What are the different PowerShell file types?

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If I try to save a file in ISE, the default extension is Powershell Files with parenthesis (*.ps1, *.psm1, *.psd1, *.ps1xml, *.pssc, *.psrc, *.cdxml) and with descriptions

Powershell Scripts (*.ps1)
Powershell Modules (*.psm1)
Powershell Data Files (*.psd1)
Powershell Session Configuration Files (*.pssc)
Powershell Role Capability Files (*.psrc)
Powershell Xml Files (*.psxml, *.cdxml)

What do each of these do?

powershell file-type
1 Answers

Examples:

Example psd1:

@{

RootModule = 'ExampleModule.psm1'
ModuleVersion = '0.0.1'
GUID = '1234abcd-1234-abcd-xxxx-000000000000'
Author = 'User01'
CompanyName = 'Unknown'
Copyright = '(c) User01. All rights reserved.'
Description = 'Example module'

Example types.ps1xml:

<Type>
  <Name>System.Object[]</Name>
  <Members>
    <AliasProperty>
      <Name>Test</Name>
      <ReferencedMemberName>
        Length
      </ReferencedMemberName>
    </AliasProperty>
  </Members>
</Type>

Adds new member Count to System.Arrays with member type AliasProperty:

gm -InputObject @(1,2,3,4)| ?{$_.Name -eq "test"}


   TypeName: System.Object[]

Name       MemberType    Definition
----       ----------    ----------
Test       AliasProperty Test = Length

Example psrc:

New-PSRoleCapabilityFile `
    -Path ".\Test.psrc" `
    -Author "TestUser" `
    -CompanyName "Test Company" `
    -Description "Description" `
    -ModulesToImport "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core"

Creates Test.psrc with parameters
Test.psrc content:

@{

# ID used to uniquely identify this document
GUID = '4fb9608e-474c-44c3-a752-ea1d9b27dcb0'

# Author of this document
Author = 'TestUser'

# Description of the functionality provided by these settings
Description = 'Description'

# Company associated with this document
CompanyName = 'Test Company'

# Copyright statement for this document
Copyright = '(c) 2020 TestUser. All rights reserved.'

# Modules to import when applied to a session
ModulesToImport = 'Microsoft.PowerShell.Core'

# Aliases to make visible when applied to a session
# VisibleAliases = 'Item1', 'Item2'

# Cmdlets to make visible when applied to a session
# VisibleCmdlets = 'Invoke-Cmdlet1', @{ Name = 'Invoke-Cmdlet2'; Parameters = @{ Name = 'Parameter1'; ValidateSet = 'Item1', 'Item2' }, @{ Name = 'Parameter2'; ValidatePattern = 'L*' } }

# Functions to make visible when applied to a session
# VisibleFunctions = 'Invoke-Function1', @{ Name = 'Invoke-Function2'; Parameters = @{ Name = 'Parameter1'; ValidateSet = 'Item1', 'Item2' }, @{ Name = 'Parameter2'; ValidatePattern = 'L*' } }

# External commands (scripts and applications) to make visible when applied to a session
# VisibleExternalCommands = 'Item1', 'Item2'

# Providers to make visible when applied to a session
# VisibleProviders = 'Item1', 'Item2'

# Scripts to run when applied to a session
# ScriptsToProcess = 'C:\ConfigData\InitScript1.ps1', 'C:\ConfigData\InitScript2.ps1'

# Aliases to be defined when applied to a session
# AliasDefinitions = @{ Name = 'Alias1'; Value = 'Invoke-Alias1'}, @{ Name = 'Alias2'; Value = 'Invoke-Alias2'}

# Functions to define when applied to a session
# FunctionDefinitions = @{ Name = 'MyFunction'; ScriptBlock = { param($MyInput) $MyInput } }

# Variables to define when applied to a session
# VariableDefinitions = @{ Name = 'Variable1'; Value = { 'Dynamic' + 'InitialValue' } }, @{ Name = 'Variable2'; Value = 'StaticInitialValue' }

# Environment variables to define when applied to a session
# EnvironmentVariables = @{ Variable1 = 'Value1'; Variable2 = 'Value2' }


# Format files (.ps1xml) to load when applied to a session
# FormatsToProcess = 'C:\ConfigData\MyFormats.ps1xml', 'C:\ConfigData\OtherFormats.ps1xml'

# Assemblies to load when applied to a session
# AssembliesToLoad = 'System.Web', 'System.OtherAssembly, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'

}

Example pssc

New-PSSessionConfigurationFile -RoleDefinitions
@{ 'User' = @{ RoleCapabilities = 'Maintenance' }}
-Path .\Maintenance.pssc

Creates Maintenance.pssc with content

@{

# Version number of the schema used for this document
SchemaVersion = '2.0.0.0'

# ID used to uniquely identify this document
GUID = 'a4f7e8eb-f787-4f2c-bf0f-555db2ca2b05'

# Author of this document
Author = 'User'

# Description of the functionality provided by these settings
# Description = ''

# Session type defaults to apply for this session configuration. Can be 'RestrictedRemoteServer' (recommended), 'Empty', or 'Default'
SessionType = 'Default'

# Directory to place session transcripts for this session configuration
# TranscriptDirectory = 'C:\Transcripts\'

# Whether to run this session configuration as the machine's (virtual) administrator account
# RunAsVirtualAccount = $true

# Scripts to run when applied to a session
# ScriptsToProcess = 'C:\ConfigData\InitScript1.ps1', 'C:\ConfigData\InitScript2.ps1'

# User roles (security groups), and the role capabilities that should be applied to them when applied to a session
RoleDefinitions = @{
    'User' = @{
        'RoleCapabilities' = 'Maintenance' } }

}

Register file with

Register-PSSessionConfiguration -Name Name -Path .\Maintenance.pssc

Now PowerShell sessions started with Name use Maintenance.pssc. To start a PowerShell session with Name use

New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Name
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