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PowerShell Support Lifecycle

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Note

This document is about support for PowerShell. Windows PowerShell (1.0 - 5.1) is a component of the Windows operating system. Components receive the same support as their parent product or platform. For more information, see Product and Services Lifecycle Information.

PowerShell is supported under the Microsoft Modern Lifecycle Policy, but support dates are linked to .NET and .NET Core Support Policy. In this servicing approach, customers can choose Long Term Support (LTS) releases or current releases.

An LTS release of PowerShell is built on an LTS release of .NET. Updates to an LTS release only contain critical security updates and servicing fixes that are designed to minimize impact to existing workloads. LTS releases of PowerShell are supported until the end-of-support for .NET.

A current release is a release that occurs between LTS releases. Current releases can contain critical fixes, innovations, and new features. A current release is supported for six months after the next release (current or LTS).

Important

You must have the latest patch update installed to qualify for support. For example, if you're running PowerShell 7.3 and 7.3.1 has been released, you must update to 7.3.1 to qualify for support.

Supported platforms

PowerShell runs on multiple operating systems (OS) and processor architectures. To be supported by Microsoft, the OS must meet the following criteria:

  • The version and processor architecture of the OS is supported by .NET Core.
  • The version of the OS is supported for at least one year.
  • The version of the OS isn't an interim release or equivalent.
  • The version of the OS is currently supported by the OS publisher.
  • The PowerShell team has tested the version of the distribution.

When a platform version reaches end-of-life as defined by the platform owner, PowerShell also ends support on that platform version. Previously released packages remain available for customers needing access but formal support and updates of any kind are no longer be provided.

Windows

The following table is a list of PowerShell releases and the versions of Windows they're supported on. These versions are supported until either the version of PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of Windows reaches end-of-support.

  • The Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell is still supported
  • The Out of Support icon indicates the version of PowerShell is no longer supported on that version of the OS
  • The In Test icon indicates that we haven't finished testing PowerShell on that OS
  • The Not Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell isn't supported
  • When both the version of the OS and the version of PowerShell have a Supported icon, that combination is supported
Windows 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
Supported Windows Server 2016, 2019, or 2022 Supported Supported Supported
Supported Windows Server 2012 R2 Supported Supported Supported
Supported Windows Server Core (2012 R2 or higher) Supported Supported Supported
Supported Windows Server Nano (1809 or higher) Supported Supported Supported
Supported Windows 11 Supported Supported Supported
Supported Windows 10 1607+ Supported Supported Supported

Note

Support for a specific version of Windows is determined by the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policies. For more information, see:

PowerShell is supported on Windows for the following processor architectures.

Windows 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
Nano Server Version 1803+ x64 x64 x64
Windows Server 2012 R2+ x64, x86 x64, x86 x64, x86
Windows Server Core 2012 R2+ x64, x86 x64, x86 x64, x86
Windows 10 or 11 Client x64, x86, Arm64 x64, x86, Arm64 x64, x86, Arm64

macOS

The following table contains a list of PowerShell releases and the status of support for versions of macOS. These versions remain supported until either the version of PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of macOS reaches end-of-support.

  • The Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell is still supported
  • The Out of Support icon indicates the version of PowerShell is no longer supported on that version of the OS
  • The In Test icon indicates that we haven't finished testing PowerShell on that OS
  • The Not Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell isn't supported
  • When both the version of the OS and the version of PowerShell have a Supported icon, that combination is supported
macOS 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
Supported Big Sur 11.5 Supported Supported Supported

macOS 12 (Monterey) and macOS 13 (Ventura) have not been tested.

Support of macOS is defined by Apple. For more information, see:

PowerShell is supported on macOS for the following processor architectures:

macOS 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
macOS Big Sur 11.5 x64, Arm64 x64, Arm64 x64, Arm64

Alpine Linux

The following table lists the supported PowerShell releases and the versions of Alpine they're supported on. These versions are supported until either the version of PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of Alpine reaches end-of-life.

  • The Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell is still supported
  • The Out of Support icon indicates the version of PowerShell is no longer supported on that version of the OS
  • The In Test icon indicates that we haven't finished testing PowerShell on that OS
  • The Not Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell isn't supported
  • When both the version of the OS and the version of PowerShell have a Supported icon, that combination is supported
Alpine 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
Supported 3.15 In Test In Test In Test
Supported 3.14 Supported Supported Supported

Alpine 3.15 is in the process of being tested.

PowerShell is supported on Alpine for the following processor architectures.

Alpine 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
All supported versions x64 x64 x64

PowerShell hasn't been tested on Alpine using Arm processors.

Debian Linux

The following table is a list of currently supported PowerShell releases and the versions of Debian they're supported on. These versions remain supported until either the version of PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of Debian reaches end-of-life.

  • The Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell is still supported
  • The Out of Support icon indicates the version of PowerShell is no longer supported on that version of the OS
  • The In Test icon indicates that we haven't finished testing PowerShell on that OS
  • The Not Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell isn't supported
  • When both the version of the OS and the version of PowerShell have a Supported icon, that combination is supported
Debian 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
Supported 11 Supported Supported Supported
Supported 10 Supported Supported Supported

PowerShell is supported on Debian for the following processor architectures.

Debian 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
Version 9+ x64 x64 x64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

The following table is a list of currently supported versions of PowerShell and the versions of RHEL they're supported on. These versions remain supported until either the version of PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of RHEL reaches end-of-support.

