Skip to main content

How to access remote computers with PowerShell?

Windows PowerShell V2 allows you to access remote computers and execute PowerShell commands on those remote clients. The following steps illustrate how to create a session with a single client.

For every client that we will be remotely accessing, we need to run the command:

  • Winrm quickconfig
  • Press Y at all prompts.

This will open the ports on the firewall that we need open for remote management.

Now, on the copmuter that will be making the remote connection, type:

  • Enter-PSSession –computerName ComputerName

In my case, the ComputerName parameter is MCT-1. Once the session is established, your prompt will look like this:

[MCT-1]: PS C:\Users\Administrator\Documentss>

Go ahead and type Get-Service. You should notice that what is returned is the services from the remote client.

Type Exit to return to your local client.

Now what about multiple sessions?

Once you have run WinRM QuickConfig on multiple clients, you can set up multiple sessions.

My current setup has me on a computer named MCT-Win7-1 I want to set up a session to two other clients, MCT-1 and MCT-Win7-2. I type in this command:

New-PSSession MCT1, MCT-Win7-2

What comes back are the session numbers. With this method, you can only have on session open at a time. To access one one of the sessions, type Enter-PSSession –ID and then the session number.

Once you have comleted your work with that client, type Exit.

You can get a list of all open sessions by typing Get-PSSession.

So how do you run a command in all sessions? First lets save the current sessions in a variable.

$PSList = Get-PSSession

Now, we are going to use the Invoke-Command commandlet.

Invoke-Command –session $PSList –scriptblock {Get-Service}

From here you will receive a list of the data returned.

You can close the sessions in one of two ways.

Remove-PSSession – ID SessionNumber

Or

Remove-PSSession –session $PSList

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to list all the AD LDS instances on a server

AD LDS allows you to provide directory services to applications that are free of the confines of Active Directory.  To list all the AD LDS instances on a server, follow this procedure: Log into the server in question Open a command prompt. Type dsdbutil and press Enter Type List Instances and press Enter . You will receive a list of the instance name, both the LDAP and SSL port numbers, the location of the database, and its status.

How to run GPResult on a remote client with PowerShell

In the past, to run the GPResult command, you would need to either physically visit this client, have the user do it, or use and RDP connection.  In all cases, this will disrupt the user.  First, you need PowerShell remoting enabled on the target machine.  You can do this via Group Policy . Open PowerShell and type this command. Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock {GPResult /r} –ComputerName <ComputerName> Replace <ComputerName> with the name of the target.  Remember, the target needs to be online and accessible to you.

Where did a User’s Account Get Locked Out?

Updated: May 15, 2015 When this article was originally published, two extra carriage returns were add causing the code to malfunction.  The code below is correct.   My client for this week’s PowerShell class had a really interesting question. They needed to know where an account is being locked out at. OK, interesting. Apparently users hop around clients and forget to log off, leading to eventual lock out of their accounts. The accounts can be unlocked, but are then relocked after Active Directory replication. This problem is solved in two parts. The first one is to modify the event auditing on the network. The second part is resolved with PowerShell. The first part involves creating a group policy that will encompass your Domain Controllers. In this GPO, make these changes. Expand Computer Configuration \ Policies \ Windows Settings \ Security Settings \ Advanced Audit Policy Configuration \ Audit Policies \ Account Management Double click User Account Management C...