Got lost in PowerShell module versions?

Hopefully I am not the only guy struggling with dll conflicts created by incompatible PowerShell modules and it`s different versions. I am not wondering about these circumstances because I assume every technical guy who’s scripting a bit is more creative than interested in house keeping. So over the time I update my PowerShell modules - also with a -Force parameter to be honest. Modules which I have just used once or twice remain on their place and of course I do not clean up my older versions - until now! Time has come to overcome the module chaos - and maybe you can use it for yourself:

But let’s start with the issue. Maybe you guys have encountered the following error:

Could not load file or assembly 'C:\Users\User\UsersOneDrive\Documents\PowerShell\Modules\ExchangeOnlineManagement\3.9.0\netCore\Microsoft.Identity.Client.dll'. The located assembly's manifest definition does not match the assembly reference.(0x80131040)

I faced that today (once again) after updating some modules. Thankfully I found an PowerShell module called MicrosoftGraphPS created by Microsoft MVP Morten Knudsen.

To get your PowerShell house keeping done, just install the module (I just ran it in my user context):

Install-Module -Name MicrosoftGraphPS -Repository PSGallery -Force -Scope CurrentUser

Then you can run it with the following options:

1. Show details only

    Manage-Version-Microsoft.Graph -Scope CurrentUser
   

2. Show details, install latest and clean-up old versions

    Manage-Version-Microsoft.Graph -CleanupOldMicrosoftGraphVersions -Scope CurrentUser
   

3. Install, Update and Clean-up older Microsoft Graph versions (except the latest available version)

    Manage-Version-Microsoft.Graph -InstallLatestMicrosoftGraph -CleanupOldMicrosoftGraphVersions -Scope CurrentUser
   

I stick to these options because these are the most practical for me. There are some more enforce a re-installation or remove all versions of the Graph modules (but that’s not happening EVER 😜). Check out the readme of the module for further details. You can also use a scheduled task to implement an automatic update cycle. At the moment I think I stick to the manual process, but let’s see…

After firing these cmdlets everything worked again and all conflicts are gone. In my case 18 older versions were removed:

How do you manage your modules and compatibilities? Please comment your approach. And now enjoy being on the latest and greatest version - also of yourself 👑