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Task: Install Pester 5.7+ on Windows 11

Dependencies

Background

Windows ships with Pester 3.4 as an inbox module. This version is incompatible with the Continuous Delphi test suite, which requires Pester 5. Both versions can coexist on the same machine (installing Pester 5 does not remove 3.4.)

The inbox Pester 3.4 is signed by Microsoft. Installing a newer version from the PowerShell Gallery requires bypassing the publisher check with -SkipPublisherCheck.

Installation

Open a pwsh terminal (PowerShell 7, not Windows PowerShell) and run:

Install-Module -Name Pester -MinimumVersion 5.7.0 -Force -SkipPublisherCheck -Scope CurrentUser

Flag explanations:

Flag Reason
-MinimumVersion 5.7.0 Ensures Pester 5 is installed, not an older version
-Force Allows installation even when another version is already present
-SkipPublisherCheck Required because inbox Pester 3.4 is Microsoft-signed; this allows a different publisher
-Scope CurrentUser Installs for your user account only; does not require administrator elevation

Verification

After installation, confirm both versions are present:

Get-Module -ListAvailable Pester | Select-Object Name, Version, Path

Expected output will show two entries: version 3.4.0 (inbox) and version 5.7.x (newly installed).

Confirm Pester 5 loads correctly:

Import-Module Pester -MinimumVersion 5.7.0 -Force
(Get-Module Pester).Version

Expected output: 5.7.x or higher.

Using Pester 5 in a Session

Because PowerShell may default to loading Pester 3.4, always import Pester 5 explicitly before running tests:

Import-Module Pester -MinimumVersion 5.7.0 -Force
Invoke-Pester ./tests/pwsh -Output Detailed

Notes

  • The -Force flag in Import-Module overrides the automatically loaded 3.4 version. Without it, Invoke-Pester may use Pester 3 syntax and fail with ambiguous parameter errors.
  • If you see Parameter cannot be processed because the parameter name 'Output' is ambiguous, Pester 3 is loaded. Run the Import-Module command above to switch to Pester 5.
  • CI pipelines pin Pester to a specific patch version using -RequiredVersion for reproducibility. Local development uses -MinimumVersion for flexibility.