News

PowerShell 3 Out With WMF 3.0 CTP2

• By Kurt Mackie
• 12/06/2011

Microsoft released the second community technology preview version of Windows Management Framework 3.0 this month. This framework, available as a test version, works with Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. The aim of using the framework is to boost management capabilities in Windows environments. It contains three main components, including Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), Windows Remote Management (WinRM) and Windows PowerShell 3.0.

It's that latter component -- Windows PowerShell 3.0 -- that's likely the biggest reason for an organization to want to test this framework. If IT pros want to play around with the latest developments in PowerShell 3.0, then installing Windows Management Framework 3.0 CTP 2 is the way to get access to them.

During Microsoft's Build event, company officials noted that PowerShell 3.0 has grown to include more than 2,300 cmdlets. PowerShell inventor Jeffrey Snover, a distinguished engineer and lead architect of Windows Server, has explained that combining PowerShell commands with workflows has a cumulative effect on management operations. PowerShell has become the de facto tool of choice at Microsoft for enabling Windows automation while also addressing scalability issues.

The CTP2 version of Windows Management Framework 3.0 succeeds CTP1, which was released a few days after Microsoft's Build conference in mid-September. Many of the framework's features were described earlier with CTP1. Microsoft fixed some software flaws with this CTP2 release, and it added a few new PowerShell 3.0 features too.

For instance, with CTP 2, PowerShell 3.0 now supports an integrated scripting environment with a single pane. Previously, users saw separate command and output panes. Microsoft also made the updatable help system promised for PowerShell 3.0 in CTP1 "active on the Internet," according to the company's announcement. Some Windows PowerShell workflows have been enhanced with the new release. Finally, Microsoft says that "the Get-Module cmdlet now supports implicit remoting" with PowerShell 3.0, according to the announcement.

More details about Windows Management Framework 3.0 CTP2, plus download links and release notes, can be accessed at this Microsoft page. The release supports both x86 and x64 hardware.