Storing PowerGUI add-on configuration

Quite often PowerPacks need to store some configuration/user preferences: like domain name, of virtual machine host, or SharePoint server being managed. I had a few folks asking me how I do it in my packs so I wanted to share the code samples I use. Basically, what I do boils down to:

• Keeping all configuration parameters in one dictionary structure ($parameters in the code sample below), and
• Saving this parameters data structure as an xml file into PowerGUI’s user profile folder.

The code below is quite straight-forward and self explanatory so hopefully it will help you get started:

# Assign unique folder and config names
# This would sore data in:
# C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Quest Software\PowerGUI\MyAddOn.Config.xml
# or in Pro version:
# C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Quest Software\PowerGUI Pro\MyAddOn.Config.xml

# For PowerGUI, it makes sense to store data in PowerGUI config folder
# For non-PowerGUI solutions, you would probably create a subfolder in
# $env:appdata


$FolderName = $Host.PrivateData.UserAppData
$ConfigName = "MyAddOn.Config.xml"

# keep all add-on parameters in a map
$parameters = @{}

# read parameters

if ( Test-Path -Path "$FolderName\$ConfigName") {
  $parameters = Import-Clixml -Path "$FolderName\$ConfigName"

  # now you can use them, e.g.
  "Hello, " + $parameters['User name']
  "Isn't your birthday on " + $parameters['Birthday'] + "?"
} else {

# Your add-on specific code, to get user preferences
$parameters['User name'] = Read-Host "I don't know you yet. What's your name?"
$parameters['Birthday'] = Read-Host "And your birthday is?.."
}

# store parameters
$parameters | Export-Clixml -Path "$FolderName\$ConfigName"

Depending on your add-on/powerpack, you might tweek it a little to have some of the variables declared as global (e.g. $global:parameters) and maybe wrapped some code into functions. Leave your comments or ask questions at the forums at PowerGUI.org if you need any help.

[UPDATE] Tweaked the script based on Oleg’s tip on locating PowerGUI configuration folder.
[UPDATE 2] Updated the text and the script based on Harley’s feedback.