Install Help for Windows PowerShell

Q

How to install help for Windows PowerShell? I am getting the "Get-Help cannot find the Help files for this cmdlet on this computer" error.

✍: FYIcenter.com

A

By default, help files are not installed for Windows PowerShell. So if you run the help command, you will get the syntax-only help and the "Get-Help cannot find the Help files for this cmdlet on this computer".

For example:

PS C:\Users\fyicenter> help get-date

NAME
    Get-Date

SYNTAX
    Get-Date [[-Date] <datetime>] [-Year <int>] [-Month <int>] ...

ALIASES
    None

REMARKS
    Get-Help cannot find the Help files for this cmdlet on this computer. 
    It is displaying only partial help.
        -- To download and install Help files for the module that includes 
           this cmdlet, use Update-Help.
        -- To view the Help topic for this cmdlet online, type: "Get-Help 
           Get-Date -Online" or go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113313.

To install the help information, you need to run the "Update-Help" command in Windows PowerShell as an administrator:

1. Type "Windows PowerShell" in the Windows search box.

2. Right-click on "Windows PowerShell" in the search match list and select "Run as administrator" from the context menu.

3. Run the "Update-Help" command at the Windows PowerShell prompt. It will download and install help information from Microsoft server one module at a time.

PS C:\Users\fyicenter> update-help

Updating Help for module DirectAccessCli
   Locating Help Content...
...

After the installation is done, the "help" command will return full help information. For example:

PS C:\Users\fyicenter> help get-date

NAME
    Get-Date

SYNOPSIS
    Gets the current date and time.


SYNTAX
    Get-Date [[-Date] <datetime>] [-Year <int>] [-Month <int>] ...

DESCRIPTION
    The Get-Date cmdlet gets a DateTime object that represents the 
    current date or a date that you specify. It can
    format the date and time in several Windows and UNIX formats. 
    You can use Get-Date to generate a date or time
    character string, and then send the string to other cmdlets or 
    programs.

RELATED LINKS
    Online Version: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=293966
    New-TimeSpan
    Set-Date

REMARKS
    To see the examples, type: "get-help Get-Date -examples".
    For more information, type: "get-help Get-Date -detailed".
    For technical information, type: "get-help Get-Date -full".
    For online help, type: "get-help Get-Date -online"

 

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2016-11-08, 3446🔥, 0💬