Export-PSSession

Syntax

Export-PSSession
      [-OutputModule] <String>
      [-Force]
      [-Encoding <Encoding>]
      [[-CommandName] <String[]>]
      [-AllowClobber]
      [-ArgumentList <Object[]>]
      [-CommandType <CommandTypes>]
      [-Module <String[]>]
      [-FullyQualifiedModule <ModuleSpecification[]>]
      [[-FormatTypeName] <String[]>]
      [-Certificate <X509Certificate2>]
      [-Session] <PSSession>
      [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Export-PSSession cmdlet gets cmdlets, functions, aliases, and other command types from another PowerShell session (PSSession) on a local or remote computer and saves them in a PowerShell module. To add the commands from the module to the current session, use the Import-Module cmdlet.

Unlike Import-PSSession, which imports commands from another PSSession into the current session, Export-PSSession saves the commands in a module. The commands are not imported into the current session.

To export commands, use the New-PSSession cmdlet to create a PSSession that has the commands that you want to export. Then use the Export-PSSession cmdlet to export the commands.

To prevent command name conflicts, the default for Export-PSSession is to export all commands, except for commands that exist in the current session. You can use the CommandName parameter to specify the commands to export.

The Export-PSSession cmdlet uses the implicit remoting feature of PowerShell. When you import commands into the current session, they run implicitly in the original session or in a similar session on the originating computer.

Examples

Example 1: Export commands from a PSSession

This example creates a new PSSession from the local computer to the Server01 computer. All of the commands, except those that exist in the current session, are exported to the module named Server01 on the local computer. The export includes the formatting data for the commands.

$S = New-PSSession -ComputerName Server01
Export-PSSession -Session $S -OutputModule Server01

The New-PSSession command creates a PSSession on the Server01 computer. The PSSession is stored in the $S variable. The Export-PSSession command exports the $S variable's commands and formatting data into the Server01 module.

Example 2: Export the Get and Set commands

This example exports all of the Get and Set commands from a server.

$S = New-PSSession -ConnectionUri https://exchange.microsoft.com/mailbox -Credential exchangeadmin01@hotmail.com -Authentication Negotiate
Export-PSSession -Session $S -Module exch* -CommandName Get-*, Set-* -FormatTypeName * -OutputModule $PSHOME\Modules\Exchange -Encoding ASCII

These commands export the Get and Set commands from a Microsoft Exchange Server snap-in on a remote computer to an Exchange module in the $PSHOME\Modules directory on the local computer. Placing the module in the $PSHOME\Modules directory makes it accessible to all users of the computer.

Example 3: Export commands from a remote computer

This example exports cmdlets from a PSSession on a remote computer and saves them in a module on the local computer. The cmdlets from the module are added to the current session so that they can be used.

$S = New-PSSession -ComputerName Server01 -Credential Server01\User01
Export-PSSession -Session $S -OutputModule TestCmdlets -Type Cmdlet -CommandName *test* -FormatTypeName *
Remove-PSSession $S
Import-Module TestCmdlets
Get-Help Test*
Test-Files

The New-PSSession command creates a PSSession on the Server01 computer and saves it in the $S variable. The Export-PSSession command exports the cmdlets whose names begin with Test from the PSSession in $S to the TestCmdlets module on the local computer.

The Remove-PSSession cmdlet deletes the PSSession in $S from the current session. This command shows that the PSSession need not be active to use the commands that were imported from the session. The Import-Module cmdlet adds the cmdlets in the TestCmdlets module to the current session. The command can be run in any session at any time.

The Get-Help cmdlet gets help for cmdlets whose names begin with Test. After the commands in a module are added to the current session, you can use the Get-Help and Get-Command cmdlets to learn about the imported commands. The Test-Files cmdlet was exported from the Server01 computer and added to the session. The Test-Files cmdlet runs in a remote session on the computer from which the command was imported. PowerShell creates a session from information that is stored in the TestCmdlets module.

Example 4: Export and clobber commands in the current session

This example exports commands that are stored in a variable into the current session.

Export-PSSession -Session $S -AllowClobber -OutputModule AllCommands

This Export-PSSession command exports all commands and all formatting data from the PSSession in the $S variable into the current session. The AllowClobber parameter includes commands with the same names as commands in the current session.

