Corrupt PackageManager? Unable to find module providers (PowerShellGet)

Question

This is a common error that is not solved by the common solutions I have found on the internet.

Unable to run Get-PsRepository, Install-Module, and related (OneGet?) commands without them throwing the "Unable to find module providers (PowerShellGet)" error. This appears to be an issue with the NuGet packagemanager module but I do not know how to recover. The package provider installed appears valid

Symptom patterns:
C:> [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol

Tls12

Get-PSRepository

PackageManagement\Get-PackageSource : Unable to find module providers (PowerShellGet).
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PowerShellGet\1.0.0.1\PSModule.psm1:4496 char:31
+ ... ckageSources = PackageManagement\Get-PackageSource @PSBoundParameters
+                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (Microsoft.Power...etPackageSource:GetPackageSource) [Get-PackageSource
   ], Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnknownProviders,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.GetPackageSource

Register-PSRepository -Default -Verbose

VERBOSE: PowerShell meta provider initialization failed.
VERBOSE: No match was found for the specified search criteria and provider name 'PowerShellGet'. Try
'Get-PackageProvider -ListAvailable' to see if the provider exists on the system.
PackageManagement\Register-PackageSource : Unable to find module providers (PowerShellGet).
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PowerShellGet\1.0.0.1\PSModule.psm1:4211 char:17
+ ...     $null = PackageManagement\Register-PackageSource @PSBoundParamete ...
+                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (Microsoft.Power...erPackageSource:RegisterPackageSource) [Register-Pac
   kageSource], Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnknownProviders,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.RegisterPackageSource  

Install-Module PowerShellGet -Force

PackageManagement\Install-Package : Unable to find module providers (PowerShellGet).
At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PowerShellGet\1.0.0.1\PSModule.psm1:1809 char:21
+ ...          $null = PackageManagement\Install-Package @PSBoundParameters
+                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (Microsoft.Power....InstallPackage:InstallPackage) [Install-Package], Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnknownProviders,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.InstallPackage

Facts:
Windows 10 (1903)
Powershell 5.1.18362.1171
Running PowerShell as Administrator Not behind a proxy
Have access to https://www.powershellgallery.com/api/v2
Have access to nuget.org
`[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = Tls12
FIPS is disabled (HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\FIPSAlgorithmPolicy\Enabled DWORD=0)
Get-PackageProvider shows only NuGet 2.8.5.208
PowerShellGet version is 1.0.0.1 ; when trying force a sxs install with Install-Module PowerShellGet -Force I get the same: PackageManagement\Install-Package : Unable to find module providers (PowerShellGet).

Answer 1

We encountered the same problem. Found this thread without a solution. But I dug a bit further and on the computer that had this problem we found version 1.4.7 of PackageManagement installed. After removing this everything started working normally. I have not found how this thing got installed. Seems like a legit powershell module from Microsoft but it's interacting with the 'normal' PowershellGet module and seems to break it. For us it was located in the %USERPROFILE%/document/WindowsPowershell/Modules. Also worth nothing that this %USERPROFILE% was a corporate OneDrive.

Edit: Microsoft have fixed this issue: https://github.com/PowerShell/vscode-powershell/issues/3432

Answer 2

Not enough Rep to comment.

I ended up in the same situation. A Windows 10 1909 machine, with %USERPROFILE%/document being a corporate OneDrive. Moving PackageManagement out of /WindowsPowerShell/ changed Get-PSRepository's output from nothing to PSGallery. Thanks! – tmcg Mar 1 at 21:35 This was exactly the same issue. I suspect this is because PowerShell 7 dumped it into this location (possibly Visual Studio Code when it prompt to update?) – aolszowka Mar 1 at 22:09

I encountered the same issue with packagemanagement in %USERPROFILE%/documents on my personal profile. The file dates matched when I installed VScode and the Powershell Extensions on this new machine.

Removing the folder from modules corrected the issue for the time being.