I've successfully got winrm working and I'm able to run Enter-PSSession my-machine in the shell and subsequently enter commands. However, when I try to run a script that starts up a remote session, all subsequent calls are run on the local machine. For instance:
PS> test.ps1
Contents of test.ps1
Enter-PSSession remote-pcname
gc env:computername
prints out local-pcname instead of remote-pcname any idea why the script file is not honoring the remote session? It is definitely successfully connecting because when the script finishes I'm returned to the shell prompt of the remote machine.
The short answer is: Enter-PSSession is intended for interactive use. If you want to execute commands on a remote system from a script, use invoke-command.
A similiar thread on the Technet forums is here:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverpowershell/thread/90e92d4e-716b-4b4d-956f-d38645e5c035
For me it work as documented. Enter-PSSession start an interactive session, it's for interactive use.
So to execute a script you can use New-PSSession to create a session and Invoke-Command using the remote session you created with New-PSSession.
Related
Let's say for example, I have a domain controller and a client that is joined to the domain.
If I wanted to remotely lock out the client I would supposedly run
Invoke-Command -ComputerName [workstation name] -ScriptBlock {rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation}
However this does not work. I'm assuming this is because the Invoke-Command cmdlet runs the code in the scriptblock but returns anything back to the local terminal. What I'm trying to accomplish is to have the code or powershell script run locally on the remote computer.
My question is first of all if this is the correct approach and second why the command I'm running does not work.
Download PsExec from https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec and run following command.& "C:\PSTools\PsExec.exe" -s -i \\COMPNAME rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
As per my comment when using PSExec... So, stuff like this ---
PsExec.exe \\ -d -u \Administrator -i cmd.exe /c "C:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation"
Or using PowerShell with quer.exe ...
(it's a tool in every modern Windows version)
quser | Microsoft Docs
...in a PowerShell remoting script, like described here:
How To Log Off Windows Users Remotely With PowerShell
Again the work is being done by quser.exe, not PowerShell specifically. PowerShell is just being used to run quser.exe remotely. You could do the same, by copying PSExec to the remote host and do a similar operation.
I am trying to run the following code to run a script from my host computer onto a Vm that I have PSRemoted into (I am successfully remoted into the PSSession). Where am I going wrong?
Invoke-Command -FilePath C:\Script.ps1 -ComputerName PSRemoteComputer
You do not need to use both a PSSession and the Invoke-Command -ComputerName command as you have above. At that point, you'd be invoking C:\Script.ps1 on your VM and from your VM (which I assume doesn't exist, since C:\Script.ps1 exists on your machine).
If you exit your PSSession and run the command as you have typed it above, it should run correctly assuming PSRemoting is correctly enabled, and permissions for the script to run are set.
Keep in mind, objects are handled differently through PSRemoting, so if you are expecting a certain output you may be getting the deserialized version.
How can I get a remotely executed script to know it's own location? I'm using Invoke-Command to run a script on a remote server. The script needs to create files in the directory in which it lives. Running with relative addressing doesn't work (i.e. .\output.log), the scripts generally end up in my user profile on the remote server. I tried all the methods outlined in this question but none of them seem to work when the script is remote.
Update: Provided script invocation code per request
$server='ad1hfdahp802'
$remotepath='\\ad1hfdahp802\d$\AHP\pi_exceed_presentation\pi_exceed_presentation_deploy.ps1'
$SDFEnvironment='INT'
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $server -FilePath $remotepath -ArgumentList($SDFEnvironment,$remotepath)
The remote script takes the $remotepath and turns it into a file system path.
Using -FilePath with Invoke-Command means that you read the script locally and send the content as the scriptblock to the remote computer. $PSScriptRoot only works when the script is executed directly on the target. You could try using:
Invoke-Command - ComputerName "computer1" -Scriptblock { & '\\server\path\to\script.ps1' } -Authentication Credssp
Be aware that you need CredSSP to make this work since the remote computer can't use your credentials to access network-resources without it. As an alternative, you could use psexec (or start a process remotely). Ex.
psexec \\computer1 powershell -noprofile -file \\server\path\to\script.ps1
After trying some of the changes proposed I've come to understand that the Invoke-Command isn't actually running the remote script at its original location, but rather loading it from the original location and then running it under the context of PowerShell as the user running the local script. The "script directory" is actually a directory in the user's workspace regardless of where the script originally lived.
This clarifies things for me somewhat. While there may be ways to divine where the script originally came from or to actually start a session on the remote server then run the script as a "local" script there, the need for the remote script to further access other servers, creating multiple hops in authentication, means I have to add CredSSP to the mix.
It seems my original plan, to pass the path I'm using to locate the script to the script so it can place output files in the original directory, is probably the best approach given that I also have to add CredSSP to the mix.
I'm open to refutation, but I don't think any of the proposed solutions actually improve the functionality of the remote script so I'm going to stick with what I started with for now. Thanks to everyone for their contributions.
Enter a session on the remote server, and call the script from there.
local PS> Enter-PSSession -ComputerName $server ...
remote PS> powershell d:\AHP\...\script.ps1
remote PS> exit
local PS>
Then you can use $PSScriptRoot in the script in the remote server to get the local path of the directory of the script on the remote server.
EDIT:
To locate the script on the remote server, you can use your knowledge of the network path of the script file, and parse the output of net share to map network path to local path on the remote server.
remote PS> net share | where { $_.StartsWith('D$ ') } | foreach { [regex]::Split($_, " +")[1]}
Here is the command I am trying to run
Invoke-Command -ComputerName DOG-02 C:\Users\user\Documents\PowerShell\PowerShellmenuz.ps1
I want to be able to run the script PowerShellmenuz.ps1 on a remote machine. I am very close but am stuck at this point.
It is hard to tell where is the problem without error output, but probably you've missed first configuration step on remote machine. There things that should be done before executing scripts on remote machine.
Enabling PowerShell Remoting on the computer that you want access remotely. Open a PowerShell window as Administrator – right click the PowerShell shortcut and select "Run as Administrator". And execute the following command:
Enable-PSRemoting -Force - it will start service WinRM to allow incoming connections.
I am performing below tasks on remote machine from a local machine:
Creating/Deleting/Modifying some directory
Copying some folder from local to remote machine
Installing some .exe silently with noninteractive option
Exectuing some batch files
I want to write a script in PowerShell. Novice to PowerShell. I have done some basic investigation of terms like "PowerShell Remoting" etc.
What are the things I need to look for? Related exmple for this will help, where should I look for those?
Reading from docs on MSDN:
To run a single command on a remote computer, use the ComputerName parameter. To run a series of related commands that share data, use the New-PSSession cmdlet to create a PSSession (a persistent connection) on the remote computer, and then use the Session parameter of Invoke-Command to run the command in the PSSession. To run a command in a disconnected session, use the InDisconnectedSession parameter. To run a command in a background job, use the AsJob parameter.
So basically you should do something like:
$session = New-PSSession
Invoke-Command -Session $session -FilePath <PathToScript>
There is a good section on PowerShell remoting in the Getting Started with PowerShell 3.0 Virtual Academy class. If you don't want to start there, read the about_Remote help topic, then move on to the other remoting help topics listed at the bottom.