Home Powershell How to Install Windows PowerShell Core 6.0 in Linux

How to Install Windows PowerShell Core 6.0 in Linux

By sk
Published: Last Updated on 1.1K views

PowerShell is a distributed, scalable, heterogeneous configuration, and automation framework, consisting of an interactive command-line shell and scripting language, for Windows operating system. It is built on .NET framework, and It allows the users to automate and simplify the system tasks. For more details about PowerShell, refer the following link.

In this brief tutorial, let us see how to install PowerShell in Ubuntu 14.04/16.04/18.04 LTS and CentOS 7 64-bit server editions.

Install Windows PowerShell Core 6.0 in Linux

PowerShell can be installed on many popular Linux distributions including Arch Linux, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, SUSE. Here I have included installation instructions for Debian, Ubuntu and CentOS.

On Ubuntu 14.04 LTS:

Download and register PowerShell Repository GPG key:

$ wget -q https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/14.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb

Update the software sources list:

$ sudo apt-get update

Then, install PowerShell using command:

$ sudo apt-get install -y powershell

On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS:

Add PowerShell Repository GPG key:

$ wget -q https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/16.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb

Update the software sources list:

$ sudo apt-get update

Then, install PowerShell using command:

$ sudo apt-get install -y powershell

On Ubuntu 18.04 LTS:

Register PowerShell repository GPG key:

$ wget -q https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/18.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb

Update repository lists and install PowerShell:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y powershell

On Debian 8:

$ sudo apt-get install curl apt-transport-https
$ curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | sudo apt-key add -
$ sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/microsoft-debian-jessie-prod jessie main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft.list'
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y powershell

On Debian 9:

$ sudo apt-get install curl gnupg apt-transport-https
$ curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | sudo apt-key add -
$ sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/microsoft-debian-stretch-prod stretch main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft.list'
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install -y powershell

On CentOS 7:

Add PowerShell repository as root user:

# curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/7/prod.repo | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/microsoft.repo

Install PowerShell:

# yum install -y powershell

For other distributions, please refer the official installation instructions.

We have now installed PowerShell. Next, we will see how to use it in real time.

Getting started with PowerShell

Please note that PowerShell for Linux is still in development stage, so you encounter with some bugs. If there are any bugs, join the PowerShell community blog (The link is given at the end of this article) and get help.

Once you installed PowerShell, run the following command to enter to the PowerShell console/session.

pwsh

This is how PowerShell console looks like in my Ubuntu 18.04 LTS server.

PowerShell 6.1.2
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

https://aka.ms/pscore6-docs
Type 'help' to get help.

PS /home/sk>
powershell

PowerShell

In PowerShell session, we mention the powershell commands as cmdlets, and we mention PowerShell prompt sign as PS />.

Working in PowerShell is almost similar to BASH. I ran some Linux commands in PowerShell. It seems almost all Linux commands works in the PowerShell. Also, PowerShell has its own set of commands (cmdlets). The TAB function (autocomplete) feature works as like in BASH.

Clear? Well, Let us few examples.

View PowerShell version

To view the version of the PowerShell, enter:

$PSVersionTable

Sample output:

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      6.1.2
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    6.1.2
OS                             Linux 4.15.0-45-generic #48-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jan ...
Platform                       Unix
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

As you see in the above output, the version of the PowerShell is 6.1.2.

Creating files

To create a new file, use 'New-Item' command as shown below.

New-Item ostechnix.txt

Sample output:

    Directory: /home/sk


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
------          2/11/19  10:28 AM              0 ostechnix.txt

or simply use ">" as shown below below:

"" > ostechnix.txt

Here, "" - describes that the file is empty. ostechnix.txt is the filename.

To append some contents in the file, run the following command:

Set-Content ostechnix.txt -Value "Welcome to OSTechNix blog!"

Or

"Welcome to OSTechNix blog!" > ostechnix.txt
Viewing the content of a file

We have created some files from the PowerShell. How do we view the contents of that files? That's easy.

Simply use 'Get-Content' command to display the contents of any file.

Get-Content <Path> <filename>

Example:

Get-Content ostechnix.txt

Sample output:

Welcome to OSTechNix blog!
Deleting files

To delete a file or item, use 'Remove-Item' command as shown below.

