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Outlines 2025 PowerShell breaking changes including PS 2.0 removal, MSOnline/AzureAD retirement with migrations to Microsoft.Graph, and WMIC deprecation.
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Critical changes, deprecations, and migration paths for PowerShell in 2025.
Provides PowerShell 7+ expertise for cross-platform scripting, CI/CD automation (GitHub Actions/Azure DevOps), module management (PSGallery), and cloud tasks (Azure/AWS/M365).
Guides Windows PowerShell usage with critical rules: correct operator syntax, null safety, ASCII-only scripts, Join-Path, JSON depth, and error handling patterns.
Details Azure DevOps Sprints 254-262 features: iif/trim expression functions, Build.StageRequestedBy variable, stage dependency visualization in YAML pipelines. Useful for CI/CD updates.
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Critical changes, deprecations, and migration paths for PowerShell in 2025.
PowerShell 2.0 has been completely removed from:
Why: Security improvements, reduced attack surface, legacy code cleanup
# Check if PowerShell 2.0 is installed
Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName MicrosoftWindowsPowerShellV2Root
# If you still need PowerShell 2.0 (NOT RECOMMENDED)
# - Use older Windows versions
# - Use Windows containers with older base images
# - Upgrade scripts to PowerShell 5.1 or 7+
# Recommended: Migrate to PowerShell 7.5+
winget install Microsoft.PowerShell
Action Required: Audit all scripts and remove -Version 2.0 parameters from any PowerShell invocations.
| Module | Stop Working | Retirement Complete |
|---|---|---|
| MSOnline | Late May 2025 | May 31, 2025 |
| AzureAD | March 30, 2025 | After July 1, 2025 |
Critical: These modules will stop functioning - not just deprecated, but completely non-functional.
From MSOnline/AzureAD to Microsoft.Graph:
# OLD (MSOnline) - STOPS WORKING MAY 2025
Connect-MsolService
Get-MsolUser
Set-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName "user@domain.com" -UsageLocation "US"
# NEW (Microsoft.Graph 2.32.0)
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "User.ReadWrite.All"
Get-MgUser
Update-MgUser -UserId "user@domain.com" -UsageLocation "US"
# OLD (AzureAD) - STOPS WORKING MARCH 2025
Connect-AzureAD
Get-AzureADUser
New-AzureADUser -DisplayName "John Doe" -UserPrincipalName "john@domain.com"
# NEW (Microsoft.Graph 2.32.0)
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "User.ReadWrite.All"
Get-MgUser
New-MgUser -DisplayName "John Doe" -UserPrincipalName "john@domain.com"
Alternative: Use Microsoft Entra PowerShell module (successor to AzureAD)
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Graph.Entra -Scope CurrentUser
Connect-Entra
Get-EntraUser
| MSOnline/AzureAD | Microsoft.Graph | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Get-MsolUser / Get-AzureADUser | Get-MgUser | Requires User.Read.All scope |
Get-MsolGroup / Get-AzureADGroup | Get-MgGroup | Requires Group.Read.All scope |
Get-MsolDevice / Get-AzureADDevice | Get-MgDevice | Requires Device.Read.All scope |
Connect-MsolService / Connect-AzureAD | Connect-MgGraph | Scope-based permissions |
Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) tool removed after upgrading to Windows 11 25H2+.
From WMIC to PowerShell WMI/CIM:
# OLD (WMIC) - REMOVED
wmic process list brief
wmic os get caption
# NEW (PowerShell CIM)
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Process | Select-Object Name, ProcessId, CommandLine
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem | Select-Object Caption, Version
# For detailed process info
Get-Process | Format-Table Name, Id, CPU, WorkingSet -AutoSize
# For system info
Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object WindowsProductName, WindowsVersion
PSResourceGet is the official successor to PowerShellGet (2x faster, actively developed).
# Install PSResourceGet (ships with PowerShell 7.4+)
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.PowerShell.PSResourceGet -Force
# New commands (PSResourceGet)
Install-PSResource -Name Az -Scope CurrentUser # Replaces Install-Module
Find-PSResource -Name "*Azure*" # Replaces Find-Module
Update-PSResource -Name Az # Replaces Update-Module
Get-InstalledPSResource # Replaces Get-InstalledModule
# Compatibility layer available for legacy scripts
# Your old Install-Module commands still work but call PSResourceGet internally
Performance Comparison:
Test-Json now uses JsonSchema.NET instead of Newtonsoft.Json.Schema.
Impact: No longer supports Draft 4 JSON schemas.
# OLD (Draft 4 schema) - NO LONGER SUPPORTED
$schema = @"
{
"$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#",
"type": "object"
}
"@
Test-Json -Json $json -Schema $schema # FAILS in PowerShell 7.4+
# NEW (Draft 6+ schema) - SUPPORTED
$schema = @"
{
"$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-06/schema#",
"type": "object"
}
"@
Test-Json -Json $json -Schema $schema # WORKS
All code related to #Requires -PSSnapin has been removed.
# OLD (PowerShell 5.1 and earlier)
#Requires -PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.SnapIn
# NEW (Use modules instead)
#Requires -Modules ExchangeOnlineManagement
Import-Module ExchangeOnlineManagement
Connect-ExchangeOnline
JEA is now a security requirement for production environments:
# Create JEA session configuration
New-PSSessionConfigurationFile -SessionType RestrictedRemoteServer `
-Path "C:\JEA\RestrictedAdmin.pssc" `
-VisibleCmdlets @{
Name = 'Restart-Service'
Parameters = @{ Name = 'Name'; ValidateSet = 'Spooler' }
} `
-LanguageMode NoLanguage
# Register JEA endpoint
Register-PSSessionConfiguration -Name RestrictedAdmin `
-Path "C:\JEA\RestrictedAdmin.pssc" `
-Force
# Connect with limited privileges
Enter-PSSession -ComputerName Server01 -ConfigurationName RestrictedAdmin
WDAC replaces AppLocker for PowerShell script control:
# Create WDAC policy for PowerShell scripts
New-CIPolicy -FilePath "C:\WDAC\PowerShellPolicy.xml" `
-ScanPath "C:\Scripts" `
-Level FilePublisher `
-Fallback Hash
# Convert to binary and deploy
ConvertFrom-CIPolicy -XmlFilePath "C:\WDAC\PowerShellPolicy.xml" `
-BinaryFilePath "C:\Windows\System32\CodeIntegrity\SIPolicy.p7b"
Constrained Language Mode is now recommended for all users without admin privileges:
# Check current language mode
$ExecutionContext.SessionState.LanguageMode
# Output: FullLanguage (admin) or ConstrainedLanguage (standard user)
# Set system-wide constrained language mode via Group Policy or Environment Variable
# Set HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment\__PSLockdownPolicy = 4
PowerShell 7.6.0 Preview 5 available (built on .NET 9.0.101)
New Features:
# Check PowerShell version
$PSVersionTable.PSVersion
# 7.5.4 (stable) or 7.6.0-preview.5
# .NET version
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation]::FrameworkDescription
# .NET 9.0.101
# Test for deprecated module usage
Get-Module MSOnline, AzureAD -ListAvailable
# If found, plan migration immediately
# Test for PowerShell 2.0 dependencies
Get-Content "script.ps1" | Select-String -Pattern "powershell.exe -Version 2"
# If found, remove version parameter
# Test for WMIC usage
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Scripts" -Recurse -Filter "*.ps1" |
Select-String -Pattern "wmic" |
Select-Object Path, Line
# Verify PowerShell version compatibility
#Requires -Version 7.0
Test-Path $PSCommandPath # Ensures script is PowerShell 7+
Last Updated: October 2025