hashicorp/vagrant · error · Vagrant::Errors::PowerShellInvalidVersion

The version of powershell currently installed on this host i

Error message

The version of powershell currently installed on this host is less than
the required minimum version. Please upgrade the installed version of
powershell to the minimum required version and run the command again.

  Installed version: %{installed_version}
  Minimum required version: %{minimum_version}

What it means

In the same validate_install! path, after confirming PowerShell exists, its major version (version.to_i) is compared against MINIMUM_REQUIRED_VERSION = 3; older versions such as PowerShell 2.0 (the default on Windows 7 / Server 2008 R2) raise PowerShellInvalidVersion with the installed and minimum versions in the message.

Source

Thrown at lib/vagrant/util/powershell.rb:248

          rescue Vagrant::Util::Subprocess::TimeoutExceeded
            LOGGER.debug("Timeout exceeded while attempting to determine version of Powershell.")
          end

          @_powershell_version = version
        end
        @_powershell_version
      end

      # Validates that powershell is installed, available, and
      # at or above minimum required version
      #
      # @return [Boolean]
      # @raises []
      def self.validate_install!
        if !defined?(@_powershell_validation)
          raise Errors::PowerShellNotFound if !available?
          if version.to_i < MINIMUM_REQUIRED_VERSION
            raise Errors::PowerShellInvalidVersion,
              minimum_version: MINIMUM_REQUIRED_VERSION,
              installed_version: version ? version : "N/A"
          end
          @_powershell_validation = true
        end
        @_powershell_validation
      end

      # Powerup the given command to perform privileged operations.
      #
      # @param [String] path
      # @param [Array<String>] args
      # @return [Array<String>]
      def self.powerup_command(path, args, opts)
        Dir.mktmpdir("vagrant") do |dpath|
          all_args = [path] + args.flatten.map{ |a|
            a.gsub(/^['"](.+)['"]$/, "\\1")
          }

View on GitHub (pinned to 35f3160f4a)

Solutions

1. Install Windows Management Framework 5.1 (or at least 4.0) to raise PowerShell above the minimum, then reboot
2. Confirm inside PowerShell: $PSVersionTable.PSVersion shows >= 3
3. If the host cannot be upgraded, move the Vagrant workload to a modern Windows machine

Example fix

# before: Windows PowerShell 2.0 host
PS> $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.ToString()
2.0

# after: install WMF 5.1, reboot, verify
PS> $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.ToString()
5.1.19041.1682

require 'vagrant/util/powershell'

if Vagrant::Util::PowerShell.available? &&
   Vagrant::Util::PowerShell.version.to_i < Vagrant::Util::PowerShell::MINIMUM_REQUIRED_VERSION
  abort 'PowerShell >= 3 required; install WMF 5.1'
end

begin
  Vagrant::Util::PowerShell.validate_install!
rescue Vagrant::Errors::PowerShellInvalidVersion => e
  warn e.message # shows installed vs minimum
  raise
end

When it happens

Trigger: Running Windows-side Vagrant features on a host where powershell reports 2.x — legacy Windows without WMF upgrades, or machines deliberately pinned to PS 2.0 for old Exchange-era tooling.

Common situations: Unmodernized legacy Windows Server images; hardened hosts that never received WMF updates.

Related errors

• Failed to locate the powershell executable on the available
• A command must be provided when the --elevated flag is provi
• Your host does not support PowerShell. A remote PowerShell c
• An error occurred while executing a PowerShell script. This
• Installation of the provider '%{provider}' failed! The stdou

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/vagrant@35f3160f4a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/77139eb704e37203. Report an issue: GitHub.