PowerShell Remoting: Complete Guide to Remote Management

1. Key Concepts

• WS-MAN: HTTP-based protocol (ports 5985 and 5986).
• WinRM: Service handling authentication and communication.
• Endpoints: Configurations such as Microsoft.PowerShell and Microsoft.PowerShell32.
• Listeners: Accept traffic on specific ports/IPs.
• Authentication: Kerberos by default; supports CredSSP, Basic, etc.
• Security: Single port, Kerberos-based, configurable quotas.

2. Enabling Remoting

Run Enable-PSRemoting -Force as Administrator:

• Starts/restarts WinRM service.
• Creates HTTP listener (port 5985).
• Adds firewall exceptions.
• Configures default endpoints.

3. Basic Usage

• 1-to-1 Interactive: Enter-PSSession -ComputerName Server01.
• 1-to-Many: Invoke-Command -ComputerName Server01,Server02 -ScriptBlock { Get-Process }.
• Options include -Credential, -Port, -UseSSL, -FilePath.

Note: Deserialized results are read-only and lose methods.

4. PSSessions (Persistent Connections)

• New-PSSession to create a session.
• Invoke-Command -Session to run commands.
• Enter-PSSession -Session for interactive use.
• Remove-PSSession to close.

v3 adds Disconnect, Connect, and Receive-PSSession features.

5. Advanced: Custom Endpoints & Delegation

• Create restricted endpoints with New-PSSessionConfigurationFile.
• Register with Register-PSSessionConfiguration.
• Delegation allows running under alternate credentials.

6. Second-Hop Problem & CredSSP

By default, credentials cannot be delegated beyond the first hop. Solutions include specifying -Credential per hop or enabling CredSSP.

7. WinRM Listeners

Default: HTTP on all IPs. Custom HTTPS listener example:

New-WSManInstance winrm/config/Listener -SelectorSet @{Transport='HTTPS'; Address='*'}

8. Implicit Remoting

• Import-PSSession to import remote modules locally.
• Export-PSSession to save modules for reuse.

9. Other Scenarios

• Cross-domain: configure TrustedHosts.
• Quotas: adjust via WSMan:\localhost\Shell.
• Group Policy: preferred for enterprise management.

Conclusion

PowerShell Remoting is a powerful tool for secure remote management. By mastering sessions, endpoints, authentication, and implicit remoting, administrators can achieve efficient, scalable administration across Windows environments.