PowerShell script to return versions of .NET Frame

Question

What would a PowerShell script be to return versions of the .NET Framework on a machine?

My first guess is something involving WMI. Is there something better?

It should be a one-liner to return only the latest version for each installation of .NET [on each line].

Answer 1

I found this through tab completion in powershell for osx:

[System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation]::get_FrameworkDescription() .NET Core 4.6.25009.03

Answer 2

I would try this one in PowerShell: Worked for me!

(Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:Software\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v4\Full").Version

Answer 3

Nice solution

Try using the downloadable DotNetVersionLister module (based on registry infos and some version-to-marketing-version lookup table).

Which would be used like this:

PS> Get-DotNetVersion -LocalHost


ComputerName : localhost
>=4.x        : 4.5.2
v4\Client    : Installed
v4\Full      : Installed
v3.5         : Installed
v3.0         : Installed
v2.0.50727   : Installed
v1.1.4322    : Not installed (no key)
Ping         : True
Error        :

    Script start time: 09/03/2018 09:21:18
    Script end time:   09/03/2018 09:21:19

Or like this if you just want to test it for some .NET framework >= 4.*:

PS> (Get-DotNetVersion -LocalHost).">=4.x"
  Script start time: 09/03/2018 09:25:55
  Script end time:   09/03/2018 09:25:55

4.5.2

But it will not work (install/import) e.g. with PS v2.0 (Win 7, Win Server 2010 standard) due to incompatibility...

Motivation for "legacy" functions below

(You could skip reading this and use code below)

We had to work with PS 2.0 on some machines and could not install/import the above DotNetVersionLister.
On other machines we wanted to update (from PS 2.0) to PS 5.1 (which in turn needs .NET Framework >= 4.5) with the help of two company-custom Install-DotnetLatestCompany and Install-PSLatestCompany.
To guide admins nicely through the install/update process we would have to determine the .NET version in these functions on all machines and PS versions existing.
Thus we used also the below functions to determine them more safely in all environments...

Functions for legacy PS environments (e.g. PS v2.0)

So the following code and below (extracted) usage examples are useful here (based on other answers here):

function Get-DotNetVersionByFs {
  <#
    .SYNOPSIS
      NOT RECOMMENDED - try using instead:
        Get-DotNetVersion 
          from DotNetVersionLister module (https://github.com/EliteLoser/DotNetVersionLister), 
          but it is not usable/importable in PowerShell 2.0 
        Get-DotNetVersionByReg
          reg(istry) based: (available herin as well) but it may return some wrong version or may not work reliably for versions > 4.5 
          (works in PSv2.0)
      Get-DotNetVersionByFs (this):  
        f(ile) s(ystem) based: determines the latest installed .NET version based on $Env:windir\Microsoft.NET\Framework content
        this is unreliable, e.g. if 4.0* is already installed some 4.5 update will overwrite content there without
        renaming the folder
        (works in PSv2.0)
    .EXAMPLE
      PS> Get-DotnetVersionByFs
      4.0.30319
    .EXAMPLE
      PS> Get-DotnetVersionByFs -All
      1.0.3705
      1.1.4322
      2.0.50727
      3.0
      3.5
      4.0.30319
    .NOTES
      from https://stackoverflow.com/a/52078523/1915920
  #>
    [cmdletbinding()]
  param(
    [Switch]$All  ## do not return only latest, but all installed
  )
  $list = ls $Env:windir\Microsoft.NET\Framework |
    ?{ $_.PSIsContainer -and $_.Name -match '^v\d.[\d\.]+' } |
    %{ $_.Name.TrimStart('v') }
  if ($All) { $list } else { $list | select -last 1 }
}


