Enter-PSSession is not working in my Powershell script - powershell

When I run the lines below from a script the file ends up being created on my local machine.
$cred = Get-Credential domain\DanTest
Enter-PSSession -computerName xsappb01 -credential $cred
New-Item -type file c:\temp\blahxsappk02.txt
exit-pssession
When I run each line individually from the powershell console the remote session is created correctly and the file is created on the remote machine. Any thoughts on why? Is it a timing issue is the script perhaps?

Not sure if it is a timing issue. I suspect it's more like Enter-PSSession is invoking something like a nested prompt and your subsequent commands are not executing within it. Anyway, I believe Enter/Exit-PSSession is meant for interactive use - not scripting use. For scripts use New-PSSession and pass that session instance into Invoke-Command e.g.:
$cred = Get-Credential domain\DanTest
$s = New-PSSession -computerName xsappb01 -credential $cred
Invoke-Command -Session $s -Scriptblock {New-Item -type file c:\temp\blah.txt}
Remove-PSSession $s

Related

Powershell: Cannot read and write a variable on Hyperv-V VM from host

Using this Powershell script I try to write and read a variable on VM from host.
$Username = 'administrator'
$Password = 'password'
$pass = ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText $Password -Force
$Cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $Username,$pass
#Added value to a variable on VM
Invoke-Command -VMName VM_Windows_2016 -Credential $Cred -ScriptBlock {$InstallPath="C:\Install\install-1.ps1"}
#Trying to read the variable on VM but with no result
Invoke-Command -VMName VM_Windows_2016 -Credential $Cred -ScriptBlock {Write-Host($InstallPath)}
As you see the result is empty. Can anyone help me to show how to write and read an variable on VM from host machine? Thanks!
When using Invoke-Command to run a command remotely, any variables in the command are evaluated on the remote computer. So when you run the first Invoke-Command you are only defining the variable $InstallPath and terminating the remote PS session. When you are run the Invoke-Command second time it create entirely new PS session, hence InstallPath would be null. Instead of this you can define and read the variable in a single Cmdlet like this.
$remoteScriptblock = {
$InstallPath = "C:\Install\install-1.ps1"
Write-Host($InstallPath)
}
Invoke-Command -VMName VM_Windows_2016 -Credential $Cred -ScriptBlock $remoteScriptblock
If you still want to run this in multiple Cmdlets you may consider Run a command in a persistent connection

Executing CMD or EXE file using PSSession (remote powershell) caused Error 1603 access denied

