Update 08/08/2016: Removed the note on container support. That is not part of WMF, as it installs on older versions of Server.
Today we are pleased to announce that the Windows Management Framework (WMF) 5.1 Preview release is now available on the Download Center.
WMF provides users with the ability to update previous releases of Windows Server and Windows Client to the management platform elements released in the most current version of Windows. This enables a consistent management platform to be used across the organization, and eases adoption of the latest Windows release.
WMF 5.1 Preview includes the PowerShell, WMI, WinRM, and Software Inventory and Licensing (SIL) components that are being released with Windows Server 2016. WMF 5.1 can be installed on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012, and 2012 R2, and provides a number of improvements over WMF 5.0 RTM including:
- New cmdlets: local users and groups; Get-ComputerInfo
- PowerShellGet improvements include enforcing signed modules, and installing JEA modules
- PackageManagement added support for CBS Setup, EXE-based setup, CAB packages
- Debugging improvements for DSC and PowerShell classes
- Security enhancements including enforcement of catalog-signed modules coming from the Pull Server and when using PowerShellGet cmdlets
- Responses to a number of user requests and issues
Detailed information on all the new WMF 5.1 features and updates, along with installation instructions, are in the WMF 5.1 release notes.
Please note:
- WMF 5.1 Preview requires the .Net Framework 4.6, which must be installed separately. Instructions are available in the WMF 5.1 Release Notes Install and Configure topic.
- WMF 5.1 Preview is intended to provide early information about what is in the release, and to give you the opportunity to provide feedback to the PowerShell team, but is not supported for production deployments at this time.
- WMF 5.1 Preview may be installed directly over WMF 5.0.
- It is a known issue that WMF 4.0 is currently required in order to install WMF 5.1 Preview on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. This requirement is expected to be removed before the final release.
- Installing future versions of WMF 5.1, including the RTM version, will require uninstalling the WMF 5.1 Preview.
We welcome and appreciate any reports of issues you encounter, particularly those that are new to this release. Please file them in UserVoice at https://windowsserver.uservoice.com/forums/301869-powershell, and include “WMF5.1” in the title or description.
Thank you
PowerShell Team
I was soooo exited, the bugs with the DSC reporting server I was told would be fixed in WMF 5.1, was to be released with GA of 2016.
The GA of Windows 2016 came and went. No WMF 5.1 for production. Oh well. We will wait with setting into production our on-prem DSC soultution until then.
Ah, but wait! 10 year anniversary, they hint about that! I will wait. I will stay up all night with my team and watch the event. Hopefully an announcement will happen. No such luck.
So now I ask as a inpatient child: “are we there yet?”
An estimated date? An unofficial plan? Throw us a bone, please?
Kind Regards
Hans O. Martinsen
PS: PowerShell Rocks, and so do you… Even if you make me wait. 😉
And then we got more info!
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/powershell/2016/12/06/wmf-5-1-releasing-january-2017/
Keeping my fingers crossed this time. 🙂
Keep up the good work and happy holidays!
Kind Regards
Hans O. Martinsen
Boo hoo. the PowerShell 10 anniversary celebration is over and still news on WMF 5.1 packages for down level OSes. Maybe once the hangover from the big party is over, we would get some exciting news. Anyhoo, congratulations to the PowerShell team on 10 years of fantastic success on what I believe to be THE most important addition to Windows 10 since AD. I love it and can’t wait for WMF 6.0. Now its time go home throw some wood into the fire pit, down a few brews, write some code, and celebrate.
The PowerShell 10th Anniversary Celebration is not until November 14th, see the announcement blog.
You are correct that how that relates to the release of the WMF 5.1 packages has not been announced – yet.
Dang it. I had the wrong date. So there is still hope. I just got the bits for Win 10 anniversary enterprise edition today. So at least I can drop it on my work machine. At least I got that going for me, which is nice.
Now that Server 2016 is GA, when can we expect WMF 5.1 packages for Windows 7, 8.1 and 2012 R2?
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/hybridcloud/2016/10/12/another-big-step-in-hybrid-cloud-windows-server-2016-general-availability/
All we can say at this instant is “soon”. We are still working on a few items specific to WMF, only.
Does anyone know if the final release of 5.1 will include the “Core Edition”?
