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  3. System32
  4. WindowsPowerShell\v1.0
  5. Modules
FolderRisk: Do not touch

Modules C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules

PowerShell modules shipped with Windows (Management, Utility, Security...) and those of roles and RSAT (ActiveDirectory, Hyper-V, DnsServer); $PSHOME\Modules.

Updated on By AltF4 Formation

What it’s for

Windows PowerShell 5.1 modules installed with the operating system, in $PSHOME\Modules. When you install a role or feature (or the RSAT tools), its module lands here: ActiveDirectory, Hyper-V, DnsServer, DhcpServer, NetTCPIP, Storage… It is the last folder of $env:PSModulePath for Windows PowerShell, after the user profile and Program Files.

What it contains

  • One subfolder per module (Microsoft.PowerShell.Management, Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility, Microsoft.PowerShell.Security…), each with a .psd1 manifest and its module.
  • The modules of the roles and features enabled on the machine: their presence tells you whether the role or RSAT is installed.

Risks and best practices

  • Do not drop your own modules here: the folder belongs to Windows and is serviced with it. Put them in C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules, or in the user profile.
  • A module missing while the feature is installed is fixed by adding the feature (Install-WindowsFeature on a server, Add-WindowsCapability for RSAT on a client), not by copying files.
  • PowerShell 7 reads this folder for compatibility, but some Windows PowerShell modules must be loaded through the compatibility layer.

Useful commands

Fenêtre de terminal
# Modules shipped with the system (not the ones you installed)
Get-Module -ListAvailable | Where-Object ModuleBase -like "$PSHOME\Modules*" | Select-Object Name, Version


# Is a role module present?
Get-Module -ListAvailable ActiveDirectory


# Missing role or feature (Windows Server)
Get-WindowsFeature RSAT-AD-PowerShell

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