I have the following script powershell command but it returns access denied. I assume the Error 1603 is caused by remote accessing the server. However, the $username has admin rights in the computer01 server.
To recheck if my hunch was right, I tried to test with the following and I got access denied:
Start-Process cmd -Credential $Cred
Update
The error was due to the $Cred . Removing the -Credential argument works fine.
End of Update
The commands have no problems executing directly in the computer01 machine using the cmd.exe.
I want to use cmd /c in this case as I need to get the real exit code from the SETUP.EXE installer.
See full script below:
$script = {
#Param(
# [String]$username,
# [String]$password
#)
# $Cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ($username, $password)
$respfile = "$env:TEMP\test.resp"
echo 'key=value' > $respfile
$username = "$env:USERDOMAIN\$env:USERNAME"
Write-Host Hello $username
$Creds = (Get-Credential -Credential "$env:USERDOMAIN\$env:USERNAME" )
Start-Process cmd -Credential $Creds
#This command cannot be run due to the error: Access is denied.
# + CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [Start-Process], #InvalidOperationException
# + FullyQualifiedErrorId : #InvalidOperationException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StartProcessCommand
# + PSComputerName : computer01
# cmd /c "$path\SETUP.EXE /INSTALL -s /RESPFILE:'$respfile'"
runas /user:$Username "SETUP.EXE" /INSTALL -s /RESPFILE:"$respfile"
echo $LASTEXITCODE
# Error 1603
}
#$username = 'domain/user'
#$password = 'password'
$server = 'computer01'
$Creds = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential
$session = New-PSSession -ComputerName $server
#Invoke-Command -Session $session -Scriptblock $script -Argumentlist $username, $password
Invoke-Command -Session $session -Scriptblock $script -Credential $Creds #updated based on #postanote advise
Remove-PSSession -ComputerName $server
I have found the following similar link install-remotely but do not want to use the ENTER-PSSession command. I do not want to exit the current PSSession and remotely join again in server just to install then exit.
Any suggestions how to use only PSSession and successfully executing installers in the remote server?
As one mentioned in the comments, you don't need cmd.exe. You can use the call/invocation operator - & - to specify that the next token on the line is a command:
& "$path\SETUP.EXE" /INSTALL -s /RESPFILE:$respfile
Of course, for this to work, the parameters to SETUP.EXE need to be correct (I don't know whether that's the case or not).
Never pass plain text passwords in scripts. It exposes you to uneeded risks.
Use proper secured credentials models.
• Working with Passwords, Secure Strings and Credentials in Windows PowerShell
• quickly-and-securely-storing-your-credentials-powershell
PowerShell remoting requires the use of an implicit (New-PSSession) or explicit (Enter-PSSession) session.
• About Remote Requirements
There are only a handful of cmdlets you can use as non-Admin ir run without PSRemoting enabled.
• Tip: Work Remotely with Windows PowerShell without using Remoting or WinRM
As noted in the Powershell Help file | MS Docs link above, with PSRemoting, you must be using an account that is an admin on the remote host.
In Windows OS proper, to install software, you must be an admin and running that in an admin session.
PowerShell runs in the context of the user who started it.
If you are trying to run in another user context, that is a Windows Security boundary, and you cannot do that without PowerShell natively, you'd need other tools like MS Sysinternals PSExec. See also:
Find-Module -Name '*Invoke*' | Format-Table -AutoSize
# Results
<#
Version Name Repository Description
------- ---- ---------- -----------
...
3.1.6 Invoke-CommandAs PSGallery Invoke Command as System/User on Local/Remote computer using ScheduleTask.
...
#>
Try this refactored option...
$script = {
$Creds = (Get-Credential -Credential "$env:USERDOMAIN\$env:USERNAME" )
$respfile = 'whatever this is'
& "SETUP.EXE /INSTALL -s /RESPFILE:'$respfile'"
Write-Output $LASTEXITCODE
}
$server = 'computer01'
$session = New-PSSession -ComputerName $server
Invoke-Command -Session $session -Scriptblock $script -Credential $Creds
Remove-PSSession -ComputerName $server
Details
# Get specifics for a module, cmdlet, or function
(Get-Command -Name Invoke-Command).Parameters
(Get-Command -Name Invoke-Command).Parameters.Keys
Get-help -Name Invoke-Command -Examples
# Results
<#
Invoke-Command -ComputerName server01 -Credential domain01\user01 -ScriptBlock {Get-Culture}
$s = New-PSSession -ComputerName Server02 -Credential Domain01\User01
$LiveCred = Get-Credential
Invoke-Command -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://ps.exchangelabs.com/PowerShell -Credential $LiveCred -Authentication Basic
Invoke-Command -Session $s -ScriptBlock { Get-HotFix } -SessionOption $so -Credential server01\user01
Enable-WSManCredSSP -Delegate Server02
Set-Item WSMan:\Server02*\Service\Auth\CredSSP -Value $True
Invoke-Command -Session $s -ScriptBlock {Get-Item \\Net03\Scripts\LogFiles.ps1} -Authentication CredSSP -Credential Domain01\Admin01
#>
Get-help -Name Invoke-Command -Full
Get-help -Name Invoke-Command -Online
So, I was able to solve my problem.
1603 is the error thrown by the setup.exe.
Just to be sure, I manually executed first the following directly in the server using CMD and it was working!
$path\SETUP.EXE /INSTALL -s /RESPFILE:'$respfile'
I did a lot of testings. Researched and as mentioned from comments above, I did different ways to execute programs using powershell. I even used ACL to change ownership of installer directory/ files, switching to different user accounts (with different priviledges) but still getting access denied (including the Admin account).
It took days before I realized the difference in output file size of manual run in machine and the remote. The cause was the $respfile. It really is worth checking every possible reason/ scenario why there's access denied. Plus I cannot extract the setup.exe and its contents to troubleshoot.
The $respfile was created via powershell. I noticed the size created by powershell is doubled compared to a CMD size that was needed. With that, I assumed that the setup.exe reads file in UTF-8 format. I only know that it's working when triggered via CMD and not via powershell.
I suddenly bumped on this links differrent Powershell and CMD sizes and convert file content to CMD readable file - utf8. After converting the $respfile to UTF-8 format, I was able to run the exe successfully.
Hopefully, this can help others too!

