PowerShell Add a Persistent Module Path to $env:PSModulePath

One of the benefits or using or writing module in PowerShell version 3 or above is that they auto load as you need them. They do this if the modules sit in a number of predefined paths. Often you might want to add an additional persistent path to check for modules to auto load.

This information is actually held in the registry, you can see it by $env:PSModulePath or by looking in the registry

If you want to add a custom path that persists accross PowerShell sessions you can follow these steps running a PowerShell session as administrator:

$originalpaths = (Get-ItemProperty -Path ‘Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment’ -Name PSModulePath).PSModulePath

# Add your new path to below after the ;

$newPath=$originalpaths+’;C:\Users\Tom\SkyDrive\PowerShell\’

Set-ItemProperty -Path ‘Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment’ -Name PSModulePath –Value $newPath

Example:

after update we see the registry is updated:

New PowerShell Session:

Credit for Technique:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2011/07/23/use-powershell-to-modify-your-environmental-path.aspx