Gradle -v command points to old version - powershell

Question

Currently I'm trying to update Gradle 2.0 to 2.11. In the getting-started.html file of my gradle distribution (2.11) is described how to install a newer Gradle version. I unpacked the .zip to the desired location and unpacked it. I set the environment variable GRADLE_HOME accordingly and it is included in the PATH.
However gradle -v will print:
------------------------------------------------------------
Gradle 2.0
------------------------------------------------------------
Build time: 2014-07-01 07:45:34 UTC
Build number: none
Revision: b6ead6fa452dfdadec484059191eb641d817226c
I checked my environment variable by using Get-Childitem env:GRADLE_HOME, which does print:
Name Value
---- -----
GRADLE_HOME C:\dev\programs\gradle-2.11
Restarting PowerShell or even the computer didn't help. I've also set a variable pointing to GRADLE_USER (which is to a .gradle folder) is there a known issue with that? Or did I just miss something in the Installation process?

Answer 1

PowerShell will run executables without a path only if they're located in one of the folders listed in the PATH environment variable ($env:Path in PowerShell). Most likely you still have the path to the old installation listed there (something like ...;C:\dev\programs\gradle-2.0\bin;...). Depending on where it's defined you need to change it in the system or your user environment.
You can avoid the need to update the PATH environment variable with every Gradle update by using the GRADLE_HOME environment variable in it. However, for this to work you must make the respective registry value a REG_EXPAND_SZ value (default is REG_SZ). The system environment is stored in this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment
The user environment is stored in this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment
You can change the type of the PATH value to REG_EXPAND_SZ with something like this:
$key = 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment'
$path = [Microsoft.Win32.Registry]::GetValue($key, 'PATH', $null)
$path += ';%GRADLE_HOME%\bin'
[Microsoft.Win32.Registry]::SetValue($key, 'PATH', $path, 'ExpandString')
or (a little more elaborate) like this:
$key = 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment'
$path = [Microsoft.Win32.Registry]::GetValue($key, 'PATH', $null) -split ';' |
Where-Object { $_ -notlike '*gradle*' }
$path = (#($path) + '%GRADLE_HOME%\bin') -join ';'
[Microsoft.Win32.Registry]::SetValue($key, 'PATH', $path, 'ExpandString')
The latter will remove an existing Gradle path from the environment variable before adding the GRADLE_HOME-based path.
Change $key to the system environement key to modify the system instead of your user environment (requires admin privileges).
By putting %GRADLE_HOME%\bin in the PATH (and have the operating system expand the variable by making the registry value a REG_EXPAND_SZ) PowerShell will always use the gradle.exe from the bin directory in your $env:GRADLE_HOME.