This doc explains how to get your windows version, but to find it in PowerShell is harder.
[System.Environment]::OSVersion has a lot of good info but not the Server-Workstation Flag...
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5 Answers
$osInfo = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem $osInfo.ProductType See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394239%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
ProductType Data type: uint32 Access type: Read-only Additional system information. Work Station (1) Domain Controller (2) Server (3)
So if the value is 1, then you are on a workstation OS.
If it's 2 you're on a domain controller.
If it's 3 you're on a server that is not a domain controller.
If you're on an old version of Windows / PowerShell and want something that will work across all of them, it's the same, but with Get-WmiObject:
$osInfo = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_OperatingSystem $osInfo.ProductType 5 Comments
David C. Rankin
Get-CimInstance must be a cmdlet not available on the Win7 version of powershell?David C. Rankin
Ok, that's pretty cool. I don't mess with windows much, but do try and work with powershell a bit (a little bit) and do have both older and current powershell (but only the older Win7 virtualized on a network server where I can reach it via rdesktop from Linux). So I learned the
Get-CmiInstance -ClassName and Get-WmiObject -Class distiction -- thanks.
briantist
@DavidC.Rankin WMI goes back a long time in Windows. An open source version called OMI is also available for other platforms like linux, but CIM is an open standard and so Microsoft recommends the CIM cmdlets going forward, but WMI is alive and well within Windows and will continue to be. PowerShell, starting with the newly released version 6, is open source and cross platform and you can install it on Linux. You might be able to run the CIM cmdlets from *nix against Windows, even older versions. It would be interesting to try.
Ansgar Wiechers
@DavidC.Rankin The CIM cmdlets were introduced in PowerShell v3, which is also available for Windows 7. The CIM cmdlets do network communication via WinRM, which has a number of advantages over COM/RPC (which the WMI cmdlets are using).
David C. Rankin
@AnsgarWiechers Hah! -- worked like a champ! We are now both
Get-CmiObject and Get-WmiObject capable. Thank you.(Get-ComputerInfo).OsProductType On my machines this returned either WorkStation or Server.
6 Comments
Ansgar Wiechers
Note that
Get-ComputerInfo isn't available prior to PowerShell v5.1.
mklement0
While this is convenient, it comes with two caveats (beyond requiring PSv5.1+): (a) Execution takes on the order of seconds, and even asking only for the property of interest (
Get-ComputerInfo -Property OsProductType) doesn't speed things up. (b) A progress bar is invariably shown during execution.
Omzig
Thank you Kory! I don't feel like upgrading 1000 servers to ps5.1. this will be handy when all the machines are up to date.
PsychoData
Struggling with 1000 servers running Legacy powershell sounds worse than updating them to 5.1 LOL
Omzig
@PsychoData, well, those 1000 are all in different domains in different locations, at different customer sites ;) if they were all on the same network you could just Chef them or something.
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I've been doing it this way, with 3 example answers:
systeminfo | find "OS Name:" OS Name: Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Standard OS Name: Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise for Virtual Desktops OS Name: Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise 
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$osType = Try { Get-CIMInstance -Classname Win32_OperatingSystem -ErrorAction Stop | Select -expand ProductType } Catch { Get-WMIObject -Classname Win32_OperatingSystem -ErrorAction Stop | Select -Expand ProductType } Switch ($osType) { 1 {"Workstation"} 2 {"Domain Controller"} 3 {"Member Server"} } 
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Community
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(Get-WmiObject win32_OperatingSystem).Caption
