PowerShell - Solution deployment simplified

As a SharePoint developer or Admin, what we do most frequently in our day-to-day activities; is to play around with SharePoint solutions (WSPs) and Features..

And since we cannot memorize all the available operations, here are simplified PowerShell commands:

SPSolution Operations:

Add Solution to SharePoint Farm- You are ready with solution package (WSP) for deployment and this is a fresh deployment; first time deployment to the farm. SharePoint can consume a solution only if it is uploaded in SP solution store, and the operation to upload a solution is Add-SPSolution

Command:

Add-SPSolution -LiteralPath -Confirm

Parameters:

LiteralPath: Mandatory, Takes full path of WSP as string

Confirm: Optional, Ask for confirmation before operation

Example:

Add-Spsolution -Literalpath "C:\Solutions\MySolution.wsp"

Install Solution - Now solution is available in farm, next step is to use it. Installing a WSP comes with many options based on scope (for specific web application or all) and content (DLL(s) for GAC or files).

Command:

Install-SPSolution -Identity -GACDeployment

Install-SPSolution -Identity -AllWebApplication -GACDeployment

Install-SPSolution -Identity -WebApplication -GACDeployment

Parameters:

Identity: Required, Full name/GUID of WSP as string

AllWebapplications: Optional, If WSP to be used by all webapplications in farm

WebApplication: Optional, If WSP is for specific web application, URL as string

GACDeployment: Optional, If WSP includes some DLL to GAC

Force: this parameter can be used if installation is throwing some error due to feature activation or time job issue.

Confirm: Optional, Ask for confirmation before operation

Example:

Install-SPSolution -Identity "MySolution.wsp" -GACDeployment

Install-SPSolution -Identity "MySolution.wsp" -AllWebApplication -GACDeployment

Install-SPSolution -Identity "MySolution.wsp" -WebApplication "http://mysite.mydomain.com/" -GACDeployment

Upgrade a deployed Solution- Your solution package (WSP) is already deployed and installed; now you did some changes in code and want to deploy the latest, here comes Update-SPSolution. This command will upgrade the deployed solution with latest DLL(s) and files.

Command:

Update-SPSolution -Identity -LiteralPath -GACDeployment

Parameters:

Identity: Required, Full name/GUID of WSP as string

LiteralPath: Mandatory, Takes full path of WSP as string

GACDeployment: Optional, If WSP includes some DLL to GAC

Force: this parameter can be used if installation is throwing some error due to feature activation or time job issue.

Confirm: Optional, Ask for confirmation before operation

Example:

Update-SPSolution -Identity MySolution.wsp -LiteralPath "C:\Solutions\MySolution.wsp" -GACDeployment

Deployment Rollback: There are scenarios where we may need to rollback the deployment; If the deployment caused some major issue in farm/application or you added a big component (i.e.-site/list definition) in you solution and want a fresh deployment. To rollback a deployment, first retract/uninstall the WSP and then remove it from farm.

Retract Solution - Similar to installation, uninstalling a WSP comes with many options based on scope (for specific web application or all).

Command:

Uninstall-SPSolution -Identity -Confirm

Uninstall-SPSolution -Identity -AllWebApplication -Confirm

Uninstall-SPSolution -Identity -WebApplication -Confirm

Parameters:

Identity: Required, Full name/GUID of WSP as string

AllWebapplications: Required, If WSP to be retracted from all webapplications in farm

WebApplication: Required, If WSP is for specific web application, URL as string

Confirm: Optional, Ask for confirmation before operation

Example:

Uninstall-SPSolution -Identity "MySolution.wsp"

Uninstall-SPSolution -Identity "MySolution.wsp" -AllWebApplication -Confirm:$false

Uninstall-SPSolution -Identity "MySolution.wsp" -Webapplication "http://mysite.mydomain.com/" -Confirm:$false

Remove Solution to SharePoint Farm- After retraction, solution can be removed from SharePoint farm solution store.

Command:

Remove-SPSolution -Identity -Confirm

Parameters:

Identity: Required, Full name/GUID of WSP as string

Confirm: Optional, Ask for confirmation before operation

Example:

Remove-SPSolution "MySolution.wsp"

Remove-SPSolution -Identity "Unilever.Global.CDF.wsp" -Confirm:$false

SPFeature Operations:

Install/Uninstall Features in SharePoint Farm- Normally feature installation/un-installation are taken care with SPSolution operations which contains the feature. But we come across situations where features needs to be Installed/Uninstalled separately. Below are the commands and examples.

Install Feature Command:

Install-SPFeature -Path -Force -Confirm

Parameters:

Path: Mandatory, Takes relative path from the folder “$env:ProgramFiles\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\” to the feature as string

Confirm: Optional, Ask for confirmation before operation ($true/$false)

Force: Optional, this parameter can be used for force installation.

Example:

Install-SPFeature -Path "MyFeature"

Un-Install Feature Command:

Uninstall-SPFeature -Path -Force -Confirm

Parameters:

Path: Mandatory, Takes relative path from the folder “$env:ProgramFiles\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\” to the feature as string

Confirm: Optional, Ask for confirmation before operation ($true/$false)

Force: Optional, this parameter can be used for force operation.

Example:

Uninstall-SPFeature -Path "MyFeature"

Activate/Deactivate Feature- Below are the commands and examples.

Activate Feature Command:

Enable-SPFeature –Identity -URL Force -Confirm

Parameters:

Identity: Required, Name or GUID of feature as string

URL: Optional,Site/Web URL depending on feature scope

Confirm: Optional, Ask for confirmation before operation ($true/$false)

Force: Optional, this parameter can be used for force installation.

Example:

Enable-SPFeature –Identity "MyFeature" -URL "http://mysite.mydomain.com"

Deactivate Feature Command:

Disable-SPFeature –Identity -URL Force -Confirm

Parameters:

Identity: Required, Name or GUID of feature as string

URL: Optional,Site/Web URL depending on feature scope

Confirm: Optional, Ask for confirmation before operation ($true/$false)

Force: Optional, this parameter can be used for force operation.

Example:

Disable-SPFeature –Identity "MyFeature" -URL "http://mysite.mydomain.com"