Installation and Update

Compatibility

Pester is compatible with every version of Windows that can run at least PowerShell 2. That is Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, and their respective Server versions 2016, 2012 R2, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008, and 2003.

Installing on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016

Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 make installing and updating PowerShell modules extremely simple by providing Install-Module and Update-Module cmdlets. Unfortunately there are some complications specific to Pester, that we cannot avoid.

Pester version 3.4.0 ships as part of Windows 10 and Windows server 2016, and that distribution conflicts with the standard module update mechanism. It is not possible to update the built-in Pester to newer version, using the Update-Module cmdlet.

Instead you need to perform a new side-by-side installation of Pester. You are also required to skip publisher check, and force the installation, because Install-Module detects the current installation of Pester is signed with a different signature than the one you are installing.

Here's the command you need to run as administrator in order to get the latest version of Pester:

Install-Module -Name Pester -Force -SkipPublisherCheck

For any subsequent update it is enough to run:

Update-Module -Name Pester

Installing and updating on earlier versions of Windows

The way you can install a new module differs based on the version of PowerShell you are using. See what version of PowerShell is installed on your computer by running:

"$($PSVersionTable.PSVersion)"

PowerShell 5 or newer

In version 5 or later you can use the built-in Install-Module and Update-Module` cmdlets coming from PowerShellGet.

From administrator PowerShell command line run:

Install-Module -Name Pester

Or to update:

Update-Module -Name Pester

PowerShell 3 or newer

Install PowerShell get?

Install PSGet?

PowerShell 2

Install PSGet ?

Installing from Chocolatey

Installing from Nuget

Getting the sources directly