too large to support this functionality. You must instead explicitly load the AWSPowerShell.NetCore Core module into your PowerShell session by running the following command.

PS > Import-Module AWSPowerShell.NetCore

To load the AWSPowerShell.NetCore module into a PowerShell session automatically, add that command to your PowerShell profile. For more information about editing your PowerShell profile, see About Profiles in the PowerShell documentation.

Install AWSPowerShell on Windows PowerShell

You can install the Amazon Tools for Windows PowerShell in one of three ways:

To install AWSPowerShell from the PowerShell Gallery using the Install-Module cmdlet

You can install the AWSPowerShell from the PowerShell Gallery if you're running PowerShell 5.0 or later, or have installed PowerShellGet on PowerShell 3 or later. You can install and update AWSPowerShell from Microsoft's PowerShell Gallery by running the following command.

 PS > Install-Module -Name AWSPowerShell

To load the AWSPowerShell module into a PowerShell session automatically, add the previous import-module cmdlet to your PowerShell profile. For more information about editing your PowerShell profile, see About Profiles in the PowerShell documentation.

Enable Script Execution

To load the Amazon Tools for PowerShell modules, you must enable PowerShell script execution. To enable script execution, run the Set-ExecutionPolicy cmdlet to set a policy of RemoteSigned. For more information, see About Execution Policies on the Microsoft Technet website.

To enable script execution

If you don't have the execution policy set correctly, PowerShell shows the following error whenever you try to run a script, such as your profile.

File C:\Users\username\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 cannot be loaded because the execution
 of scripts is disabled on this system. Please see "get-help about_signing" for more details.
At line:1 char:2
+ . <<<<  'C:\Users\username\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1'
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [], PSSecurityException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : RuntimeException

The Tools for Windows PowerShell installer automatically updates the PSModulePath to include the location of the directory that contains the AWSPowerShell module.

Because the PSModulePath includes the location of the Amazon module's directory, the Get-Module -ListAvailable cmdlet shows the module.

PS > Get-Module -ListAvailable

ModuleType Name                      ExportedCommands
---------- ----                      ----------------
Manifest   AppLocker                 {}
Manifest   BitsTransfer              {}
Manifest   PSDiagnostics             {}
Manifest   TroubleshootingPack       {}
Manifest   AWSPowerShell             {Update-EBApplicationVersion, Set-DPStatus, Remove-IAMGroupPol...

Versioning

Amazon releases new versions of the Amazon Tools for PowerShell periodically to support new Amazon services and features. To determine the version of the Tools that you have installed, run the Get-AWSPowerShellVersion cmdlet.

PS > Get-AWSPowerShellVersion

Tools for PowerShell
Version 4.1.11.0
Copyright 2012-2021 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

Amazon Web Services SDK for .NET
Core Runtime Version 3.7.0.12
Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

Release notes: https://github.com/aws/aws-tools-for-powershell/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md

This software includes third party software subject to the following copyrights:
- Logging from log4net, Apache License
[http://logging.apache.org/log4net/license.html]

You can also add the -ListServiceVersionInfo parameter to a Get-AWSPowerShellVersion command to see a list of the Amazon services that are supported in the current version of the tools. If you use the modularized AWS.Tools.* option, only the modules that you currently have imported are displayed.

PS > Get-AWSPowerShellVersion -ListServiceVersionInfo
...

Service                            Noun Prefix Module Name                       SDK
                                                                                 Assembly
                                                                                 Version
-------                            ----------- -----------                       -----------
Alexa For Business                 ALXB        AWS.Tools.AlexaForBusiness        3.7.0.11
Amplify Backend                    AMPB        AWS.Tools.AmplifyBackend          3.7.0.11
Amazon API Gateway                 AG          AWS.Tools.APIGateway              3.7.0.11
Amazon API Gateway Management API  AGM         AWS.Tools.ApiGatewayManagementApi 3.7.0.11
Amazon API Gateway V2              AG2         AWS.Tools.ApiGatewayV2            3.7.0.11
Amazon Appflow                     AF          AWS.Tools.Appflow                 3.7.1.4
Amazon Route 53                    R53         AWS.Tools.Route53                 3.7.0.12
Amazon Route 53 Domains            R53D        AWS.Tools.Route53Domains          3.7.0.11
Amazon Route 53 Resolver           R53R        AWS.Tools.Route53Resolver         3.7.1.5
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) S3          AWS.Tools.S3                      3.7.0.13
...

To determine the version of PowerShell that you are running, enter $PSVersionTable to view the contents of the $PSVersionTable automatic variable.

PS > $PSVersionTable

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      6.2.2
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    6.2.2
OS                             Darwin 18.7.0 Darwin Kernel Version 18.7.0: Tue Aug 20 16:57:14 PDT 2019; root:xnu-4903.271.2~2/RELEASE_X86_64
Platform                       Unix
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Updating the Amazon Tools for PowerShell on Windows

Periodically, as updated versions of the Amazon Tools for PowerShell are released, you should update the version that you are running locally.

Update the Modularized AWS.Tools

To upgrade your AWS.Tools modules to the latest version, run the following command.

PS > Update-AWSToolsModule -CleanUp

This command updates all of the currently installed AWS.Tools modules and, after a successful update, removes other installed versions.

Update the Tools for PowerShell Core

Run the Get-AWSPowerShellVersion cmdlet to determine the version that you are running, and compare that with the version of Tools for Windows PowerShell that is available on the PowerShell Gallery website. We suggest you check every two to three weeks. Support for new commands and Amazon services is available only after you update to a version with that support.

Before you install a newer release of AWSPowerShell.NetCore, uninstall the existing module. Close any open PowerShell sessions before you uninstall the existing package. Run the following command to uninstall the package.

PS > Uninstall-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore -AllVersions

After the package is uninstalled, install the updated module by running the following command.

PS > Install-Module -Name AWSPowerShell.NetCore

After installation, run the command Import-Module AWSPowerShell.NetCore to load the updated cmdlets into your PowerShell session.

Update the Tools for Windows PowerShell

Run the Get-AWSPowerShellVersion cmdlet to determine the version that you are running, and compare that with the version of Tools for Windows PowerShell that is available on the PowerShell Gallery website. We suggest you check every two to three weeks. Support for new commands and Amazon services is available only after you update to a version with that support.

After installation, run Import-Module AWSPowerShell to load the updated cmdlets into your PowerShell session. Or run the custom Amazon Tools for PowerShell console from your Start menu.