Installation of VMware.PowerCLI via PowerShell fails with: "Install-PackageProvider : No match was found for the specified search criteria for the provider..."

Problem

You’re attempting to install VMware PowerCLI with the Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI cmdlet from within Powershell but notice that it fails with:

PS C:\scripts\vCheck-vSphere-master> Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI

NuGet provider is required to continue

PowerShellGet requires NuGet provider version '2.8.5.201' or newer to interact with NuGet-based repositories. The NuGet

provider must be available in 'C:\Program Files\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies' or

'C:\Users\tluk\AppData\Local\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies'. You can also install the NuGet provider by running

'Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -MinimumVersion 2.8.5.201 -Force'. Do you want PowerShellGet to install and import

the NuGet provider now?

[Y] Yes [N] No [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): y

WARNING: Unable to download from URI 'https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=627338&clcid=0x409' to ''.

WARNING: Unable to download the list of available providers. Check your internet connection.

PackageManagement\Install-PackageProvider : No match was found for the specified search criteria for the provider

'NuGet'. The package provider requires 'PackageManagement' and 'Provider' tags. Please check if the specified package

has the tags.

At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PowerShellGet\1.0.0.1\PSModule.psm1:7405 char:21

+ ... $null = PackageManagement\Install-PackageProvider -Name $script:N ...

+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

+ CategoryInfo : InvalidArgument: (Microsoft.Power...PackageProvider:InstallPackageProvider) [Install-Pac

kageProvider], Exception

+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoMatchFoundForProvider,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.InstallPackageProvider

PackageManagement\Import-PackageProvider : No match was found for the specified search criteria and provider name

'NuGet'. Try 'Get-PackageProvider -ListAvailable' to see if the provider exists on the system.

At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\PowerShellGet\1.0.0.1\PSModule.psm1:7411 char:21

+ ... $null = PackageManagement\Import-PackageProvider -Name $script:Nu ...

+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (NuGet:String) [Import-PackageProvider], Exception

+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoMatchFoundForCriteria,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.ImportPackageProvider

PS C:\scripts\vCheck-vSphere-master>

Solution

If you’re in a hurry and need to get the module installed, a quick workaround is to configure TLS 1.2 for the PowerShell session with the following command:

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

The NuGet provider will install once the above is executed:

PS C:\scripts\vCheck-vSphere-master> [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12

PS C:\scripts\vCheck-vSphere-master> Install-Module -Name VMware.PowerCLI

NuGet provider is required to continue

PowerShellGet requires NuGet provider version '2.8.5.201' or newer to interact with NuGet-based repositories. The NuGet

provider must be available in 'C:\Program Files\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies' or

'C:\Users\tluk\AppData\Local\PackageManagement\ProviderAssemblies'. You can also install the NuGet provider by running

'Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -MinimumVersion 2.8.5.201 -Force'. Do you want PowerShellGet to install and import

the NuGet provider now?

[Y] Yes [N] No [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "Y"): y

Untrusted repository

You are installing the modules from an untrusted repository. If you trust this repository, change its

InstallationPolicy value by running the Set-PSRepository cmdlet. Are you sure you want to install the modules from

'PSGallery'?

[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "N"): y

PS C:\scripts\vCheck-vSphere-master>

To permanently correct the issue, open the registry and navigate to the following path for the 64 bit .Net Framework:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319

Add the chUseStrongCrypto key with the following PowerShell cmdlet:

Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\.NetFramework\v4.0.30319' -Name 'SchUseStrongCrypto' -Value '1' -Type DWord

Repeat the same for the 32 bit .Net Framework:

Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NetFramework\v4.0.30319' -Name 'SchUseStrongCrypto' -Value '1' -Type DWord