powershell-2025-changes

PowerShell 2025 Breaking Changes & Migrations

Critical changes, deprecations, and migration paths for PowerShell in 2025.

PowerShell 2.0 Removal (August-September 2025)

What's Removed

PowerShell 2.0 has been completely removed from:

• Windows 11 version 24H2 (August 2025)
• Windows Server 2025 (September 2025)

Why: Security improvements, reduced attack surface, legacy code cleanup

Migration Path

# 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.

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MSOnline & AzureAD Module Retirement

Retirement Timeline

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.

Migration Path

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

Common Command Mappings

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

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WMIC Removal (Windows 11 25H2)

What's Removed

Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) tool removed after upgrading to Windows 11 25H2+.

Migration Path

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

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PowerShellGet → PSResourceGet Migration

Modern Package Management (2025)

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:

• PowerShellGet: 10-15 seconds to install module
• PSResourceGet: 5-7 seconds to install module (2x faster)

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Test-Json Schema Changes

Breaking Change (PowerShell 7.4+)

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

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#Requires -PSSnapin Removed

Breaking Change (PowerShell 7.4+)

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

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Security Hardening (2025 Standards)

Just Enough Administration (JEA)

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

Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC)

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

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

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PowerShell 7.6 Preview Features

Current Status (October 2025)

PowerShell 7.6.0 Preview 5 available (built on .NET 9.0.101)

New Features:

• PSRedirectToVariable: Allow redirecting to a variable
• Module Rename: ThreadJob → Microsoft.PowerShell.ThreadJob
• PSResourceGet 1.1.0: Improved performance and Azure Artifacts support

# 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

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Migration Checklist

Immediate Actions Required (2025)

• Audit MSOnline/AzureAD usage - Migrate to Microsoft.Graph 2.32.0 before May 2025
• Remove PowerShell 2.0 references - Upgrade to PowerShell 7.5+
• Replace WMIC commands - Use Get-CimInstance/Get-Process
• Update JSON schemas - Migrate Draft 4 to Draft 6+
• Remove PSSnapin requirements - Convert to modules
• Adopt PSResourceGet - Faster, modern package management
• Implement JEA - Role-based access control for production
• Enable WDAC - Application control for PowerShell scripts
• Test Constrained Language Mode - For non-admin users

Recommended Actions

• Upgrade to PowerShell 7.5.4 - Latest stable with .NET 9
• Adopt Az 14.5.0 - Latest Azure module with zone redundancy
• Use Microsoft.Graph 2.32.0 - Actively maintained Graph SDK
• Enable Script Block Logging - Security auditing
• Implement Code Signing - For production scripts
• Use Azure Key Vault - For credential management

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Testing Migration

# 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+

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Resources

• PowerShell 7.5 Release Notes
• MSOnline/AzureAD Retirement Info
• PSResourceGet Documentation
• JEA Documentation
• WDAC Documentation

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Last Updated: October 2025