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Package metadata values that impact the PowerShell Gallery UI

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This article explains how the metadata in your packages is used by the PowerShell Gallery. For modules, the metadata is stored in the module manifest. For scripts, the metadata is store using comment-based keywords. The following cmdlets are use to create or update this metadata:

The following list shows the elements of the PowerShell Gallery package page UI that are controlled by the module manifest.

  • Title - The name of the package published to the Gallery.

  • Version - The version displayed is the version string in the metadata, and a prerelease label if is specified. The specified prerelease string is appended to the ModuleVersion. For information about prerelease strings in modules, see Prerelease Module Versions.

  • Description - This is the Description in the module manifest.

  • Require license acceptance - A module can require that the user accept a license, by setting RequireLicenseAcceptance = $true, supplying a LicenseURI, and providing a license.txt file in the root of the module folder. For more information, see Require License Acceptance.

  • Release notes - This information is comes from the ReleaseNotes section, under PSData\PrivateData.

  • Owners - Owners are the list of users in the PowerShell Gallery who can update a package. The owner list isn't included in the package manifest. Additional documentation describes how to manage item owners.

  • Author - This is included in the module manifest as the Author. The Author field is often used to specify a company or organization associated with a package.

  • Copyright - This is the Copyright field in the module manifest.

  • FileList - The file list is created when the package is published to the PowerShell Gallery. It's not controllable by the manifest information. The PowerShell Gallery creates .nuspec file that appears in the file list of each package. This file isn't installed with the package on a system. This is the NuGet package manifest for the package and can be ignored.

  • Tags - Tags are included under PrivateData\PSData in the module manifest. Tags have specific requirements and meanings that are described in the Tag Details section.

  • Cmdlets - This is provided in the module manifest using CmdletsToExport. It's a best practice to explicitly list the cmdlet names rather than using the wildcard *. Having a list improves the load-module performance.

  • Functions - This is provided in the module manifest using FunctionsToExport. It's a best practice to explicitly list the cmdlet names rather than using the wildcard *. Having a list improves the load-module performance.

  • DSC Resources - This is provided in the manifest using DscResourcesToExport. This value is only supported for modules in PowerShell 5.0 and higher.

  • Role capabilities - Roles are listed when the module has one or more role capability (.psrc) files. These files are used by JEA. For more information, see role capabilities.

  • PowerShell Editions - For modules designed for PowerShell 5.0 and lower, this is controlled using Tags. For Desktop, use the tag PSEdition_Desktop, and for core, use the tag PSEdition_Core. For modules designed for PowerShell 5.1 and higher, there is a CompatiblePSEditions key in the manifest. For more information, see PSEdition support for modules.

  • Dependencies - This is provided in the manifest using RequiredModules.

  • Minimum PowerShell version - This is provided in the manifest using PowerShellVersion.

  • Version History - Shows a list of versions of the module that have been published to the Gallery. Packages hidden using the Delete feature aren't displayed in the version history unless you are a package owner.

  • Project Site - The project site is provided for modules in the PrivateData\PSData section of the module manifest by specifying a ProjectURI.

  • License - A license link is provided for modules in the PrivateData\PSData section of the module manifest by specifying a LicenseURI.

    Important

    If a license isn't provided via the LicenseURI or within the package then the Terms of Use for the PowerShell Gallery apply to the package. For more information, see the Terms of Use.

  • Icon - A link is provided for modules in the PrivateData\PSData section of the module manifest by specifying an IconURI. The URI should point to an 85x85 image with transparency background. The URI must be a direct link to the image file and must not go to a web page or a file in the PowerShell Gallery package.

The following list shows the elements of the PowerShell Gallery package page UI that are controlled by the comment-based metadata in a script file.

  • Title - This is the name of the package that is published to the Gallery

  • Version - The version displayed is the version string in the metadata, and a prerelease label if is specified. The value comes from the .VERSION keyword in the metadata comment block. When publishing prerelease script, append the prerelease string to the version. For information about specifying prerelease strings in modules, see Prerelease versions of scripts.

  • Description - This information comes from the .DESCRIPTION keyword in the comment-based help of a script file.

  • Require license acceptance - License Acceptance is not supported for scripts. However, the scenario where a script depends on a module that requires license acceptance is supported. For more information, see Requiring license acceptance for scripts.

  • Release notes - This information comes from the .RELEASENOTES keyword in the comment-based metadata of a script file.

  • Owners - Owners are the list of users in the PowerShell Gallery who can update a package. The owner list isn't included in the package manifest. For more information, see manage item owners.

