Once you start downloading modules from the PowerShell Gallery (or via PowerShellGet in general), you get version control automatically. You can always review the modules that were installed, and compare their versions with the versions available in the repository.
This way, it's easy to find out the modules that need an update. The following code assumes that you know the PowerShell Gallery already. If not, visit powershellgallery.com.
Get-InstalledModule | ForEach-Object { try { $module = Find-Module -Name $_.Name -ErrorAction Stop $newVersion = $module.Version $needsUpdate = $_.Version -lt $newVersion } catch { $newVersion = 'no longer available' $needsUpdate = $true } $_ | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name VersionAvailable $newVersion $_ | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name NeedsUpdate $needsUpdate $_ } | Select-Object -Property Name, NeedsUpdate, Version, VersionAvailable | Out-GridView
When you run this code, you get a list of modules that were installed via PowerShellGet, and version information that tells whether a module needs an update. The output looks similar to this:
Name NeedsUpdate Version VersionAvailable ---- ----------- ------- ---------------- Pester False 3.4.0 3.4.0 xDefender False 0.2.0.0 0.2.0.0 xRobocopy True 1.1.0.0 1.2.0.0 xWebAdministration True 1.8.0.0 1.9.0.0 CommunityAnalyzerRules True 0.0.0.1 no longer available FabrikamAnalyzerRules True 0.0.0.1 no longer available ISESteroids True 2.3.0.46 2.3.0.64 nScriptAnalyzerRules False 0.1 0.1 NtpTime False 1.1 1.1 Pscx False 3.2.1.0 3.2.1.0 PSScriptAnalyzer True 1.1.0 1.4.0 ScriptAnalyzer True 0.5.1.0 no longer available xDSCResourceDesigner True 1.6.0.0 1.7.0.0
