Setting up your environment

  • Tool and application settings

    Your profile script is where you configure your environment. Use it to set configuration options that don’t persist across sessions.

  • Loading modules

    Load the modules you use the most. Let PowerShell command discovery autoload other modules on demand.

  • Adding helper functions

    Don’t define a bunch of utility functions in your profile script. Instead, create a module and put your functions there. Only define the functions needed to bootstrap your environment in your profile script.

  • Configuring colors and keybindings

    PowerShell 7.2 added a new automatic variable, $PSStyle, and changes to the PowerShell engine to support the output of ANSI-decorated text. For Windows PowerShell, you can use the PSStyle module to achieve similar results. Also, the PSReadLine allows you to configure colors for syntax highlighting on the command line.

    PSReadLine also lets you customize keybindings. For example, you can map the keybinding for <Enter> to the ValidateAndAcceptLine function. This function prevents you from running a command with syntax errors.

    Add these commands to your profile so they persist across sessions.

  • Default parameter values

    The $PSDefaultParameterValues preference variable allows you to set default parameter values for cmdlets. For example, you may want the Install-Module to alway use the SkipPublisherCheck parameter.

    Here are several examples:

    $PSDefaultParameterValues = @{
    'Out-Default:OutVariable'           = 'LastResult'  # Save output to $LastResult
    'Out-File:Encoding'                 = 'utf8'        # PS5.1 defaults to ASCII
    'Export-Csv:NoTypeInformation'      = $true         # PS5.1 defaults to $false
    'ConvertTo-Csv:NoTypeInformation'   = $true         # PS5.1 defaults to $false
    'Receive-Job:Keep'                  = $true         # Prevents accidental loss of output
    # 'Group-Object:NoElement'          = $true         # Minimize noise in output
    'Install-Module:AllowClobber'       = $true         # Default behavior in Install-PSResource
    'Install-Module:Force'              = $true         # Default behavior in Install-PSResource
    'Install-Module:SkipPublisherCheck' = $true         # Default behavior in Install-PSResource
    'Find-Module:Repository'            = 'PSGallery'   # Useful if you have private test repos
    'Install-Module:Repository'         = 'PSGallery'   # Useful if you have private test repos
    'Find-PSResource:Repository'        = 'PSGallery'   # Useful if you have private test repos
    'Install-PSResource:Repository'     = 'PSGallery'   # Useful if you have private test repos
}

  • Custom prompts

    The prompt that PowerShell displays is created by the prompt function. You can write your own custom prompt function to display whatever you want.