Connect to server that requires authentication using PowerShell 5.1? - powershell

Question

I am new to PowerShell. I can't connect to a server that requires a username and password.
I wrote a script that moves files from 5 different servers to 5 different sources.
Out of these 5 source servers, one of them requires a username and password to connect to it.
This script is supposed to run every hour. I want the authentication to go through so when it comes to transferring files the script runs as is without errors.
The code below gives the following error:
Connecting to remote server xx.xx.xx.x failed with the following error message : The WinRM client cannot
process the request. Default authentication may be used with an IP address under the following conditions: the transport
is HTTPS or the destination is in the TrustedHosts list, and explicit credentials are provided. Use winrm.cmd to configure
TrustedHosts. Note that computers in the TrustedHosts list might not be authenticated.
The complete code block is:
$logPath = "C:\Users\Log.txt"
$trancriptPath = "C:\Users\LogTranscript.txt"
$getDate = Get-Date -Format "dddd MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm "
$counter = 0
Start-Transcript -Path $trancriptPath -Append
Add-Content -Path $logPath -Value ("LOG CREATED $getDate") -PassThru
#Credentials For Server5
$password = ConvertTo-SecureString “password” -AsPlainText -Force
$userName = "username"
[pscredential]$cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList #($userName, $password)
Enter-PSSession -ComputerName "xx.xx.xx.x" -Credential $cred
#Sources
$srcMt01 = "\\Server2\programs\RECEIVE\*"
$srcMt01NameChg ="\\Server2\programs\RECEIVE"
$srcMC2o = "\\Server3\Predator\Revised Programs\MC2o\*"
$srcMC2oNameChg ="\\Server3\Predator\Revised Programs\MC2o"
$srcHm03 = "\\Server4\Predator\Revised Programs\H3\*"
$srcHm03NameChg ="\\Server4\Predator\Revised Programs\H3"
$srcMca = "\\Server5\Public\NcLib\FromNC\*"
$srcMcaNameChg ="\\Server5\Public\NcLib\FromNC"
$srcMt02 = "\\Server6\programs\RECEIVE\*"
$srcMt02NameChg ="\\Server6\programs\RECEIVE"
#Destination
$destMt01 = "\\Sever1\MfgLib\RevisedPrograms\MT01"
$destMC2o = "\\Server1\MfgLib\RevisedPrograms\MC2old"
$destHm03 = "\\Sever1\MfgLib\RevisedPrograms\H3"
$destMca = "\\Sever1\MfgLib\RevisedPrograms\MC-A"
$destMt02 = "\\Sever1\MfgLib\RevisedPrograms\MT02"
Function MoveFiles{
Param(
[string]$src,
[string]$dest,
[string]$srcNameChange
)
Get-ChildItem -Force -Recurse $src -ErrorAction Stop -ErrorVariable SearchError | ForEach-Object{
$counter++
$fileName = $_.Name
# Check for duplicate files
$file = Test-Path -Path $dest\$fileName
Write-Output $file
if($file)
{
"$srcNameChange\$fileName" | Rename-Item -NewName ("Copy_"+$fileName);
Add-Content -Path $logPath -Value ("$fileName exists in destination folder. Name change was successful") -PassThru
}
}
Move-Item -Path $src -Destination $dest -Force
Add-Content -Path $logPath -Value ("$counter file(s) moved to $dest") -PassThru
}
MoveFiles -src $srcMt01 -dest $destMt01 -srcNameChange $srcMt01NameChg
MoveFiles -src $srcMC2o -dest $destMC2o -srcNameChange $srcMC2oNameChg
MoveFiles -src $srcHm03 -dest $destHm03 -srcNameChange $srcHm03NameChg
MoveFiles -src $srcMca -dest $destMca -srcNameChange $srcMcaNameChg
MoveFiles -src $srcMt02 -dest $destMt02 -srcNameChange $srcMt02NameChg
Stop-Transcript
Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

You might find it easier to remote into the server using Invoke-Command and then running your file copy using a script block on the remote server. You will probably need to use CredSSP authentication so the copy process can connect to the destination server.
The server running the script will need to be configured as a WinRM client and the remote servers will need WinRM configured to accept connections. This is most likely where your current WinRM error is coming from. That's a pretty involved discussion so do some research and post specific questions as you uncover them.
Ex.
$Destination = "\\Sever1\MfgLib\RevisedPrograms\MT01"
$SourceServer = "Server2"
$password = ConvertTo-SecureString “password” -AsPlainText -Force
$userName = "username"
[pscredential]$cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList #($userName, $password)
$ScriptBlock = {
param ( [string]$dest )
Code to move the files from source to $dest
}
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $SourceServer -ScriptBlock $ScriptBlock -Authentication CredSSP -Credentials $Cred -ArgumentList $Destination