How to do it...

You use the cmdlets within the PackageManagement module to explore the capabilities it provides.

1. Review the cmdlets in the PackageManagement module:

      Get-Command -Module PackageManagement

1. Review the installed providers with Get-PackageProvider:

      Get-PackageProvider | Select-Object -Property Name, Version

1. The provider list includes msi, msu, and Programs package providers. These providers expose applications and updates installed on your computer which you can explore:

      Get-Package -ProviderName msi |
         Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name
      Get-Package -ProviderName msu | 
         Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name
      Get-Package -ProviderName Programs | 
         Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name

1. The NuGet source contains developer library packages. This functionality is outside the scope of this book, but worth exploring if you do Windows or web development:

      Get-PackageProvider -Name NuGet

1. There are also other package providers you can explore:

      Find-PackageProvider |
         Select-Object -Property Name,Summary |
             Format-Table -Wrap -AutoSize

1. Notice Chocolatey, which is a very useful tool for Windows administrators and power users. Those with some Linux background may think of Chocolatey as apt-get for Windows. You cannot use this provider until you install it and confirm the installation:

      Install-PackageProvider -Name Chocolatey -Verbose

1. Verify Chocolatey is now in the list of installed providers:

      Get-PackageProvider | Select-Object Name,Version

1. Look for available software packages from the Chocolatey package provider. Store these in a variable so you don't request the collection more than once, and explore it:

      $AvailableChocolateyPackages = `
          Find-Package -ProviderName Chocolatey
      # How many software packages are available at Chocolatey?
      $AvailableChocolateyPackages | Measure-Object

1. Pipe to Out-GridView to search for interesting software packages from Chocolatey:

      $AvailableChocolateyPackages |
         Sort-Object Name,Version | 
            Select-Object Name, Version, Summary |
               Out-GridView

1. Install one or more packages. sysinternals is a good example to use. Use -Verbose to get details on the installation:

      Install-Package -ProviderName Chocolatey `
                      -Name sysinternals `
                      -Verbose

1. Review installed Chocolatey packages, stored to C:\chocolatey\ by default, this path is stored in the $env:ChocolateyPath environment variable. Then review the executable files included with the sysinternals package:

      Get-ChildItem -Path $env:ChocolateyPath\lib |
         Select-Object -Property Name
      Get-ChildItem -Path `
         $env:ChocolateyPath\lib\sysinternals.2016.11.18\tools `
                    -Filter *.exe | 
         Select-Object -Property Name

1. Run any installed command included with sysinternals:

      $PSInfoCommand = `
      ‘C:\Chocolatey\lib\sysinternals.2016.11.18\tools\PsInfo.exe’
      Invoke-Expression -Command $PSInfoCommand

1. Installed packages are enumerated with Get-Package and updated using the same command to install them, Install-Package:

      Get-Package -ProviderName Chocolatey | 
         Install-Package -Verbose