Example 5: Export commands from a closed PSSession

This example shows how to run the exported commands with special options when the PSSession that created the exported commands is closed.

If the original remote session is closed when a module is imported, the module will use any open remote session that connects to the originating computer. If there is no current session to the originating computer, the module will reestablish a session.

To run exported commands with special options in a remote session, you must create a remote session with those options before you import the module. Use the New-PSSession cmdlet with the SessionOption parameter

$Options = New-PSSessionOption -NoMachineProfile
$S = New-PSSession -ComputerName Server01 -SessionOption $Options
Export-PSSession -Session $S -OutputModule Server01
Remove-PSSession $S
New-PSSession -ComputerName Server01 -SessionOption $Options
Import-Module Server01

The New-PSSessionOption cmdlet creates a PSSessionOption object, and it saves the object in the $Options variable. The New-PSSession command creates a PSSession on the Server01 computer. The SessionOption parameter uses the object stored in $Options. The session is stored in the $S variable.

The Export-PSSession cmdlet exports commands from the PSSession in $S to the Server01 module. The Remove-PSSession cmdlet deletes the PSSession in the $S variable.

The New-PSSession cmdlet creates a new PSSession that connects to the Server01 computer. The SessionOption parameter uses the object stored in $Options. The Import-Module cmdlet imports the commands from the Server01 module. The commands in the module are run in the PSSession on the Server01 computer.

Parameters

-AllowClobber

-ArgumentList

-Certificate

-CommandName

-CommandType

-Encoding

-Force

-FormatTypeName

-FullyQualifiedModule

-Module

-OutputModule

-Session

Inputs

None

You cannot pipe objects to Export-PSSession.

Outputs

FileInfo

Export-PSSession returns a list of files that comprise the module that it created.

Notes

Export-PSSession relies on the PowerShell remoting infrastructure. To use this cmdlet, the computer must be configured for remoting. For more information, see about_Remote_Requirements.

You cannot use Export-PSSession to export a PowerShell provider.

Exported commands run implicitly in the PSSession from which they were exported. The details of running the commands remotely are handled entirely by PowerShell. You can run the exported commands just as you would run local commands.

Export-ModuleMember captures and saves information about the PSSession in the module that it exports. If the PSSession from which the commands were exported is closed when you import the module, and there are no active PSSessions to the same computer, the commands in the module attempt to recreate the PSSession. If attempts to recreate the PSSession fail, the exported commands will not run.

The session information that Export-ModuleMember captures and saves in the module does not include session options, such as those that you specify in the $PSSessionOption preference variable or by using the SessionOption parameter of the New-PSSession, Enter-PSSession, or Invoke-Command cmdlets. If the original PSSession is closed when you import the module, the module will use another PSSession to the same computer, if one is available. To enable the imported commands to run in a correctly configured session, create a PSSession with the options that you want before you import the module.

To find the commands to export, Export-PSSession uses the Invoke-Command cmdlet to run a Get-Command command in the PSSession. To get and save formatting data for the commands, it uses the Get-FormatData and Export-FormatData cmdlets. You might see error messages from Invoke-Command, Get-Command, Get-FormatData, and Export-FormatData when you run an Export-PSSession command. Also, Export-PSSession cannot export commands from a session that does not include the Get-Command, Get-FormatData, Select-Object, and Get-Help cmdlets.

Export-PSSession uses the Write-Progress cmdlet to display the progress of the command. You might see the progress bar while the command is running.

Exported commands have the same limitations as other remote commands, including the inability to start a program with a user interface, such as Notepad.

Because PowerShell profiles are not run in PSSessions, the commands that a profile adds to a session are not available to Export-PSSession. To export commands from a profile, use an Invoke-Command command to run the profile in the PSSession manually before exporting commands.

The module that Export-PSSession creates might include a formatting file, even if the command does not import formatting data. If the command does not import formatting data, any formatting files that are created will not contain formatting data.

Related Links

• about_Command_Precedence
• about_PSSessions
• about_PSSnapins
• about_Remote_Requirements
• Import-Module
• Import-PSSession
• Invoke-Command
• New-PSSession
• New-PSSessionOption
• Remove-PSSession