  • The Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell is still supported
  • The Out of Support icon indicates the version of PowerShell is no longer supported on that version of the OS
  • The In Test icon indicates that we haven't finished testing PowerShell on that OS
  • The Not Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell isn't supported
  • When both the version of the OS and the version of PowerShell have a Supported icon, that combination is supported
RHEL 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
Supported 9 Supported Supported Supported
Supported 8 Supported Supported Supported
Supported 7 Supported Supported Not Supported

PowerShell is supported on RHEL for the following processor architectures.

RHEL 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
All supported versions x64 x64 x64

Ubuntu Linux

The following table is a list of currently supported PowerShell releases and the versions of Ubuntu they're supported on. These versions remain supported until either the version of PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of Ubuntu reaches end-of-support.

  • The Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell is still supported
  • The Out of Support icon indicates the version of PowerShell is no longer supported on that version of the OS
  • The In Test icon indicates that we haven't finished testing PowerShell on that OS
  • The Not Supported icon indicates that the version of the OS or PowerShell isn't supported
  • When both the version of the OS and the version of PowerShell have a Supported icon, that combination is supported
Ubuntu 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
Supported 22.04 (LTS) Supported Supported Supported
Supported 20.04 (LTS) Supported Supported Supported
Out of Support 18.04 (LTS) Out of Support Out of Support Out of Support

Only the LTS releases of Ubuntu are officially supported. Microsoft does not support interim releases or their equivalent. Interim releases are community supported. For more information, see Community supported distributions.

PowerShell is supported on Ubuntu for the following processor architectures.

Ubuntu 7.2 (LTS-current) 7.3 7.4 (preview)
All supported versions x64, Arm32 x64, Arm32 x64, Arm32

Windows PowerShell Compatibility

The support lifecycle for PowerShell doesn't cover modules that ship outside of the PowerShell release package. For example, using the ActiveDirectory module that ships as part of Windows Server is supported under the Windows Support Lifecycle.

Experimental features

Experimental features aren't intended to be used in production environments. We appreciate feedback on experimental features and we provide best-effort support for them.

Notes on licensing

PowerShell is released under the MIT license. Under this license, and without a paid support agreement, users are limited to community support. With community support, Microsoft makes no guarantees of responsiveness or fixes.

Getting support

Support for PowerShell is delivered via traditional Microsoft support agreements, including paid support, Microsoft Enterprise Agreements, and Microsoft Software Assurance. You can also pay for assisted support for PowerShell by filing a support request for your problem.

There are multiple community support options. You can file an issue, bug, or feature request on GitHub. Also, you can get help from other members of the community in the Microsoft PowerShell Tech Community or any of the community forums listed on the PowerShell hub page. If you have a problem that requires immediate attention, you should use the traditional, paid support options.

Important

You must have the latest patch update installed to qualify for support. For example, if you're running PowerShell 7.3 and 7.3.1 has been released, you must update to 7.3.1 to qualify for support.

PowerShell End-of-support dates

Based on these lifecycle policies, the following table lists the dates when support for the current versions of PowerShell end:

Version Release Date End-of-support
7.4 (preview) TBD TBD
7.3 (Stable) November 9, 2022 May 8, 2024
7.2 (LTS-current) November 8, 2021 November 8, 2024

Support for PowerShell on a specific platform is based on the support policy of the version of .NET used.

End of support dates for already retired versions were:

Version Release Date End-of-support
7.0 (LTS) March 4, 2020 December 3, 2022
7.1 November 11, 2020 May 8, 2022
6.2 March 28, 2019 September 4, 2020
6.1 September 13, 2018 September 28, 2019
6.0 January 20, 2018 February 13, 2019

Release history

The following table contains a timeline of the major releases of PowerShell. This table is provided for historical reference. It isn't intended for use to determine the support lifecycle.

Version Release Date Note
PowerShell 7.4 (preview) Built on .NET 8.0.0-preview
PowerShell 7.3 Nov-2022 Built on .NET 7.0
PowerShell 7.2 (LTS-current) Nov-2021 Built on .NET 6.0 (LTS-current)
PowerShell 7.1 Nov-2020 Built on .NET 5.0
PowerShell 7.0 (LTS) Mar-2020 Built on .NET Core 3.1 (LTS)
PowerShell 6.2 Mar-2019 Built on .NET Core 2.1
PowerShell 6.1 Sep-2018 Built on .NET Core 2.1
PowerShell 6.0 Jan-2018 First release, built on .NET Core 2.0. Installable on Windows, Linux, and macOS
Windows PowerShell 5.1 Aug-2016 Released in Windows 10 Anniversary Update and Windows Server 2016, WMF 5.1
Windows PowerShell 5.0 Feb-2016 Released in Windows Management Framework (WMF) 5.0
Windows PowerShell 4.0 Oct-2013 Integrated in Windows 8.1 and with Windows Server 2012 R2, WMF 4.0
Windows PowerShell 3.0 Oct-2012 Integrated in Windows 8 and with Windows Server 2012 WMF 3.0
Windows PowerShell 2.0 Jul-2009 Integrated in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, WMF 2.0
Windows PowerShell 1.0 Nov-2006 Optional component of Windows Server 2008

Run the following command to see the full version number of .NET used by the version of PowerShell you're running:

[System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation]::FrameworkDescription