---
title: "Load the SMO Assemblies in Windows PowerShell | Microsoft Docs"
ms.custom: ""
ms.date: "03/14/2017"
ms.prod: sql
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ms.technology: scripting
ms.topic: conceptual
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author: markingmyname
ms.author: maghan
---
# Load the SMO Assemblies in Windows PowerShell
[!INCLUDE[appliesto-ss-asdb-asdw-pdw-md](../includes/appliesto-ss-asdb-asdw-pdw-md.md)]

This article describes how to load the SQL Server Management Object (SMO) assemblies in Windows PowerShell scripts that do not use the SQL Server PowerShell provider.  
  
> [!NOTE]
> There are two SQL Server PowerShell modules; **SqlServer** and **SQLPS**. The **SQLPS** module is included with the SQL Server installation (for backwards compatibility), but is no longer being updated. The most up-to-date PowerShell module is the **SqlServer** module. The **SqlServer** module contains updated versions of the cmdlets in **SQLPS**, and also includes new cmdlets to support the latest SQL features.  
> Previous versions of the **SqlServer** module *were* included with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), but only with the 16.x versions of SSMS. To use PowerShell with SSMS 17.0 and later, the **SqlServer** module must be installed from the PowerShell Gallery.
> To install the **SqlServer** module, see [Install SQL Server PowerShell](download-sql-server-ps-module.md).


The preferred mechanism for loading the SMO assemblies is to load the **SqlServer** module. The [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] provider included in the module automatically loads the SMO assemblies, and also implements features that extend the usefulness of the SMO objects in PowerShell scripts.
  
There are two cases where you may need to load the SMO assemblies directly:  
  
-   If your script references a SMO object before the first command that references the provider or cmdlets from the [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)] snap-ins.  
  
-   You want to port SMO code from another language, such as C# or Visual Basic, which does not use the provider or cmdlets.  
  
## Example: Loading the SQL Server Management Objects  
 The following code loads the SMO assemblies:  
  
```  
#  
# Loads the SQL Server Management Objects (SMO)  
#  
  
$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"  
  
$sqlpsreg="HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\ShellIds\Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.PowerShell.sqlps"  
  
if (Get-ChildItem $sqlpsreg -ErrorAction "SilentlyContinue")  
{  
    throw "SQL Server Provider for Windows PowerShell is not installed."  
}  
else  
{  
    $item = Get-ItemProperty $sqlpsreg  
    $sqlpsPath = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($item.Path)  
}  
  
$assemblylist =   
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Common",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Dmf ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Instapi ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.SqlWmiManagement ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.SmoExtended ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.SqlTDiagM ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.SString ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.RegisteredServers ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Sdk.Sfc ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.SqlEnum ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.RegSvrEnum ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.WmiEnum ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.ServiceBrokerEnum ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfoExtended ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Collector ",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.CollectorEnum",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Dac",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.DacEnum",  
"Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Utility"  
  
foreach ($asm in $assemblylist)  
{  
    $asm = [Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName($asm)  
}  
  
Push-Location  
cd $sqlpsPath  
update-FormatData -prependpath SQLProvider.Format.ps1xml   
Pop-Location  
```  
  
## See Also  
 [SQL Server PowerShell](sql-server-powershell.md)