Remove-Item ostechnix.txt

Let us verify whether the item has really been deleted using command:

Get-Content ostechnix.txt

You should see an output like below.

Get-Content : Cannot find path '/home/sk/ostechnix.txt' because it does not exist.
At line:1 char:1
+ Get-Content ostechnix.txt
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (/home/sk/ostechnix.txt:String) [Get-Content], ItemNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetContentCommand

Or you can simply use the "ls" command to view if the file is exist or not.

Viewing the running processes

To view the list of running processes, just run:

Get-Process

Sample output:

 NPM(K) PM(M) WS(M) CPU(s) Id SI ProcessName 
 ------ ----- ----- ------ -- -- ----------- 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.02 599 599 agetty 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 2385 385 anacron 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 257 0 ata_sff 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.07 556 556 auditd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.03 578 578 avahi-daemon 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 590 578 avahi-daemon 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.05 2327 327 bash 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 19 0 bioset 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 352 0 bioset 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 360 0 bioset 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.35 597 597 crond 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 31 0 crypto 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.11 586 586 dbus-daemon 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.03 63 0 deferwq 
 0 0.00 0.01 0.93 585 585 firewalld 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 30 0 fsnotify_mark 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 43 0 ipv6_addrconf 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.02 94 0 kauditd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 20 0 kblockd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 14 0 kdevtmpfs 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 351 0 kdmflush 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 359 0 kdmflush 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 13 0 khelper 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.03 29 0 khugepaged 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 26 0 khungtaskd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 18 0 kintegrityd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 41 0 kmpath_rdacd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 42 0 kpsmoused 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 28 0 ksmd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.17 3 0 ksoftirqd/0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.02 27 0 kswapd0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 2 0 kthreadd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 39 0 kthrotld 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.01 2313 0 kworker/0:0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.04 2369 0 kworker/0:0H 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 2440 0 kworker/0:1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.05 2312 0 kworker/0:2H 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.28 2376 0 kworker/0:3 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.25 6 0 kworker/u2:0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 272 0 kworker/u2:2 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.01 473 473 lvmetad 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.02 2036 036 master 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 21 0 md 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 7 0 migration/0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 15 0 netns 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.22 653 653 NetworkManager 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 16 0 perf 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.01 2071 036 pickup 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.05 799 799 polkitd 
 0 0.00 0.02 5.02 2401 327 powershell 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 2072 036 qmgr 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 8 0 rcu_bh 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.73 10 0 rcu_sched 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 9 0 rcuob/0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.51 11 0 rcuos/0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.06 582 582 rsyslogd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 267 0 scsi_eh_0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 271 0 scsi_eh_1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 275 0 scsi_eh_2 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 269 0 scsi_tmf_0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 273 0 scsi_tmf_1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 277 0 scsi_tmf_2 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.03 1174 174 sshd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.79 2322 322 sshd 
 0 0.00 0.00 1.68 1 1 systemd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.24 453 453 systemd-journal 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.04 579 579 systemd-logind 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.19 481 481 systemd-udevd 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.54 1175 175 tuned 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.02 12 0 watchdog/0 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.01 798 798 wpa_supplicant 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 17 0 writeback 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 378 0 xfs_mru_cache 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 379 0 xfs-buf/dm-1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 539 0 xfs-buf/sda1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 382 0 xfs-cil/dm-1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 542 0 xfs-cil/sda1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 381 0 xfs-conv/dm-1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 541 0 xfs-conv/sda1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 380 0 xfs-data/dm-1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 540 0 xfs-data/sda1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.51 383 0 xfsaild/dm-1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 543 0 xfsaild/sda1 
 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 377 0 xfsalloc

The above command will display the whole list of running processes in your Linux system.

To view any particular running process, use '-Name' option with the above command.

For example, to view the powershell process, run:

Get-Process -Name pwsh

Sample output:

 NPM(K)    PM(M)      WS(M)     CPU(s)      Id  SI ProcessName
 ------    -----      -----     ------      --  -- -----------
      0     0.00      99.32       3.28    2575 398 pwsh
Viewing command aliases

Are you too lazy to type a whole command? Just type few words and hit the tab key, the command will autocomplete or the list of suggested commands will display, just like in Linux BASH shell.

