There are two PowerShell Editions now: “Windows PowerShell” shipping with Windows, and running on the full .NET Framework, and the limited “PowerShell Core” running on .NET Core which is available cross-platform and runs on Nano Server, for example.
Script authors targeting a specific PowerShell edition can now use the #requires statement to make sure their scripts run on the intended edition.
For example, to ensure that a script runs on PowerShell Core, add this on top of a script:
#requires -PSEdition Core Get-Process
Make sure you save the code to disk. #requires applies to scripts only.
When you now run this script on a Windows machine inside a “Windows PowerShell”, it fails:
PS> C:\Users\abc\requires core.ps1 The script 'requires core.ps1' cannot be run because it contained a "#requires" statement for PowerShell editions 'Core'. The edition of PowerShell that is required by the script does not match the currently running PowerShell Desktop edition. + CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (requires core.ps1:String) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ScriptRequiresUnmatchedPSEdition PS>
Likewise, and maybe even more important, when you replace “Core” by “Desktop”, a script will not run on the limited “PowerShell Core” editions. That’s a wise thing to do if your script uses features specifically targeting classic Windows systems, and requiring the full .NET Framework.
