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Dell Command | PowerShell Provider Does not work properly or cannot import into PowerShell

Summary: The following article provides information about Dell Command | PowerShell Provider (DellBIOSProvider) not working correctly or importing correctly to Windows PowerShell.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Instructions

Affected Products:

Dell Command | Powershell Provider

Affected Operating Systems

Windows 7 or Later
Windows PE 4.0 and Later


  • Operating System Types: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10
  • Windows Management Framework (WMF): 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 5.1
  • Windows PowerShell: 3.0, and later (can be upgraded for Windows 7).
  • SMBIOS: 2.3, and later on a Dell Product
  • Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable: 2010 or later

Dell Command | PowerShell Provider: A PowerShell module that provides BIOS configuration capabilities for Dell Client computers using the Windows PowerShell Interface. (For example: Such as the OptiPlex, Latitude, Venue 11 Pro, XPS Laptop, and Precision.) This module, with its native configuration capability, makes BIOS configuration most manageable for administrators.

Note: Dell Command | PowerShell Provider can be used on Windows (Windows 7 and later) and Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE 4.0 and later) operating systems.

Windows PowerShell: A tool that was intended to be more powerful than the Command Prompt for Windows and is based on the .NET Framework. This tool is intended to help users automate many administration tasks:

  • Identifying USB devices that are installed on either one or multiple computers on a network.
  • Identify, and kill processes or filter information about computers or their network in a clear HTML format.
  • It gives you the ability to create scripts and link commands together.
  • More Powerful Ways to Launch Windows PowerShell This hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies.
Note: A cmdlet is a command that is used in the Windows PowerShell environment. PowerShell runtime opens these cmdlets within the context of the automation scripts that are provided at the command line. PowerShell runtime also opens them through Application Program Interfaces (APIs).

Install instructions are in the Dell Command | PowerShell Provider that are located here:

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/command-powershell-provider/docs

Issue: When attempting to import the module with the command: Import-Module DellBIOSProvider -Verbose, the following error is presented:

Import-Module : File C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\DellBIOSProvider\DellBIOSProvider.psm1 cannot be
    loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system. For more information, see about_Execution_Policies at
    https:/go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170.
    At line:1 char:1
    + Import-Module DellBIOSProvider -verbose
    + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        + CategoryInfo          : SecurityError: (:) [Import-Module], PSSecurityException
        + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ImportModuleCommand

Resolution: The Set-ExecutionPolicy command was not run. Run the following command:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -force
Note: For those who import the module using Import-Module DellBIOSProvider you may not see any of the relevant error messages and think the import was successful. We recommend you import the module using Import-Module DellBIOSProvider -verbose. This shows every step and error message during the process.

Issue: When attempting to import the module with the command: Import-Module DellBIOSProvider -Verbose, the following error is presented:

Import Module : The specified module 'DellBIOSProvider' was not loaded because no valid module file was found in the module directory.
    At line:1 char:1
    - Import Module DellBIOSProvider – verbose

Resolution: Be sure the folders from the Dell Command | PowerShell Provider ZIP are copied to the correct location. The module folder by default for the Windows PowerShell is C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules or $[env:ProgramFiles]\WindowsPowerShell\Modules depending on your operating system architecture.

See: Installing Dell Command | PowerShell Provider in the User Guide for more details:

Issue: The following message is shown when running a Dell Command | PowerShell Provider cmdlet:

Do you want to run software from this untrusted publisher?
    File C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\DellBIOSProvider\DellBIOSProvider.psm1 is published by CN=Dell Inc,
    SERIALNUMBER=2141541, OU=Client Product Group, OID.2.5.4.15=Private Organization, O=Dell Inc,
    OID.1.3.6.1.4.1.311.60.2.1.2=Delaware, OID.1.3.6.1.4.1.311.60.2.1.3=US, L=Round Rock, S=Texas, C=US and is not trusted
    on your system. Only run scripts from trusted publishers.
    [V] Never run  [D] Do not run  [R] Run once  [A] Always run  [?] Help (default is "D"):   

Resolution: The module was copied without unblocking the ZIP. Unblock the Dell Command | PowerShell Provider ZIP first in the ZIP properties by checking the Unblock box (circled in red):

ZIP Properties WIndow
Figure 1: (English Only) ZIP Properties Window

Then recopy the Dell Command | PowerShell Provider folder to the right destination.

  • 32-bit OS -> DellBIOSProviderX86
  • 64-bit OS -> DellBIOSProvider

See: Installing Dell Command | PowerShell Provider in the User Guide for more details:

Affected Products

Latitude, XPS, Fixed Workstations, Dell Command | Powershell Provider
Article Properties
Article Number: 000151982
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 29 Apr 2024
Version:  7
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