PowerShell ISE: how to run new PowerShell version

Question

How can I get PowerShell ISE to work with PowerShell 6.0. Currently, it has 4.0.

This server has PowerShell 4.0 installed and I installed PowerShell 6.0 with PowerShell-6.1.0-win-x64.msi from this link: https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases The files now exist in C:\Program Files\PowerShell\6.

However, ISE still shows 4.0, but I need it to run 6.0

$PSVersionTable.psversion

Major Minor Build Revision

4 0 -1 -1

Answer 1

What you are using is Windows PowerShell ISE which is always has Windows PowerShell as the integrated shell, you need VSCode here, where you can select which version of PowerShell to use ...

Just need to change below item in File -> Preferences -> Settings.

"terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Program Files\\PowerShell\\pwsh.exe"

Same can be done via UI in few clicks as well...

Answer 2

PowerShell has 3 executables...

Windows only...

• PowerShell_ISE.exe = ISE v2 - v5.1
• powershell.exe = consolehost v1 - 5.1

Note: (there are no new versions coming, but this will be supported going forward as it is today, as per Microsoft announcements, just nothing new coming to it. Just bug /security fixes.)

Cross-platform

• pwsh.exe = PowerShell Core/v6

The editor to use if you are using v6 is Visual Studio Code, which is also cross-platform, unlike the ISE.

https://code.visualstudio.com/Download

The are no plans to make the ISE leverage pwsh.exe/PSCore.

However, you can continue to use the ISE, and if you need something specifically to leverage PSCore, you have to shell out to it just as you would to cmd.exe. Your code will run the pwsh.exe console, and return you back to the ISE, depending on how you shell out to it.