Permanently add PowerShell module? (Import-Module)

Question

I'm using a third-party module I found on GitHub and importing it with:

powershell Import-Module .\foo.ps1

This imports successfully and the module works great. But when I open a new PowerShell terminal, it doesn't load the module, I have to run the Import-Module command everytime. Is it possible to have modules load permanently?

I'm using Windows 10 with PowerShell v3.

Solution 1

You can add it to one of your profiles that powershell loads by default. Best bet is

%UserProfile%\My Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 

or

%UserProfile%\My Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1

see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions//bb613488(v=vs.85) for the full list

Solution 2

Since Powershell v3 Modules will be loaded automatically if you install them to the right place with Install-Module.

Here are additional information about installing Powershell modules: Installing a PowerShell Module

Comments

[Eloi]

what do you mean by the "right place"? why doesn't load automatically if I install with Install-Module -Name MyModuleToInstall. It only works for me if I use Import-Module before using the module commands.

[Olaf]

The module should be installed to a path listed in $env:PSModulePath to get loaded automatically. You can read more about here: Get-Help about_PSModulePath