Windows Management Framework (WMF) 5.1 contains PowerShell 5.1. By default Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 runs the older PowerShell version 2. By downloading and installing WMF 5.1 to a Windows Server 2008 R2 system, we can upgrade it to PowerShell version 5.1.
- Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008r2 Service Pack 2
- Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 1
This post is part of our Microsoft 70-744 Securing Windows Server 2016 exam study guide series. For more related posts and information check out our full 70-744 study guide.
Download WMF 5.1 to a Windows Server 2008 R2 system
This also works with Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2. By default Windows Server 2016 already has PowerShell 5.0 installed, so this is not required there. Note that to upgrade Windows Server 2008 R2 you must be using Service Pack 1 (SP1).
Microsoft has released Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) to manufacturing. SP1 is a combined service pack for both operating systems encapsulated in a single installer. Based on business value, customers all over the world continue to deploy Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. I don't think there is a SP2 for Windows Server R2. Windows Server 2008 R2 is the server release of Windows 7 which introduces a lot of new features. However, there is SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 you might want to check it out. As of now, there is no service pack 2 for Server 2008 R2; only SP2 for Server 2008. Installation Instructions for Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 for IBM® Flex System® x480 Compute Node (Type 7903) 4.1 Updating firmware & device drivers 4.2 Enabling Hyper-V 4.3 Installing V7000 MPIO Device Specific Module 4.4 Installing IBM System Director Agents 4.5 Post. This “Service pack 2” is the first cumulative update published for that platform (Windows 7/2008 R2 SP1). That update will boost your security updates with one single installation for about 170 updates. If you regularly updating your Windows Server then you probably already installed all necessary updates.
First we’ll confirm the verison of PowerShell on our 2008 R2 system. This can be done by opening PowerShell, and running $PSVersionTable, as shown below.
As expected we have PowerShell version 2.0, which is the default in this operating system.
WMF 5.0 or higher is needed to provide the just-enough administration (JEA) PowerShell feature implemented in Windows Server 2016 into the older 2008 R2 SP1 operating system.
Before we download and install WMF though, we must first install .NET Framework 4.5.2 or later, as this is a prerequisite for WMF 5.1 in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, and by default 2008 R2 SP1 comes with .NET 3.5. You can download a newer version of .NET from here: https://www.microsoft.com/net/download/framework
Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2
After installation has completed you’ll need to perform a system reboot to proceed.
Next download Windows Management Framework (WMF) 5.1 from Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54616
A system reboot is not required after installing WMF.
Once installed open PowerShell and run $PSVersionTable again, we can now see that PSVersion is listed as 5.1 as expected.
We will now be able to configure our Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 system to use just-enough administration (JEA), as we’ll cover in future posts.
Summary
Windows Server 2008r2 Service Pack 2
By first updating the .NET Framework and then installing either WMF 5.0 or 5.1, we can upgrade our PowerShell version to support Just-Enough Administration (JEA) in older versions of Windows, such as Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012, and 2012 R2.
Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 1
This post is part of our Microsoft 70-744 Securing Windows Server 2016 exam study guide series. For more related posts and information check out our full 70-744 study guide.