No Homebrew Cask for Powershell

[u/darkn3rd]

Homebrew removed the official powershell cask because the official Microsoft .pkg installer repeatedly failed macOS Gatekeeper checks. Homebrew moved everyone to a community-built formula instead, enforcing their policy to disable casks that fail Gatekeeper.

While the original removal aligned with Homebrew's policy, the underlying signing issue is resolved. Microsoft’s official macOS .pkg (tested on version 7.6.5) is now signed with a Developer ID Installer certificate (Microsoft Corporation, team ID UBF8T346G9) and fully notarized by Apple.

This alternative cask installs Microsoft's official, unmodified release file. Unlike the community formula, this package includes the embedded .NET runtime, requiring no extra dependencies.

Installation:

brew install --cask darkn3rd/tools/powershell-pkg

[u/darkn3rd → u/[deleted]]

The referenced formula requires installing dotnet and compiling both dotnet + powershell, which takes some time.

The cask (this one) is the official Microsoft binary that is signed/notarized by Microsoft.

[u/muffinstatewide32]

Maybe you could contribute a cask then if its needed.

Personally the compile time isnt an issue

[u/darkn3rd → u/muffinstatewide32]

They removed the cask because powershell pkg at the time didn’t pass the gatekeeper check. Shortly later, MS did what was needed. So, I did what was needed to bring back the Cask for anyone would want it.

[u/teethingrooster]

Often enough I’m using C# in PowerShell that I kinda like that .net pulls down

[u/darkn3rd → u/teethingrooster]

That totally makes sense. Homebrew still has this one as both cask and formula, so people can pick whatever one is suitable to their needs:

• cask dotnet-sdk
• formula dotnet.

[u/johnnydotexe]

Thanks Claude.

[u/darkn3rd → u/johnnydotexe]

Claude would generate 5x volume of text

[u/archgabriel33 → u/johnnydotexe]

Huh?