Packaging.md

Build and install the modernization preview

Run from the repository root using PowerShell 7.4 or later:

Invoke-Pester ./Tests
./scripts/Build-Module.ps1

The script creates artifacts/IT-ToolBox-3.0.0-beta1.zip and returns its path, version and file count. It takes the version from the manifest without modifying it. Use -OutputDirectory to choose another local destination. An existing archive causes a terminating error; use a different destination for another build.

The ZIP contains IT-ToolBox/3.0.0/ with the manifest, loader, Public and Private implementation files, license, README, changelog, contributing guide, security policy and Markdown documents in docs/. Tests, build scripts, Legacy, Staging, Git metadata and external binaries are excluded. Historical encryption migration requires the original repository source in a separate session; the old decoder is not distributed in this archive.

Extract into a new directory, then verify or import the extracted manifest:

Expand-Archive -LiteralPath './artifacts/IT-ToolBox-3.0.0-beta1.zip' -DestinationPath './preview-install'
Import-Module './preview-install/IT-ToolBox/3.0.0/IT-ToolBox.psd1' -Force
Get-Command -Module IT-ToolBox

For discovery by name, put the extracted IT-ToolBox directory under a directory listed in $env:PSModulePath. Review existing installations before copying there; this script does not install or replace a module for you.

CI runs archive-content and fresh-process import tests on Windows, Linux and macOS, then builds the archive locally. No publishing, release creation or signing is performed. ZIP timestamps are not normalized, so identical source builds need not have identical archive hashes. This remains a beta preview; the package process does not establish live AD, remote CIM or service authentication compatibility.