Unable to download the list of available providers

Symptoms

When attempting to install a module using Windows PowerShell using the Install-Module cmdlet as an Administrator you see the error

"WARNING: Unable to download the list of available providers. Check your internet connection."

Cause

This can occur when the machine is not configured to connect to the server using TLS version 1.2.

Resolution

Set the current Windows PowerShell session to use TLS version 1.2 by executing the following command in the Windows PowerShell.
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12;

- or -
To set this for all .NET Framework 4 applications, set the following registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319
"SchUseStrongCrypto" = dword:00000001

More Information

For more information see the following article.