deploy SharePoint Solutions

stsadm command could be used to add a SharePoint solution to SharePoint:

stsadm –o addsolution –filename “D:\Deploy\MySharePointSolution.wsp“

We used the following command to deploy the solution once installed to a specific web application:

stsadm –o deploysolution –name MySharePointSolution.wsp –url http://myspwebappp –allowgacdeployment –immediate

If we would upgrade an existing solution, we would use the following:

stsadm –o upgradesolution –name MySharePointSolution.wsp –filename “D:\Deploy\MySharePointSolution.wsp” -immediate

And finally, we used the following commands to retract and delete a specific solution from the web application:

stsadm –o retractsolution –name MySharePointSolution.wsp –url http://myspwebapp –immediate

stsadm –o deletesolution –name MySharePointSolution.wsp

Now, let us see how we could do above operations with PowerShell. For this, we use the following PowerShell commands:

Add-SPSolution “D:\Deploy\MySharePointSolution.wsp“


Install-SPSolution –Identity MySharePointSolution.wsp –WebApplication http://myspwebapp –GACDeployment

If you would like to add the solution as sandboxed, you would use the Install-SPUserSolution command instead. To upgrade a solution, we specify which solution is to be updated and with which new solution file:

Update-SPSolution –Identity MySharePointSolution.wsp –LiteralPath “D:\Deploy\MySharePointSolution.wsp” –GacDeployment

To retract and remove a solution, we use the following commands:

Uninstall-SPSolution –Identity MySharePointSolution.wsp –WebApplication http://myspwebapp

Remove-SPSolution–Identity MySharePointSolution.wsp

Working with features

Similarly, commands exist for working with features. The stsadm equivalents:

stsadm –o activatefeature –name MyFeatureName –url http://myspwebapp

stsadm –o deactivatefeature –name MyFeatureName –url http://myspwebapp

Needless to say, there are easy equivalents in PowerShell:

Enable-SPFeature –Identity MyFeatureNameOrGuid –url http://myspwebapp


Disable-SPFeature –Identity MyFeatureNameOrGuid –url http://myspwebapp