The post walks readers through installing PowerShell on Ubuntu 22.04, stressing that you first need Microsoft’s GPG key so APT will accept the packages. After adding the key you update the package index and install the pre‑compiled `powershell` binary, which bundles all the required .NET runtime components so there’s no need to pull in Mono or dotnet separately. Running `pwsh` confirms a successful launch; if it fails double‑check that step three ran correctly, or use the lighter Snap version as an alternative at your own performance cost. The author also shares a real‑world hiccup with a missing libssl dependency after upgrading Ubuntu and explains how reinstalling from the new repo fixes it, reminding users to keep PowerShell current with simple `apt-get` commands.

Install PowerShell on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

If you’ve ever wanted to run Windows‑style scripts from your Linux terminal, installing PowerShell on Ubuntu 22.04 is a quick win. In this post I’ll walk you through the exact steps that actually get it working, and point out why each step matters.

Grab Microsoft’s GPG key

wget -q https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/22.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb

Why this matters: Ubuntu refuses to install unsigned packages, so we need Microsoft’s public key in the system’s trusted list before anything else can be added to apt.

Update your package index

sudo apt-get update

Just like any other installation, PowerShell pulls metadata from the repository. Running update guarantees you get the newest version Microsoft has pushed for 22.04.

Install PowerShell

sudo apt-get install -y powershell

The -y flag skips the prompt, but the real kicker is that this pulls a pre‑compiled binary that already bundles all the .NET runtime bits Microsoft expects. No need to manually pull in Mono or dotnet yourself.

Run it for the first time

pwsh

If you see a prompt like PS> that’s proof PowerShell is live. If instead you get “No such file or directory,” double‑check step 3 – the package name is exactly powershell on 22.04.

Optional: Use Snap for a lighter install

sudo snap install powershell --classic

Snap is handy if you don’t want to touch your system’s APT repos, but it comes with a larger runtime footprint and can be slower to start up compared to the direct apt install.

Keep it fresh

When Microsoft releases a new PowerShell version, just run:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade powershell

No manual downloads or version juggling required.

That’s all there is to it. PowerShell should now be up and running on your Ubuntu 22.04 box.