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Using Export-ScriptsToModule function :)
I work as System Administrator for more than 15 years now and I love to make my life easier by automating work & personal stuff via PowerShell (even silly things like food recipes list generation).
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This series will be about my CI/CD solution for PowerShell content. For final solution please check https://github.com/ztrhgf/Powershell_CICD_repository
So the only thing you will have to focus on is writing the code
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I will start with little warning. This is my first blog post ever and my english is far from perfect, so please be nice :D
In this post I will show you, how to easily generate PowerShell modules from ps1 scripts (that contains PowerShell functions) using my PowerShell function Export-ScriptsToModule.
For me its about simplicity
Use my PowerShell function Export-ScriptsToModule like this:
Export-ScriptsToModule @{"<pathToFolderWithps1ScriptsContainingFunctions>" = "<pathToModuleFolderThatWillBeGenerated>"}
Define each function in a separate identically titled ps1 file (i.e. Hello-World.ps1 will contain function Hello-World etc). And from such ps1's generate psm1 modules automatically :)
What to be aware of when you want generate module automatically:
Parsing PowerShell content using regex to get the right data would be quite hard, but luckily we have AST!
AST is abbreviation of Abstract Syntax Tree and it is built-in PowerShell feature for code analysis. In general it will create hierarchic tree of objects, representing given code. You can use it for example to extract various information from the code like variables, function definitions, function parameters, aliases etc.
For example:
to find variables defined in "C:\Scripts\ScriptWithVariables.ps1"
$AST = [System.Management.Automation.Language.Parser]::ParseFile("C:\Scripts\ScriptWithVariables.ps1", [ref]$null, [ref]$null)
$variable = $AST.FindAll( { $args[0] -is [System.Management.Automation.Language.VariableExpressionAst ] }, $true)
$variable | Where-Object { $_.parent.left -or $_.parent.type -and ($_.parent.operator -eq 'Equals' -or $_.parent.parent.operator -eq 'Equals') }
to find function definitions in "C:\Scripts\ScriptWithFunction.ps1"
$AST = [System.Management.Automation.Language.Parser]::ParseFile("C:\Scripts\ScriptWithFunction.ps1", [ref]$null, [ref]$null)
$AST.FindAll( {
param([System.Management.Automation.Language.Ast] $AST)
$AST -is [System.Management.Automation.Language.FunctionDefinitionAst] -and
# Class methods have a FunctionDefinitionAst under them as well, but we don't want them.
($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major -lt 5 -or
$AST.Parent -isnot [System.Management.Automation.Language.FunctionMemberAst])
}, $false)
to find function #requires in "C:\Scripts\ScriptWithRequires.ps1"
$AST = [System.Management.Automation.Language.Parser]::ParseFile("C:\Scripts\ScriptWithRequires.ps1", [ref]$null, [ref]$null)
$AST.scriptRequirements
# will return something like
RequiredApplicationId :
RequiredPSVersion :
RequiredPSEditions : {}
RequiredModules : {psasync}
RequiresPSSnapIns : {}
RequiredAssemblies : {}
IsElevationRequired : False
to find function aliases defined as [Alias("Some-FunctionAlias")] in "C:\Scripts\ScriptWithAlias.ps1"
$AST = [System.Management.Automation.Language.Parser]::ParseFile("C:\Scripts\ScriptWithAlias.ps1", [ref]$null, [ref]$null)
$AST.FindAll( {
param([System.Management.Automation.Language.Ast] $AST)
$ast -is [System.Management.Automation.Language.AttributeAst]
}, $true) | ? { $_.parent.extent.text -match '^param' } | Select-Object -ExpandProperty PositionalArguments | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Value -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue # filter out aliases for function parameters
to find function aliases defined by Set-Alias in "C:\Scripts\ScriptWithAlias.ps1"
$functionName = "Hello-World"
$AST = [System.Management.Automation.Language.Parser]::ParseFile("C:\Scripts\ScriptWithAlias.ps1", [ref]$null, [ref]$null)
$AST.EndBlock.Statements | ? { $_ -match "^\s*Set-Alias .+" -and $_ -match [regex]::Escape($functionName) } | % { $_.extent.text }
If you are interested in more examples of AST usage, check content of pre-commit.ps1. And search there functions: _getParameterAST, _getAliasAST, _getFunctionAST
First you have to recognize files, that are not ready for production (were modified since last pushed commit, or aren't commited yet)
# uncommited changed files
git ls-files -m --full-name
# untracked files
git ls-files --others --exclude-standard --full-name
Than you have to replace such files with their production ready variant (by getting content of last commited version from GIT) via
git show HEAD:/repository/scripts/someModifiedScript.ps1
You can use my function Export-ScriptsToModule and use it to easily create your own modules :)
TIP If you want to automate this even further use my CI/CD PowerShell solution which uses same function in background and helps you to automate whole PowerShell content lifecycle. I will cover it in some following article.
If you have ANY questions, don't hesitate to contact me on Twitter