Alternatively, there are aliases for some commands.

For example, to clear the screen, you would type: Clear-Host.

Or you can simply type the alias of the above command 'cls' or 'clear' to clear the screen.

To view the list of available aliases, run:

Get-Alias

Here is the complete list of available aliases:

CommandType Name Version Source 
----------- ---- ------- ------ 
Alias ? -> Where-Object 
Alias % -> ForEach-Object 
Alias cd -> Set-Location 
Alias chdir -> Set-Location 
Alias clc -> Clear-Content 
Alias clear -> Clear-Host 
Alias clhy -> Clear-History 
Alias cli -> Clear-Item 
Alias clp -> Clear-ItemProperty 
Alias cls -> Clear-Host 
Alias clv -> Clear-Variable 
Alias cnsn -> Connect-PSSession 
Alias copy -> Copy-Item 
Alias cpi -> Copy-Item 
Alias cvpa -> Convert-Path 
Alias dbp -> Disable-PSBreakpoint 
Alias del -> Remove-Item 
Alias dir -> Get-ChildItem 
Alias dnsn -> Disconnect-PSSession 
Alias ebp -> Enable-PSBreakpoint 
Alias echo -> Write-Output 
Alias epal -> Export-Alias 
Alias epcsv -> Export-Csv 
Alias erase -> Remove-Item 
Alias etsn -> Enter-PSSession 
Alias exsn -> Exit-PSSession 
Alias fc -> Format-Custom 
Alias fhx -> Format-Hex 3.1.0.0 Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility 
Alias fl -> Format-List 
Alias foreach -> ForEach-Object 
Alias ft -> Format-Table 
Alias fw -> Format-Wide 
Alias gal -> Get-Alias 
Alias gbp -> Get-PSBreakpoint 
Alias gc -> Get-Content 
Alias gci -> Get-ChildItem 
Alias gcm -> Get-Command 
Alias gcs -> Get-PSCallStack 
Alias gdr -> Get-PSDrive 
Alias ghy -> Get-History 
Alias gi -> Get-Item 
Alias gin -> Get-ComputerInfo 3.1.0.0 Microsoft.PowerShell.Management 
Alias gjb -> Get-Job 
Alias gl -> Get-Location 
Alias gm -> Get-Member 
Alias gmo -> Get-Module 
Alias gp -> Get-ItemProperty 
Alias gps -> Get-Process 
Alias gpv -> Get-ItemPropertyValue 
Alias group -> Group-Object 
Alias gsn -> Get-PSSession 
Alias gsv -> Get-Service 
Alias gu -> Get-Unique 
Alias gv -> Get-Variable 
Alias h -> Get-History 
Alias history -> Get-History 
Alias icm -> Invoke-Command 
Alias iex -> Invoke-Expression 
Alias ihy -> Invoke-History 
Alias ii -> Invoke-Item 
Alias ipal -> Import-Alias 
Alias ipcsv -> Import-Csv 
Alias ipmo -> Import-Module 
Alias kill -> Stop-Process 
Alias md -> mkdir 
Alias measure -> Measure-Object 
Alias mi -> Move-Item 
Alias move -> Move-Item 
Alias mp -> Move-ItemProperty 
Alias nal -> New-Alias 
Alias ndr -> New-PSDrive 
Alias ni -> New-Item 
Alias nmo -> New-Module 
Alias nsn -> New-PSSession 
Alias nv -> New-Variable 
Alias oh -> Out-Host 
Alias popd -> Pop-Location 
Alias pushd -> Push-Location 
Alias pwd -> Get-Location 
Alias r -> Invoke-History 
Alias rbp -> Remove-PSBreakpoint 
Alias rcjb -> Receive-Job 
Alias rcsn -> Receive-PSSession 
Alias rd -> Remove-Item 
Alias rdr -> Remove-PSDrive 
Alias ren -> Rename-Item 
Alias ri -> Remove-Item 
Alias rjb -> Remove-Job 
Alias rmo -> Remove-Module 
Alias rni -> Rename-Item 
Alias rnp -> Rename-ItemProperty 
Alias rp -> Remove-ItemProperty 
Alias rsn -> Remove-PSSession 
Alias rv -> Remove-Variable 
Alias rvpa -> Resolve-Path 
Alias sajb -> Start-Job 
Alias sal -> Set-Alias 
Alias saps -> Start-Process 
Alias sasv -> Start-Service 
Alias sbp -> Set-PSBreakpoint 
Alias sc -> Set-Content 
Alias select -> Select-Object 
Alias set -> Set-Variable 
Alias si -> Set-Item 
Alias sl -> Set-Location 
Alias sls -> Select-String 
Alias sp -> Set-ItemProperty 
Alias spjb -> Stop-Job 
Alias spps -> Stop-Process 
Alias spsv -> Stop-Service 
Alias sv -> Set-Variable 
Alias type -> Get-Content 
Alias where -> Where-Object 
Alias wjb -> Wait-Job

