I’ve been using the WinGet command-line version for quite some time now, and I am pleased with the apt-get-like installation method for installing/updating/removing software on my Windows machines. (WinGet is also the new Windows Store installation option for Microsoft Intune.) But there’s also a PowerShell module for WinGet, still in preview but very functional already. I will show you how to use that module in this blog post.
- What is WinGet?
- How to install the WinGet PowerShell module
- Using the WinGet PowerShell Module
- Add-WinGetSource
- Assert-WinGetPackageManager
- Disable-WinGetSetting
- Enable-WinGetSetting
- Find-WinGetPackage
- Get-WinGetSource
- Get-WinGetUserSettings
- Get-WinGetVersion
- Install-WinGetPackage
- Remove-WinGetSource
- Repair-WinGetPackageManager
- Reset-WinGetSource
- Uninstall-WinGetPackage
- Update-WinGetPackage
- Conclusion
What is WinGet?
“The winget command line tool enables users to discover, install, upgrade, remove, and configure applications on Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers. This tool is the client interface to the Windows Package Manager service.”
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/
How to install the WinGet PowerShell module
In the early preview versions, you had to install the module by downloading the files and importing them manually. This has changed to the standard installation method, and you can install it now by running the following:
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.WinGet.Client Import-Module -Name Microsoft.WinGet.Client
Note: This only works in PowerShell 7
Using the WinGet PowerShell Module
After installing and importing the module, these commands are available:
Add-WinGetSource
This cmdlet adds a new source that you can use to install packages from, used for adding private repositories.
Assert-WinGetPackageManager
This cmdlet checks WinGet files for the latest (preview) version.
Disable-WinGetSetting
Disables Winget settings specified with the -Name parameter. Currently, only LocalManifestFiles is supported.
Enable-WinGetSetting
Enables Winget settings specified with the -Name parameter. Currently, only LocalManifestFiles is supported.
Find-WinGetPackage
This can be used to search for packages. You can use the -Exact parameter if you know the full name (7zip.7zip, for example) or the -ID parameter for a specific match. Without specifying a specific parameter, the -Name one is used. For example, running this:
Find-WinGetPackage Adobe Name Id Version Match Source ---- -- ------- ----- ------ Adobe Express 9P94LH3Q1CP5 Unknown Id: msstore Adobe Lightroom 9PNLG4ZG0XGJ Unknown Id: msstore Adobe Acrobat Reader DC XPDP273C0XHQH2 Unknown Id: msstore Adobe Fresco XP8C8R0ZKZR27V Unknown Id: msstore Adobe Creative Cloud XPDLPKWG9SW2WD Unknown Id: msstore Adobe Photoshop Express 9WZDNCRFJ27N Unknown Id: msstore Adobe Experience Manager Forms 9ND12RLXTGTT Unknown Id: msstore Adobe Content Viewer 9WZDNCRFJBZ1 Unknown Id: msstore Adobe Photoshop Express Toshiba… 9WZDNCRDFSG4 Unknown Id: msstore Avocode Avocode.Avocode 4.15.6 Tag: adobe winget Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (64-bit) Adobe.Acrobat.Reader.64-bit 23.001.20064 Tag: adobe winget Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Adobe.Acrobat.Reader.32-bit 23.001.20064 Tag: adobe winget Adobe DNG Converter Adobe.DNGConverter 15.0.0 Id: Adobe.DNGConverter winget Cryptr Adobe.Cryptr 0.5.0 Id: Adobe.Cryptr winget Brackets Adobe.Brackets 1.14.17770 Id: Adobe.Brackets winget Adobe Connect Adobe.AdobeConnect 21.11.22 Id: Adobe.AdobeConnect winget
Get-WinGetPackage
This will return all WinGet-compatible software from your system in a list. A small part of the output from my system:
Name Id Version Available Source ---- -- ------- --------- ------ 7-Zip 7zip.7zip 22.01 winget Brave Brave.Brave 111.1.49.128 winget Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Canonical.Ubuntu.2004 2004.2022.8.0 winget Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobilit… Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client 4.10.05111 Citrix Workspace Citrix.Workspace 23.2.0.38 winget Clipchamp Clipchamp.Clipchamp_yxz26nhyzhsrt 2.5.15.0 Dolby Access DolbyLaboratories.DolbyAccess_rz1tebttyb220 3.16.352.0 Dolby Audio Speaker System DolbyLaboratories.DolbyAudioSpeakerSystem_rz1tebttyb220 3.30201.210.0 GitHub Desktop GitHub.GitHubDesktop 3.2.0 winget Git Git.Git 2.40.0 winget Grammarly for Windows Grammarly.Grammarly 1.0.27.421 winget Graphviz Graphviz.Graphviz 7.1.0 .......
