Boost Your Azure Management with PowerShell: A Guide to Installing and Verifying Azure Cmdlets and PowerShell

Managing Azure resources efficiently requires powerful tools, and PowerShell is one of the best for the job.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through installing and verifying the latest version of PowerShell, and then installing the Azure cmdlets to supercharge your Azure management capabilities.

Table of Contents

Step 1: Ensure You’re Using the Latest Version of PowerShell

Using the latest version of PowerShell ensures you have access to the newest features, performance improvements, and security updates.

Here’s how to update PowerShell:

Check Your Current Version

Open PowerShell and run the following command to check your current version:

$PSVersionTable.PSVersion

Update to the Latest Version of PowerShell

For Windows PowerShell (5.1 and earlier):

If you’re using Windows PowerShell (5.1 or earlier), consider updating to PowerShell 7.x, which is cross-platform and has the latest features.

Download the latest version:

Go to the PowerShell GitHub releases page and download the installer for your operating system.

Install PowerShell 7.x:

For Windows, you can use the following winget command:

winget install --id Microsoft.Powershell --source winget

Verify the installation:

Open the newly installed PowerShell (pwsh) and run:

$PSVersionTable.PSVersion

This should show the latest installed version, confirming the update.

Step 2: Install the Azure Cmdlets

Once you have the latest version of PowerShell, you need to install the Azure cmdlets to manage your Azure resources.

Install the Azure Cmdlets

Open PowerShell as Administrator.
Run the following command to install the Azure module:

Install-Module -Name Az -Repository PSGallery -Force

This command installs the Az module from the PowerShell Gallery, which contains all the cmdlets you need to manage Azure resources.

Verify the Azure Cmdlets Installation

After installing the Azure cmdlets, verify the installation by running:

Get-Module -ListAvailable | Where-Object { $_.Name -like 'Az.*' }

This command lists all the installed modules that start with “Az”, confirming that the Azure cmdlets are installed and ready to use.

Conclusion

By ensuring you have the latest version of PowerShell and the Azure cmdlets installed, you’re setting yourself up for efficient and effective Azure management.

Whether you’re automating tasks, managing resources, or deploying services, PowerShell provides the tools you need to get the job done quickly and accurately.

Happy scripting!