Also, if the Core Edition will be available for installation as a self-contained package for targets other than Windows 2016 Nano?
WMF 5.1 will not include the Core Edition. It includes the Windows PowerShell edition that is in Windows Server 2016 builds other than Nano Server.
Support for containers? What kind of containers?
Good question, and thank you.
Unfortunately, WMF installs downlevel, and does not include support for container installation at this time.
We appreciate you asking the question, and have updated the blog topic accordingly.
Warning:
Here are a few common important bug, needs to be fix:
https://windowsserver.uservoice.com/forums/301869-powershell/suggestions/14925213-bug-console-output-appears-out-of-order
https://windowsserver.uservoice.com/forums/301869-powershell/suggestions/13685217-invoke-restmethod-and-invoke-webrequest-encoding-b
Given that Windows 10 is not listed as a supported target OS, can I safely infer that:
– WMF 5.1 will come as part of RS1?
– it will not be possible to upgrade TH1 (including LTSB 2015) or TH2 to WMF 5.1-level?
That’s a common question we should probably include in the docs.
WMF 5.1 contains the PowerShell, WMI, WinRM components that are in Windows 10 Anniversary edition, and Windows Server 2016. So, the best answer to your question is that updating to the Win10 Anniversary edition will get you there.
Thx for the clarification.
Yes please update the docs to mention that 5.1 is included in RS1 and WS2K16.
In build 14393.3, PSVersion is indeed 5.1.14393.0
Hi there PowerShell Team 🙂
Is there a final release date on WMF5.1?
Is it a requirement to first install WMF5.0 before updating to 5.1?
The “SIL” function – is that working with any kind of installed software or only Microsoft’s software?
Kind regards 🙂
Hi Cloud-Ras – We don’t have a final release date for WMF 5.1 RTM, but it will be somewhere near the GA release of Windows Server 2016. You do NOT have to install WMF5.0 before installing 5.1. If you have WMF 5.0 installed, WMF 5.1 will install over it, but it is not a requirement.
Will have to get back to you on the SIL question. The best overview is probably this: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt572043(v=ws.11).aspx.
Hello Cloud-Ras
As pointed out in this link https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt572043(v=ws.11), SIL collects information about any kind of software installed on the machine, not just Microsoft’s software.
Thanks
Harsha
1. The link on the sidebar is broken:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.1/scenarios-features
“[Improvements in Package Management] (5/1/package-management-improvements.md)” takes you to “#”
2. The row in the table for the “1..1000000 | % { } ” example is misaligned:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.1/engine-improvements
3. There is a bad link “[analysis_cache.md]()” on:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.1/engine-improvements
4. There are bad links on:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.1/scenarios-features
“[Determine running edition of PowerShell]()
[Declare a module’s compatibility to specific PowerShell versions]()
[Filter Get-Module results by CompatiblePSEditions]()
[Prevent script execution unless run on a comaptible edition of PowerShell]()”
5. These documents don’t list any new language features (except changing the encoding of the file redirection operator and the new “using” statement). Is it really the case that there are no new language features?
Thanks for reporting the issues. As you recognized, the documentation for WMF 5.1 preview is still evolving. We will address these issues and others using our regular GitHub documentation process. If you have any suggestions, feel free to contribute to our docs (instructions at https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell-Docs). For issue (5) that you mentioned, WMF 5.1 preview is equivalent to updates on top of Win 10 November 2015 update / WS 2016 TP4 . We spent a great amount of time addressing issues reported by customers using our earlier releases.
Thanks
Krishna
Thanks! Some of these we are aware of and we have fixes in the pipeline. Others are good to know, thanks for taking the time to report them!
We have been moving towards faster, more open documentation by hosting our documents directly in GitHub. As we transition towards this model, there will definitely be a few rough edges. If you’re so inclined, you can always hit the “edit” button in the top right of our documents to make a quick fix (although none of the issues you pointed out fit into this category) , or submit an issue on our GitHub Repo https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell-Docs/issues to get our attention as well.
Existing issues and PRs for the things you pointed out:
1. https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell-Docs/pull/537
2. https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell-Docs/pull/536
3. new issue https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell-Docs/issues/543
4. new issue https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell-Docs/issues/544