To view the alias for any particular command, type:

Get-Alias cls

Sample output:

CommandType Name Version Source 
----------- ---- ------- ------ 
Alias cls -> Clear-Host
Viewing complete list of available commands

To view the list of all available PowerShell commands, run:

Get-Command
Viewing help

Don't know what will particular do? No problem. Just type 'help' to get help. You don't have to search on Internet.

You can also use 'Get-Help' command along with the any powershell commands. It is something similar to 'man' command in the Linux.

For example, to display the help section of a command called "Clear-Host", run:

Get-Help Clear-Host

Sample output:

NAME
 Clear-Host
 
SYNOPSIS
 
 
SYNTAX
 Clear-Host [<CommonParameters>]
 
 
DESCRIPTION
 

RELATED LINKS
 https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=225747

REMARKS
 To see the examples, type: "get-help Clear-Host -examples".
 For more information, type: "get-help Clear-Host -detailed".
 For technical information, type: "get-help Clear-Host -full".
 For online help, type: "get-help Clear-Host -online

As you see above, 'Get-Help' displays the help section of a specific PowerShell command, like the name of the command, syntax format, aliases, and remarks etc.

To exit from the PowerShell console, just type:

exit

I hope you got a basic idea about how to install PowerShell Core alpha version in Linux (Ubuntu and CentOS), and the basic usage.

Further reading:

Related read:

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8 comments

lightweight August 20, 2016 - 6:30 am

Ugh, why bother. With Powershell, MS is fixing something that ain’t broke. Learn bash. Learn zsh. Learn something useful.

Reply
SK August 20, 2016 - 11:48 am

Agreed brother.

Reply
Calvin Schwa September 20, 2016 - 7:23 am

Yeah, I saw this and was like, ‘what the heck? Why would I PowerShell?’

Reply
gatuus August 21, 2016 - 1:48 pm

Agree too o/

Reply
Think Strategy August 20, 2016 - 1:15 pm

nevermind.

Reply
Eddie O'Connor August 21, 2016 - 7:43 pm

I’m sorry. but this is pointless. There are already a myriad of command-line shells, why in the world would I want something from Microsoft on my system? Which happens to work WITHOUT bugs or glitches? As far as I’m concerned the entire “Microsoft Loves Linux” issue is one, that makes no sense. For DECADES, they’ve done everything in their power to ENSUE that things “don’t play nice” in the world of Linux, which literally FORCED the Linux developers to come up with their own solutions to problems. This…in turn “forced” the Linux communities to learn whole new ways and methods of doing things. And now?….just because there’s a new CEO who happens to have “warm and fuzzy” feelings towards Linux the users are supposed to abandon their trappings for this new “Frankenstein” mixture of MS and Open Source Linux software? Nah. No thanks. They’ve taken their ball and gone home, and now they come back wanting to play again, but the GAME has changed and the BALL is different! For those who might want to “experiment” with it….enjoy. As for me and my Linux machines?…we’re going to REMAIN Microsoft-free for as long as there are Linux distros available for download.

Reply
MrScrublord August 21, 2016 - 7:51 pm

PowerShell, Magicarp of shells.

Reply
Rizwan Mohammed February 5, 2017 - 3:25 pm

Although the PS commands are crappy, still it will be useful for those working in multi platform environment. To be honest Linux hasn’t widespread among end users who still craving for user friendly OS across the world, specifically in middle east and other parts of the country even in India. Employers still looking experts in MS Windows server. Personally I love Linux but at the same time we should walk hand in hand with windows environment to land a better job.

Reply

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