PowerShell 2.0: One Cmdlet at a Time #73 New-ModuleManifest

Continuing the series looking at new cmdlets available in PowerShell 2.0. This time we look at the New-ModuleManifest cmdlet.

What can I do with it?

PowerShell 2.0 introduces the concept of modules; essentially they are the evolution of snapins from PowerShell 1.0. Creators of Modules can use the New-ModuleManifest cmdlet to create a module manifest *.psd1 file which can be used to enhance to processes around a module, such as any prerequisites. Note: More info about writing a module manifest can be found here.

Example:

Create a new module manifest file using a mixture of default and specified values.

New-ModuleManifest

You will see that you are prompted to enter values to put in the manifest file and those which have defaults.

The *.psd1 file is created in the standard module location C:\Users\Username\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\ alongside the *.psm1 containing the module.

The contents of the *.psd1 file will look like the below:

#
# Module manifest for module 'Logfile-Module'
#
# Generated by: Jonathan Medd
#
# Generated on: 10/03/2010
#

@{

# Script module or binary module file associated with this manifest
ModuleToProcess = 'Logile-Module.psm1'

# Version number of this module.
ModuleVersion = '1.0'

# ID used to uniquely identify this module
GUID = '876e3d17-66ac-40f6-9e10-09913679011a'

# Author of this module
Author = 'Jonathan Medd'

# Company or vendor of this module
CompanyName = 'Medd Enterprises'

# Copyright statement for this module
Copyright = 'Copyright © 2010 Jonathan Medd. All rights reserved.'

# Description of the functionality provided by this module
Description = 'Logfile Functions'

# Minimum version of the Windows PowerShell engine required by this module
PowerShellVersion = ''

# Name of the Windows PowerShell host required by this module
PowerShellHostName = ''

# Minimum version of the Windows PowerShell host required by this module
PowerShellHostVersion = ''

# Minimum version of the .NET Framework required by this module
DotNetFrameworkVersion = ''

# Minimum version of the common language runtime (CLR) required by this module
CLRVersion = ''

# Processor architecture (None, X86, Amd64, IA64) required by this module
ProcessorArchitecture = ''

# Modules that must be imported into the global environment prior to importing this module
RequiredModules = @()

# Assemblies that must be loaded prior to importing this module
RequiredAssemblies = @()

# Script files (.ps1) that are run in the caller's environment prior to importing this module
ScriptsToProcess = @()

# Type files (.ps1xml) to be loaded when importing this module
TypesToProcess = @()

# Format files (.ps1xml) to be loaded when importing this module
FormatsToProcess = @()

# Modules to import as nested modules of the module specified in ModuleToProcess
NestedModules = @()

# Functions to export from this module
FunctionsToExport = '*'

# Cmdlets to export from this module
CmdletsToExport = '*'

# Variables to export from this module
VariablesToExport = '*'

# Aliases to export from this module
AliasesToExport = '*'

# List of all modules packaged with this module
ModuleList = @()

# List of all files packaged with this module
FileList = 'Logfile-Module.psd1', 'Logfile-Module.psm1'

# Private data to pass to the module specified in ModuleToProcess
PrivateData = ''

}

How could I have done this in PowerShell 1.0?

This functionality was not avaliable with snapins in PowerShell 1.0

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