Can I write PowerShell binary cmdlet with .NET Core?

Question

I'm trying to create a basic PowerShell Module with a binary Cmdlet internals, cause writing things in PowerShell only doesn't look as convenient as in C#.

Following this guide, it looks like I have to:

add Microsoft.PowerShell.SDK to my project.json
mark my cmdlet class with required attributes
write manifest file, with RootModule, targeting my .dll
put that .dll nearby manifest
put both under PSModulePath

but, when I'm trying to Import-Module, PowerShell core complains on missing runtime:

Import-Module : Could not load file or assembly 'System.Runtime, Version=4.1.0.0,
Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system
cannot find the file specified.
At line:1 char:1

Am I doing something wrong, or such tricky things are not supported yet as well?

See if this helps! http://stackoverflow.com/q/38310518/5212566 http://stackoverflow.com/a/37639003/5212566 — Prageeth Saravanan, Dec 15 '16 at 14:23

Keith Hill · Answer 1 · 2017-09-23T23:42:57.897

This gets a lot easier with .NET Core 2.0 SDK and Visual Studio 2017 Update 15.3 (or higher). If you don't have VS, you can do this from the command line with the .NET Core 2.0 SDK.

The important bit is to add the PowerShellStandard.Library 3.0.0-preview-01 (or higher) NuGet package to your project file (.csproj).

Here is a simple command line example:

cd $home
dotnet new classlib --name psmodule
cd .\psmodule
dotnet add package PowerShellStandard.Library --version 3.0.0-preview-01
Remove-Item .\Class1.cs
@'
using System.Management.Automation;

namespace PSCmdletExample
{
    [Cmdlet("Get", "Foo")]
    public class GetFooCommand : PSCmdlet
    {
        [Parameter]
        public string Name { get; set; } = string.Empty;

        protected override void EndProcessing()
        {
            this.WriteObject("Foo is " + this.Name);
            base.EndProcessing();
        }
    }
}
'@ | Out-File GetFooCommand.cs -Encoding UTF8

dotnet build
cd .\bin\Debug\netstandard2.0\
ipmo .\psmodule.dll
get-foo

To get this same command to run in Windows PowerShell 5.1 requires a bit more work. You have to execute the following before the command will work:

Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\dotnet\sdk\NuGetFallbackFolder\microsoft.netcore.app\2.0.0\ref\netcoreapp2.0\netstandard.dll"

Add-Type part helped me loading .NET Standard lib into PowerShell, thanks a lot! — Vitaliy Ulantikov, Oct 28 '17 at 11:01
No longer have to specify the version of `PowerShellStandard.Library` now. Default version just works. Thank you. — Israfel, Aug 07 '19 at 06:18

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered May 18 '20 at 18:45

For netcore, there is a new template for powershell that you can install and use then you can modify the c# code.

Installing the PowerShell Standard Module Template


$ dotnet new -i Microsoft.PowerShell.Standard.Module.Template

Creating a New Module Project in a new folder

$ dotnet new psmodule

Building the Module

dotnet build

For more details read doc

TravisEz13 · Answer 3 · 2017-01-27T23:23:22.463

You need to use PowerShell Core to write a PowerShell CmdLet in .NET Core.

There is a guide here, including corrections to your project.json: https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/tree/master/docs/cmdlet-example

To summarize you need the following in your project.json

    "dependencies": {
        "Microsoft.PowerShell.5.ReferenceAssemblies": "1.0.0-*"
    },

    "frameworks": {
        "netstandard1.3": {
            "imports": [ "net40" ],
            "dependencies": {
                "Microsoft.NETCore": "5.0.1-*",
                "Microsoft.NETCore.Portable.Compatibility": "1.0.1-*"
            }
        }
    }

Can I write PowerShell binary cmdlet with .NET Core?

3 Answers3