function Get-DotNetVersionByReg {
  <#
    .SYNOPSIS
      NOT RECOMMENDED - try using instead:
        Get-DotNetVersion
          From DotNetVersionLister module (https://github.com/EliteLoser/DotNetVersionLister), 
          but it is not usable/importable in PowerShell 2.0. 
          Determines the latest installed .NET version based on registry infos under 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP'
    .EXAMPLE
        PS> Get-DotnetVersionByReg
        4.5.51209
    .EXAMPLE
        PS> Get-DotnetVersionByReg -AllDetailed
        PSChildName                                          Version                                             Release
        -----------                                          -------                                             -------
        v2.0.50727                                           2.0.50727.5420
        v3.0                                                 3.0.30729.5420
        Windows Communication Foundation                     3.0.4506.5420
        Windows Presentation Foundation                      3.0.6920.5011
        v3.5                                                 3.5.30729.5420
        Client                                               4.0.0.0
        Client                                               4.5.51209                                           379893
        Full                                                 4.5.51209                                           379893
    .NOTES
      from https://stackoverflow.com/a/52078523/1915920
  #>
    [cmdletbinding()]
    param(
        [Switch]$AllDetailed  ## do not return only latest, but all installed with more details
    )
    $Lookup = @{
        378389 = [version]'4.5'
        378675 = [version]'4.5.1'
        378758 = [version]'4.5.1'
        379893 = [version]'4.5.2'
        393295 = [version]'4.6'
        393297 = [version]'4.6'
        394254 = [version]'4.6.1'
        394271 = [version]'4.6.1'
        394802 = [version]'4.6.2'
        394806 = [version]'4.6.2'
        460798 = [version]'4.7'
        460805 = [version]'4.7'
        461308 = [version]'4.7.1'
        461310 = [version]'4.7.1'
        461808 = [version]'4.7.2'
        461814 = [version]'4.7.2'
    }
    $list = Get-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP' -Recurse |
        Get-ItemProperty -name Version, Release -EA 0 |
        # For One True framework (latest .NET 4x), change match to PSChildName -eq "Full":
        Where-Object { $_.PSChildName -match '^(?!S)\p{L}'} |
        Select-Object `
           @{
               name = ".NET Framework" ; 
               expression = {$_.PSChildName}}, 
           @{  name = "Product" ; 
               expression = {$Lookup[$_.Release]}}, 
           Version, Release
    if ($AllDetailed) { $list | sort version } else { $list | sort version | select -last 1 | %{ $_.version } }
}

Example usage:

PS> Get-DotNetVersionByFs
4.0.30319

PS> Get-DotNetVersionByFs -All
1.0.3705
1.1.4322
2.0.50727
3.0
3.5
4.0.30319

PS> Get-DotNetVersionByReg
4.5.51209

PS> Get-DotNetVersionByReg -AllDetailed

.NET Framework                   Product Version        Release
--------------                   ------- -------        -------
v2.0.50727                               2.0.50727.5420
v3.0                                     3.0.30729.5420
Windows Communication Foundation         3.0.4506.5420
Windows Presentation Foundation          3.0.6920.5011
v3.5                                     3.5.30729.5420
Client                                   4.0.0.0
Client                           4.5.2   4.5.51209      379893
Full                             4.5.2   4.5.51209      379893

Answer 4

Added v4.7.2 support to the script:

Get-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP' -recurse |
Get-ItemProperty -name Version,Release -EA 0 |
Where { $_.PSChildName -match '^(?![SW])\p{L}'} |
Select PSChildName, Version, Release, @{
  name="Product"
  expression={
      switch -regex ($_.Release) {
        "378389" { [Version]"4.5" }
        "378675|378758" { [Version]"4.5.1" }
        "379893" { [Version]"4.5.2" }
        "393295|393297" { [Version]"4.6" }
        "394254|394271" { [Version]"4.6.1" }
        "394802|394806" { [Version]"4.6.2" }
        "460798|460805" { [Version]"4.7" }
        "461308|461310" { [Version]"4.7.1" }
        "461808|461814" { [Version]"4.7.2" }    
        {$_ -gt 461814} { [Version]"Undocumented version (> 4.7.2), please update script" }
      }
    }
}

Answer 5

Refer to the page Script for finding which .NET versions are installed on remote workstations.

The script there might be useful to find the .NET version for multiple machines on a network.

Answer 6

Correct syntax:

[System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeEnvironment]::GetSystemVersion()
#or
$PSVersionTable.CLRVersion

The GetSystemVersion function returns a string like this:

v2.0.50727        #PowerShell v2.0 in Win 7 SP1

or like this

v4.0.30319        #PowerShell v3.0 (Windows Management Framework 3.0) in Win 7 SP1

$PSVersionTable is a read-only object. The CLRVersion property is a structured version number like this:

Major  Minor  Build  Revision
-----  -----  -----  --------
4      0      30319  18444