Get-WinGetSource
Displays all the sources that are currently configured. In my case, it returned this:
Name Argument Type ---- -------- ---- msstore https://storeedgefd.dsx.mp.microsoft.com/v9.0 Microsoft.Rest winget https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache Microsoft.PreIndexed.Package
Get-WinGetUserSettings
Displays the configured user settings.
Get-WinGetVersion
In this case, it shows the version of WinGet, v1.4.10173.
Install-WinGetPackage
Installs software using Winget. If you want to install VLC, the syntax is as follows:
Install-WinGetPackage VideoLAN.VLC
Output on the screen is as follows:
C:\Users\HarmVeenstra> Install-WinGetPackage VideoLAN.VLC
CorrelationData :
ExtendedErrorCode :
InstallerErrorCode : 0
RebootRequired : False
Status : Ok
NativeObject : WinRT.ObjectReference`1[WinRT.Interop.IUnknownVftbl]
HasUnwrappableNativeObject : True
AdditionalTypeData : {}
This information shows that the installation was successful, no reboot was required, and the ErrorCode (If you want to monitor it) was 0.
Remove-WinGetSource
If you added a specific Source, you could remove it using Remove-WingetSource -Name xxxx.
Repair-WinGetPackageManager
Repairs WinGet is for the current or all users.
Reset-WinGetSource
To reset the list of Sources, run Reset-WingetSource without any parameters to return it to default. If a specific Source was specified in the -Name parameter, only that source would be removed.
Uninstall-WinGetPackage
This can be used to uninstall a specific package. I used the example below to uninstall the VLC player.
C:\Users\HarmVeenstra> Uninstall-WinGetPackage -ID VideoLAN.VLC
CorrelationData :
ExtendedErrorCode :
RebootRequired : False
Status : Ok
UninstallerErrorCode : 0
NativeObject : WinRT.ObjectReference`1[WinRT.Interop.IUnknownVftbl]
HasUnwrappableNativeObject : True
AdditionalTypeData : {}
The information shows that the uninstall was successful, no reboot was required, and the ErrorCode (If you want to monitor it) was 0.
Update-WinGetPackage
This will update a specific WinGet package or all WinGet packages on your system. In the example below, I updated NotePad++ because I knew that that was an update for that. Running Update-WingetPackage doesn’t update all packages automatically yet #Preview
C:\Users\HarmVeenstra> Update-WinGetPackage Notepad++.Notepad++
CorrelationData :
ExtendedErrorCode :
InstallerErrorCode : 0
RebootRequired : False
Status : Ok
NativeObject : WinRT.ObjectReference`1[WinRT.Interop.IUnknownVftbl]
HasUnwrappableNativeObject : True
AdditionalTypeData : {}
This information shows that the update was successful, no reboot was required, and the ErrorCode (If you want to monitor it) was 0.
Conclusion
The preview version of the WinGet PowerShell module is already usable, but it’s not perfect yet. I will monitor future updates and write a new blog post when there’s more to report and when it’s out of Preview :).
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