PowerShell 3.0 lets the user update Help content on a per module basis. In this article, I will explain how you can enable this for your own PowerShell module. <\/p>\n
Prerequisites: Have a new (script\/binary) module, help content for the cmdlets of the module, and a server where the help content is located. For this particular exercise I will be using a script module. <\/p>\n
Here is how my module is organized:<\/p>\n
C:\\Users\\frangom\\Documents\\WindowsPowerShell\\modules\\TestModule\\TestModule.psm1<\/p>\n
C:\\Users\\frangom\\Documents\\WindowsPowerShell\\modules\\TestModule\\TestModule.psd1<\/p>\n
TestModule.psm1 is my script module. There, I defined the name of help file.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
TestModule.psd1 is the module manifest for my module. The HelpInfoURI field is the address where the help content for this module is located.<\/p>\n
On the server site, we have:<\/p>\n
The .cab file must be named as follows:<\/p>\n
\nModuleName<\/font><\/i>_ModuleGUID<\/font><\/i> _UI-Culture<\/font><\/i>_HelpContent.cab<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
where:<\/p>\n
ModuleName<\/font><\/i>: The name of the module (same as the module manifest file).<\/p>\n
ModuleGUID<\/font><\/i>: The module GUID as referenced in the module manifest.<\/p>\n
UI-Culture<\/i>:<\/font> The four letter hyphenated UI culture abbreviation (en-US, fr-FR, de-DE, etc.).<\/p>\n
HelpContent<\/i>: Indicates that this cab contains the help content file.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
TestModule_d03c1cf3-f738-48a3-b845-5ead46a52671_en-US_HelpContent.cab<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Similarly, the HelpInfo file must adhere to the following naming convention:<\/p>\n
\nModuleName<\/font><\/i>_ModuleGUID<\/font><\/i>_HelpInfo.xml<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
where:<\/p>\n
ModuleName<\/font><\/i>: Name of the module (same as the module manifest file).<\/p>\n
ModuleGUID<\/font><\/i>: Module GUID as referenced in the module manifest.<\/p>\n
HelpInfo: Indicates that this is the help info file.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
TestModule_d03c1cf3-f738-48a3-b845-5ead46a52671_HelpInfo.xml<\/p>\n
File content of the HelpInfo.xml file:<\/p>\n
\n<<\/span>?xml<\/span> version<\/span>="<\/span>1.0<\/span>"<\/span> encoding<\/span>="<\/span>utf-8<\/span>"<\/span>?<\/span>><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<<\/span>HelpInfo<\/span> xmlns<\/span>="<\/span>http:\/\/schemas.microsoft.com\/powershell\/help\/2010\/05<\/span>"<\/span>><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<<\/span>HelpContentURI<\/span>><\/span>http:\/\/www.mysite.com\/PSHelpContent\/<\/span><\/<\/span>HelpContentURI<\/span>><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<<\/span>SupportedUICultures<\/span>><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<<\/span>UICulture<\/span>><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<<\/span>UICultureName<\/span>><\/span>en-US<\/<\/span>UICultureName<\/span>><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<<\/span>UICultureVersion<\/span>><\/span>3.2.15.0<\/<\/span>UICultureVersion<\/span>><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/<\/span>UICulture<\/span>><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
<\/<\/span>SupportedUICultures<\/span>><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/<\/span>HelpInfo<\/span>><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Note: The HelpContentURI (in yellow) should point to a container.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Place these two files in the server folder PSHelpContent, e.g., \\\\mysite\\c$\\Inetpub\\wwwroot\\PSHelpContent\\<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
How to Test Updatable Help for Your Module<\/b><\/p>\n
\n# First, make sure updatable help works using the -SourcePath<\/span><\/p>\n
Update-Help<\/span> -Module<\/span> TestModule<\/span> -SourcePath<\/span> \\\\mysite\\c$\\Inetpub\\wwwroot\\PSHelpContent\\<\/span> -Force<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
# After that, you can use without the -SourcePath which will connect to the site defined in<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n