  • Author - This information comes from the .AUTHOR keyword in the comment-based metadata of a script file. The Author field is often used to specify a company or organization associated with a package.

  • Copyright - This information comes from the .COPYRIGHT keyword in the comment-based metadata of a script file.

  • FileList - The file list is created when the package is published to the PowerShell Gallery. It's not controllable by the manifest information. The PowerShell Gallery creates .nuspec file that appears in the file list of each package. This file isn't installed with the package on a system. This is the NuGet package manifest for the package and can be ignored.

  • Tags - *This information comes from the .TAGS keyword in the comment-based metadata of a script file. Tags have specific requirements and meanings that are described in the Tag Details section.

  • PowerShell Editions - For modules designed for PowerShell 5.0 and lower, this is controlled using Tags. For Desktop, use the tag PSEdition_Desktop, and for core, use the tag PSEdition_Core. For modules designed for PowerShell 5.1 and higher, there is a CompatiblePSEditions key in the manifest. For more information, see PSEdition support for modules.

  • Version History - Shows a list of versions of the module that have been published to the Gallery. Packages hidden using the Delete feature aren't displayed in the version history unless you are a package owner.

  • Project Site - This information comes from the .PROJECTURI keyword in the comment-based metadata of a script file.

  • License - This information comes from the .LICENSEURI keyword in the comment-based metadata of a script file.

    Important

    If a license isn't provided via the .LICENSEURI or within the package then the Terms of Use for the PowerShell Gallery apply to the package. For more information, see the Terms of Use.

  • Icon - This information comes from the .ICONURI keyword in the comment-based metadata of a script file. The URI should point to an 85x85 image with transparency background. The URI must be a direct link to the image file and must not go to a web page or a file in the PowerShell Gallery package.

Editing package details

The PowerShell Gallery Edit package page allows publishers to change several of the fields displayed for a package, specifically:

  • Title
  • Description
  • Summary
  • Icon URL
  • Project home page URL
  • Authors
  • Copyright
  • Tags
  • Release notes
  • Require license

You should only edit this information in the Gallery to correct what's displayed for an older version of a module. Users that download the package will see the metadata doesn't match the PowerShell Gallery. Any time you change information in the Gallery, you should publish a new version of the package with the same changes.

Tag details

Tags are simple strings consumers use to find packages. Tags are most valuable when they're used consistently across related packages. Using variations of the same word, for example database and databases or test and testing, provides little benefit. Tags are single-word case-insensitive strings and can't include blanks. If there is a phrase that you believe users will search for, add that to the package description so that it can be found in the search results. Use Pascal casing, hyphens, underscores, or periods to improve readability. Be cautious about creating long, complex, and unusual tags that are easily misspelled.

The PowerShell Gallery and PowerShellGet cmdlets have special meanings for the PSEdition_Desktop and PSEdition_Core tags. See the preceding discussion of PowerShell Editions.

As noted previously, tags provide the most value when they're specific, and used consistently across many packages. As a publisher trying to locate the best tags to use, the easiest approach is to search the PowerShell Gallery for tags you are considering. Ideally, the packages returned align with your use of that keyword.

The following table shows some of the most commonly used tags. The preferred tag should return the best search results.

Preferred tag Alternatives and notes
ActiveDirectory AD isn't currently used by itself
Appveyor
Automation
AWS
Azure
AzureAD
AzureAutomation
AzureRm Used primarily for the AzureRM modules
Backup
Build
ChatOps
Cloud
Color
Configuration
CrescendoBuilt This tag is added automatically by Crescendo when you export the module
Database Databases (plural) is less desirable
DBA
Deployment Deploy is used somewhat less often
DevOps
DNS
Docker
DSC DesiredStateConfiguration is less desirable, it's too long
DSCResource
DSCResourceKit
Excel
Exchange
Firewall
GIT
GitHub
Gitlab
Google
HTML
Hyper-V HyperV is less common as a tag
IaaS
IIS
Json
Linux
Log Preferred use of Log as a thing
Logging Preferred use of logging as an action
MacOS
Monitoring
MSI
Network Networking is similar, less often used
Office365 Spelling out Office is preferable. O365 is less commonly used, although shorter
PackageManagement
Pester
PoshBot
Report Report is a thing
Reporting Reporting is an action, report is a thing
ResourceManager "Arm" is used to describe group of processors, and shouldn't be used for Azure Resource Manager
REST
Security Defense is less precise
SharePoint
SQL
SQLServer
Storage
Test Testing is less desirable
VersionControl Version is less precise, although used more frequently
VSTS
Windows
WinRM
WMI
Zip