PowerShell Support Lifecycle

There are multiple versions of PowerShell 7 that can be installed.

• Stable release - A stable release is a release that occurs between LTS releases. Stable releases can contain critical fixes, innovations, and new features. Microsoft supports a Stable release for about six months after the next LTS release.

  The current Stable release is PowerShell v7.5.4.

• Long Term Servicing (LTS) release - An LTS release of PowerShell is an LTS release of .NET. Updates to an LTS release only contain critical security updates and servicing fixes that are designed to minimize impact on existing workloads.

  The current LTS release is PowerShell v7.4.13.

• Preview release - A preview release is a version of PowerShell that's currently in development. Preview releases can contain bug fixes, new features, and experiments. Preview releases can contain bugs and might not be stable. For that reason, you shouldn't use them in production environments. Preview versions aren't officially supported. They allow you to test out new features and provide feedback. Your feedback is important and can influence the features that get released.

  The current Preview release is PowerShell v7.6.0-rc1.

PowerShell follows the Microsoft Modern Lifecycle Policy. The End of Support dates follow the .NET Support Policy for the version of .NET that the release of PowerShell was built upon. Both LTS and Stable releases of PowerShell receive security updates and bug fixes. Microsoft only supports the latest update version of a release.

Support options

Microsoft provides support for PowerShell on a best-effort basis. Support for Windows PowerShell 5.1 is provided through Windows support channels. You can use the standard paid support channels to get support for PowerShell.

• Support for business
• Contact support

There are many free support options available from the PowerShell community. The most active community support channels are available through Discord or Slack. The discussion channels are mirrored on both platforms, so you can choose the platform that you prefer. These channels can help you troubleshoot issues, answer questions, and provide guidance on how to use PowerShell.

If you think that you found a bug, you can file an issue on GitHub. The PowerShell team can't provide support through GitHub, but they welcome bug reports. The community support page provides links to the most popular community support channels.

Supported platforms

PowerShell runs on multiple operating systems (OS) and processor architecture platforms. The platform must meet the following criteria:

• The target platform (OS version and processor architecture) is supported by .NET.
• Microsoft has tested and approved PowerShell on the target platform.
• The OS version is supported by the distributor for at least one year.
• The OS version isn't an interim release or equivalent.
• The OS version is currently supported by the distributor.

Support for PowerShell ends when either of the following conditions are met:

• The target platform reaches end-of-life as defined by the platform owner
• The specific version of PowerShell reaches end-of-life

After a version of PowerShell reaches end-of-life, no further updates, including security updates, are provided. Microsoft encourages customers to upgrade to a supported version of PowerShell to continue receiving updates and support.

Windows

Microsoft supports PowerShell until PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of Windows reaches end-of-support.

The Docker images for the .NET SDK contain the latest versions of PowerShell. These images are available from the Microsoft Artifact Registry.

These images may not have the latest security updates. Microsoft recommends that you update the OS packages to the latest version to ensure the latest security updates are applied.

These images are provided for testing purposes. If you need a Docker image for a production workload, you should build and maintain your own.

macOS

Microsoft supports PowerShell until PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of macOS reaches end-of-support.

The following versions of macOS are supported:

• macOS 26 (Tahoe) x64 and Arm64
• macOS 15 (Sequoia) x64 and Arm64
• macOS 14 (Sonoma) x64 and Arm64

Apple determines the support lifecycle of macOS. For more information, see the following:

• macOS release notes
• Apple Security Updates

Alpine Linux

Microsoft supports PowerShell until PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of Alpine reaches end-of-life.

Support for these versions of Alpine ends on the following dates:

• Alpine 3.23 - 2027-11-01
• Alpine 3.22 - 2027-05-01
• Alpine 3.21 - 2026-11-01
• Alpine 3.20 - 2026-04-01

The Docker images for the .NET SDK contain the latest versions of PowerShell. These images are available from the Microsoft Artifact Registry.

These images are built from official operating system (OS) images provided by the OS distributor. These images may not have the latest security updates. Microsoft recommends that you update the OS packages to the latest version to ensure the latest security updates are applied.

These images are provided for testing purposes. If you need a Docker image for a production workload, you should build and maintain your own.

Debian Linux

Microsoft supports PowerShell until PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of Debian reaches end-of-life.

Support for these versions of Debian ends on the following dates:

• Debian 13 - 2028-08-09
• Debian 12 - 2026-06-10

Install package files (.deb) are also available from https://packages.microsoft.com/.

The Docker images for the .NET SDK contain the latest versions of PowerShell. These images are available from the Microsoft Artifact Registry.

These images are built from official operating system (OS) images provide by the OS distributor. These images may not have the latest security updates. Microsoft recommends that you update the OS packages to the latest version to ensure the latest security updates are applied.

These images are provided for testing purposes. If you need a Docker image for a production workload, you should build and maintain your own.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Microsoft supports PowerShell until PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of RHEL reaches end-of-support.

Support for these versions of RHEL ends on the following dates:

• RHEL 10 - 2035-05-31
• RHEL 9 - 2032-05-31
• RHEL 8 - 2029-05-31

Install package files (.rpm) are also available from https://packages.microsoft.com/.

PowerShell is tested on Red Hat Universal Base Images (UBI). For more information, see the UBI information page.

Ubuntu Linux

Microsoft supports PowerShell until PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version of Ubuntu reaches end-of-support.

Support for these versions of Ubuntu ends on the following dates:

• Ubuntu 24.04 - 2029-05-31
• Ubuntu 22.04 - 2027-04-01

Install package files (.deb) are also available from https://packages.microsoft.com/.

The Docker images for the .NET SDK contain the latest versions of PowerShell. You can download these images from the Microsoft Artifact Registry.

These images are built from official operating system (OS) images provide by the OS distributor. These images may not have the latest security updates. Microsoft recommends that you update the OS packages to the latest version to ensure the latest security updates are applied.

These images are provided for testing purposes. If you need a Docker image for a production workload, you should build and maintain your own.

Support for PowerShell modules

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.

Support for 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.

PowerShell end-of-support dates

The PowerShell support lifecycle follows the support lifecycle of .NET. The following table lists the end-of-support dates for the current versions of PowerShell:

The following table lists the end-of-support dates for retired versions of PowerShell:

Windows PowerShell release history

The following table contains a historical timeline of the major releases of Windows PowerShell. Microsoft no longer supports Windows PowerShell versions lower than 5.1.

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