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Business Central Administration Shell

The Business Central Administration Shell includes PowerShell cmdlets for administering Business Central on-premises deployments. You use it for configuring Business Central Server and Web server instances, databases, users, and more. You also use it to manage extensions, like publishing, syncing, installing, and upgrading.

Install the Business Central Admin Shell

The Business Central Administration Shell is installed together with Business Central Server components by using the Business Central Setup wizard. To install it, run the setup.exe that's available on the installation media (DVD). Follow the wizard, and choose either the Install Demo option or the Server option in the customized setup. For more information, see Install Using Setup.

About the PowerShell modules

Business Central Administration Shell consists of the following PowerShell script modules, which are stored in the Business Central Server installation Admin folder:

The Microsoft.BusinessCentral.Apps.Tools module provides cmdlets for creating Business Central extension packages and exporting related application data and resources. This module isn't part of Business Central Administration Shell and must be imported separately.

Only PowerShell 7 is supported. Windows PowerShell 5 might continue to work, but it isn't a supported configuration and might stop working in a future update.

Earlier versions

In 2026 release wave 1 (version 28) and earlier, modules are available as binary modules (.dll) for PowerShell 7 and in a PowerShell 5 compatibility layer. Windows PowerShell 5 compatibility layer consolidates the modules into a single module that can run with PowerShell 5. The module, Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Management.dll, is part of Business Central Server installation Management folder. Learn more about compatibility in Windows PowerShell Compatibility in PowerShell 7.

Run the Business Central Administration Shell

To run the shell, you have to be a member of the local administrator group on the computer. There are a couple ways to run the shell.

  • One way is from the Start menu or Search on your desktop. Select Start or Search, type Business Central Administration Shell, right-click it, then select Run as administrator.

    If PowerShell 7 is installed on your device, then the PowerShell 7 modules are loaded

  • Another way is from Windows PowerShell. Start PowerShell 7 (or Windows PowerShell 5) as an administrator. At the prompt, run the following command:

    Import-Module -Name C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central\nnn\Service\navadmintool.ps1

    Replace C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central\nnn with the path to your server installation.

    If you're using PowerShell 7, the PowerShell 7 modules are loaded. If you're using PowerShell 5, the PowerShell 5 compatibility layer module is loaded.

Run Business Central Admin Shell in remote session

To administer Business Central Server on a remote computer, you can use PowerShell remoting. PowerShell remoting allows you to run Business Central Administration Shell cmdlets on the remote server from your local machine.

  1. Ensure that PowerShell Remoting is enabled on the remote computer that's running Business Central Server. From the remote computer, start PowerShell and run the following command:

    Enable-PSRemoting -Force

  2. On the local computer, start PowerShell 7 (or Windows PowerShell 5) as an administrator.

  3. Run the following command to start an interactive session to the remote computer:

    Enter-PSSession -ComputerName <RemoteComputerName> -Credential <Username>

    Once connected, your prompt changes to reflect the remote computer. You can now navigate and execute commands directly.

  4. Run the following command to start Business Central Administration Shell:

     Import-Module -Name C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central\nnn\Service\navadmintool.ps1

Important

With 2026 release wave 1 (v28.0), you must use Windows PowerShell 5 to run Business Central Administration Shell. Due to a known issue, PowerShell 7–based remoting isn't supported. Learn more in Known issues.

Get help on the cmdlets

To view the available cmdlets, enter the following command at the prompt:

Get-Command *NAV*

To get help with syntax, options, and examples for a specific cmdlet in Business Central version 23 or earlier, enter the following command:

Get-Help <cmd name> -full

For example, to get Help about the Get-NAVServerInstance cmdlet, type the following command.

Get-Help Get-NAVServerInstance -full

Help with syntax, options, and examples isn't available starting with version 24. Use the online version of the help on Microsoft Learn.

To open the online help, enter the following command:

Get-Help <cmd name> -online

Learn more

For more information about Business Central Administration Shell cmdlets, see Administration Cmdlets .

For more information about Windows PowerShell, see Windows PowerShell Getting Started Guide.

Configuring Business Central Server Instances
Configuring Business Central Web Server Instances
Publish and Install Extensions

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