Troubleshooting

For AI agents: a documentation index is available at /llms.txt; a markdown version of this page is available at /v1.1.0.0/docs/03-troubleshooting/index.md.

Use this guide when PackageUpdateInfo does not return expected results, skips checks, or fails to import and export data.

Get actionable diagnostics first

Run with verbose output:

Get-PackageUpdateInfo -Verbose

Validate settings and rules:

Get-PackageUpdateSetting
Get-PackageUpdateRule -IncludeDefaultRule

Check is skipped unexpectedly

Symptom:

• You see a warning that update checks are skipped because the check interval is not expired.

Cause:

• UpdateCheckInterval and recent LastCheck or LastSuccessfulCheck are preventing a new online check.

Resolution:

Get-PackageUpdateInfo -Force

Or reduce the interval:

Set-PackageUpdateSetting -UpdateCheckInterval (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 30)

Configuration file is missing or corrupted

Symptom:

• Get-PackageUpdateSetting warns that the module configuration file was not found, then throws.

Cause:

• Configuration file path does not exist or contains invalid JSON.

Resolution:

Set-PackageUpdateSetting -Reset
Get-PackageUpdateSetting

No modules are returned

Symptom:

• Get-PackageUpdateInfo returns nothing even though modules are installed.

Common causes:

• Include and exclude rules filter all modules.
• -CurrentUser or -AllUsers filters out the modules you expect.
• Repository filtering excludes the relevant modules.

Resolution steps:

Get-PackageUpdateRule -IncludeDefaultRule
Get-PackageUpdateInfo -Force
Get-PackageUpdateInfo -CurrentUser -Force
Get-PackageUpdateInfo -AllUsers -Force

Export fails with path errors

Symptom:

• Export reports invalid path or directory issues.

Cause:

• -Path points to a directory or a non-existing location without -Force.

Resolution:

Get-PackageUpdateInfo | Export-PackageUpdateInfo -Path "$HOME\PackageUpdateInfo\updates.xml" -Force

Import returns no data

Symptom:

• Import-PackageUpdateInfo returns nothing.

Common causes:

• The file is empty or too small to contain records.
• -InputFormat does not match the exported format.
• Wrong file path for current runtime and edition.

Resolution:

Import-PackageUpdateInfo -InputFormat XML -Verbose
Import-PackageUpdateInfo -Path "$HOME\PackageUpdateInfo\updates.json" -InputFormat JSON

Toast notifications do not appear

Symptom:

• -ShowToastNotification is used, but no toast appears.

Common causes:

• BurntToast is not installed.
• Host platform does not support Windows toast notifications.
• No module in the result has NeedUpdate = $true.

Resolution:

Install-Module BurntToast -Scope CurrentUser
Get-PackageUpdateInfo -ShowOnlyNeededUpdate -ShowToastNotification -Force

Rules cannot be added or modified

Symptom:

• Adding a rule fails with duplicate Id, include, or exclude values.

Cause:

• Existing custom rules already contain the same identifiers or patterns.

Resolution:

Get-PackageUpdateRule
Add-PackageUpdateRule -IncludeModuleForChecking "MyModule.*"
Set-PackageUpdateRule -Id 1 -ReportChangeOnRevision $false
Remove-PackageUpdateRule -Id 1

Repository and network issues

Symptom:

• Online version lookup fails or is incomplete.

Common causes:

• Repository is not registered or unreachable.
• Temporary network issues.

Resolution:

Get-PSRepository
Find-Module PackageUpdateInfo -Repository PSGallery
Get-PackageUpdateInfo -Repository PSGallery -Force

Recovery flow

If behavior remains inconsistent, use this reset sequence:

Set-PackageUpdateSetting -Reset
Get-PackageUpdateInfo -Force | Export-PackageUpdateInfo
Import-PackageUpdateInfo