List Installed Roles and Features Using PowerShell on Windows Server

First, confirm your PowerShell environment is ready. Open PowerShell as Administrator and check the ServerManager module availability.

Get-Module -ListAvailable ServerManager

This displays the ServerManager module version. On Windows Server 2025, you'll see version 2.0.0.0 or later.

Import-Module ServerManager

Import the module explicitly if it's not auto-loaded. Verification: Run Get-Command Get-WindowsFeature to confirm the cmdlet is available.

Start by examining all roles and features on your local server. This gives you the complete inventory before filtering.

Get-WindowsFeature

This command displays three key columns: Name (short identifier), DisplayName (descriptive name), and InstallState (Available, Installed, or Removed). The output shows hundreds of features.

Now filter the results to show only installed roles and features. This is the most common use case for server auditing.

Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object InstallState -eq "Installed"

Alternative syntax using the shorthand:

Get-WindowsFeature | ? Installed

Both commands produce identical results. The second uses PowerShell's automatic boolean property evaluation.

Extend your queries to remote servers using the ComputerName parameter. This requires proper WinRM configuration.

Get-WindowsFeature -ComputerName "DC01" | Where-Object Installed

For servers requiring specific credentials:

$cred = Get-Credential
Get-WindowsFeature -ComputerName "SRV02" -Credential $cred | Where-Object Installed

The Get-Credential cmdlet prompts for username and password securely.

Use wildcard patterns to find specific technologies or feature groups. This is essential for focused server audits.

Get-WindowsFeature *Hyper-V* | Where-Object Installed

Search for web-related features:

Get-WindowsFeature *IIS*, *Web* | Where-Object Installed

Find all Active Directory components:

Get-WindowsFeature *AD*, *Domain* | Where-Object Installed

Windows Server categorizes components as either Roles (server functions) or Features (supporting tools). Filter by FeatureType to separate them.

Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object { $_.Installed -and $_.FeatureType -eq "Role" }

Show only installed Features (not Roles):

Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object { $_.Installed -and $_.FeatureType -eq "Feature" }

Format the output for better readability:

Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object { $_.Installed -and $_.FeatureType -eq "Role" } | Format-Table Name, DisplayName, FeatureType -AutoSize

Use Invoke-Command to query multiple servers concurrently, which is much faster than sequential queries.

$servers = @('SRV01', 'SRV02', 'DC01')
$results = Invoke-Command -ComputerName $servers -ScriptBlock {
    Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object Installed
}

View results with server identification:

$results | Select-Object PSComputerName, Name, DisplayName, InstallState | Format-Table -AutoSize

For servers requiring credentials:

$cred = Get-Credential
$results = Invoke-Command -ComputerName $servers -Credential $cred -ScriptBlock {
    Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object { $_.Installed -and $_.FeatureType -eq "Role" }
}

Export your findings to CSV files for documentation, compliance, or further analysis in Excel.

Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object Installed | Export-Csv -Path "C:\InstalledFeatures.csv" -NoTypeInformation

For multi-server exports with better formatting:

$servers = @('SRV01', 'SRV02')
$allFeatures = Invoke-Command -ComputerName $servers -ScriptBlock {
    Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object Installed | Select-Object Name, DisplayName, InstallState, FeatureType
}
$allFeatures | Select-Object PSComputerName, Name, DisplayName, InstallState, FeatureType | Export-Csv -Path "C:\MultiServerFeatures.csv" -NoTypeInformation

Create separate files for roles and features:

$installed = Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object Installed
$installed | Where-Object { $_.FeatureType -eq "Role" } | Export-Csv -Path "C:\InstalledRoles.csv" -NoTypeInformation
$installed | Where-Object { $_.FeatureType -eq "Feature" } | Export-Csv -Path "C:\InstalledFeatures.csv" -NoTypeInformation