Run Get-ClusterGroup on remote server using Central server

I have a centralized server from which i can run the following PowerShell command to get the clustergroup of cluster servers.
Enter-pssession -computername (ip-address) -credential (domain user)
And it prompts me to enter password then i get the session and execute
get-clustergroup
Okay till this it is fine.
Now i wanted to make this fully automated by converting in to a PowerShell script
The following commands works well when i run it in Powershell ISE and gets me the output of get-clustergroup
$password = ConvertTo-SecureString "password" -AsPlainText -Force
$user = "domain\user"
$cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential ($user,$password)
Enter-PSSession -ComputerName IP.Add.RE.SS -Credential $cred
get-clustergroup
but when i save the about script and run with PowerShell i get the following error.
get-clustergroup: the cluster service is not running
I want to automate the process by writing script to get get-clustergroup output of four cluster servers.
i am new to PowerShell scripting. how can i save the output?
Instead of creating a session to the other server, you can run the following which will run the command on the remote computer and return the output to your console:
Invoke-Command -ComputerName <IPAddress> -ScriptBlock { Get-ClusterGroup } -Credential $cred
You can store that output into a variable if you wish for future retrieval.
Since -ComputerName can accept an array object, you can modify your command to include all four of your servers. Below shows how to use all of your computer names and store the output in the variable $Output:
$Output = Invoke-Command -ComputerName "Server1","Server2","Server3","Server4" `
-ScriptBlock {Get-ClusterGroup} -Credential $cred
$Output
Your computer names could also be stored in a variable as an array. Then that variable can be used in your -ComputerName parameter:
$Computers = "Server1","Server2","Server3","Server4"
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $Computers -ScriptBlock { Get-ClusterGroup } -Credential $cred
See Invoke-Command for more information.

How to use invoke-command in powershell, to run a script on remote machine

Is it possible to use Invoke-Command in PowerShell to run a script on a remote machine?
I have tried :
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $MyPC -Credential $mycreds -ScriptBlock {
& "C:\Users\MyPC\Desktop\scripts\Script1.ps1"
}
which returns
script1.ps1 is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet
The scenario here is, I have some scripts on a remote folder, and I need to use Invoke-Command or some other ways to run the script on a remote machine.
Also, how to write if I want to pass some parameters for script1.ps1? Thanks in advance!
Instead of this:
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $MyPC -Credential $mycreds -ScriptBlock {& "C:\Users\MyPC\Desktop\scripts\Script1.ps1"}
Try this:
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $MyPC -Credential $mycreds -FilePath C:\Users\MyPC\Desktop\scripts\Script1.ps1
to avoid confusion with filepaths on local machines/remote machines; i always run stuff from smb-shares; you can enter UNC as filepath... eg:
-FilePath \server\Netscripts\script.ps1

Executing an Exe file inside Invoke-Command causes Access Denied

Using Powershell, I'm trying to connect to a remote machine and install an exe file on that system. Unfortunately I'm getting an Access is denied error when running the file. What's truly odd about this error, is that other exe's located on the same path run fine, so I'm wondering if something more cryptic could be involved?
I'm currently using this command to connect to the remote machine, upon which I'm a local admin.
$InstallFile = "\\networkshare\folder\folder\setup.exe"
$InstallParameters = "SampleParameter1 = 5"
$Server = SERVERNAME.DOMAINNAME.COM
$cred = Get-Credential
invoke-command -Computername $Server -authentication credssp -credential $cred -ScriptBlock {
$CurrentProcess = Start-Process -FilePath $InstallFile -ArgumentList $InstallParameters -Wait -PassThru
$CurrentProcess | Wait-Process
}
I'm using CredSSP which seems to be working well since it fixed this issue for other files, but this one simply refuses. Any other thoughts? I ran into a similar issue with .NET 4 and was unable to resolve that install either.
I've noticed you are using Start-Process to run your executable. According to this:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd347667.aspx
there's also -Credential parameter that can be passed to it. It very well might be the case that Start-Process is not executed by the user that called Invoke-Command. Try passing Credential to your Start-Process:
invoke-command -Computername $Server -authentication credssp -credential $cred -ScriptBlock {
$CurrentProcess = Start-Process -FilePath $InstallFile - Credential $cred -ArgumentList $InstallParameters -Wait -PassThru
$CurrentProcess | Wait-Process }