Downloading PowerShell Language Reference (or any file)

by Jan 29, 2020

Invoke-WebRequest can easily download files for you. The code below downloads the PowerShell Language Reference published by PowerShell Magazine, and opens it with the associated program:

$url = "https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/3/1/43113f44-548b-4dea-b471-0c2c8578fbf8/powershell_langref_v4.pdf"

# get desktop path
$desktop = [Environment]::GetFolderPath('Desktop')
$destination = "$desktop\langref.pdf"

# enable TLS1.2 for HTTPS connections
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls -bor [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls11 -bor [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

# download PDF file
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -OutFile $destination -UseBasicParsing
# open downloaded file in associated program
Invoke-Item -Path $destination

Note how the code enables TLS1.2. Whether this protocol is required depends on your connection and firewalls. In the example above, it is not required. For other download URLs, it may.


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