About Remote Requirements

Article
12/01/2022

SHORT DESCRIPTION

Describes the system requirements and configuration requirements for running remote commands in PowerShell.

LONG DESCRIPTION

This topic describes the system requirements, user requirements, and resource requirements for establishing remote connections and running remote commands in PowerShell. It also provides instructions for configuring remote operations.

Note: Many cmdlets (including the Get-Service, Get-Process, Get-WMIObject, Get-EventLog, and Get-WinEvent cmdlets) get objects from remote computers by using Microsoft .NET Framework methods to retrieve the objects. They do not use the PowerShell remoting infrastructure. The requirements in this document do not apply to these cmdlets.

To find the cmdlets that have a ComputerName parameter but do not use Windows PowerShell remoting, read the description of the ComputerName parameter of the cmdlets.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

To run remote sessions on Windows PowerShell 3.0, the local and remote computers must have the following:

Windows PowerShell 3.0 or later
The Microsoft .NET Framework 4 or later
Windows Remote Management 3.0

To run remote sessions on Windows PowerShell 2.0, the local and remote computers must have the following:

Windows PowerShell 2.0 or later
The Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or later
Windows Remote Management 2.0

You can create remote sessions between computers running Windows PowerShell 2.0 and Windows PowerShell 3.0. However, features that run only on Windows PowerShell 3.0, such as the ability to disconnect and reconnect to sessions, are available only when both computers are running Windows PowerShell 3.0.

To find the version number of an installed version of PowerShell, use the $PSVersionTable automatic variable.

Windows Remote Management (WinRM) 3.0 and Microsoft .NET Framework 4 are included in Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and newer releases of the Windows operating system. WinRM 3.0 is included in Windows Management Framework 3.0 for older operating systems. If the computer does not have the required version of WinRM or the Microsoft .NET Framework, the installation fails.

USER PERMISSIONS

To create remote sessions and run remote commands, by default, the current user must be a member of the Administrators group on the remote computer or provide the credentials of an administrator. Otherwise, the command fails.

The permissions required to create sessions and run commands on a remote computer (or in a remote session on the local computer) are established by the session configuration (also known as an "endpoint") on the remote computer to which the session connects. Specifically, the security descriptor on the session configuration determines who has access to the session configuration and who can use it to connect.

The security descriptors on the default session configurations, Microsoft.PowerShell, Microsoft.PowerShell32, and Microsoft.PowerShell.Workflow, allow access only to members of the Administrators group.

If the current user doesn't have permission to use the session configuration, the command to run a command (which uses a temporary session) or create a persistent session on the remote computer fails. The user can use the ConfigurationName parameter of cmdlets that create sessions to select a different session configuration, if one is available.

Members of the Administrators group on a computer can determine who has permission to connect to the computer remotely by changing the security descriptors on the default session configurations and by creating new session configurations with different security descriptors.

For more information about session configurations, see about_Session_Configurations.

WINDOWS NETWORK LOCATIONS

Beginning in Windows PowerShell 3.0, the Enable-PSRemoting cmdlet can enable remoting on client and server versions of Windows on private, domain, and public networks.

On server versions of Windows with private and domain networks, the Enable-PSRemoting cmdlet creates firewall rules that allow unrestricted remote access. It also creates a firewall rule for public networks that allows remote access only from computers in the same local subnet. This local subnet firewall rule is enabled by default on server versions of Windows on public networks, but Enable-PSRemoting reapplies the rule in case it was changed or deleted.

On client versions of Windows with private and domain networks, by default, the Enable-PSRemoting cmdlet creates firewall rules that allow unrestricted remote access.

To enable remoting on client versions of Windows with public networks, use the SkipNetworkProfileCheck parameter of the Enable-PSRemoting cmdlet. It creates a firewall rule that allows remote access only from computers in the same local subnet.

To remove the local subnet restriction on public networks and allow remote access from all locations on client and server versions of Windows, use the Set-NetFirewallRule cmdlet in the NetSecurity module. Run the following command:

Set-NetFirewallRule -Name "WINRM-HTTP-In-TCP-PUBLIC" -RemoteAddress Any

In Windows PowerShell 2.0, on server versions of Windows, Enable-PSRemoting creates firewall rules that permit remote access on all networks.

In Windows PowerShell 2.0, on client versions of Windows, Enable-PSRemoting creates firewall rules only on private and domain networks. If the network location is public, Enable-PSRemoting fails.

RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR

Administrator privileges are required for the following remoting operations:

Establishing a remote connection to the local computer. This is commonly known as a "loopback" scenario.
Managing session configurations on the local computer.
Viewing and changing WS-Management settings on the local computer. These are the settings in the LocalHost node of the WSMAN: drive.

To perform these tasks, you must start PowerShell with the "Run as administrator" option even if you are a member of the Administrators group on the local computer.

In Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2, to start Windows PowerShell with the "Run as administrator" option:

Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click the Windows PowerShell folder.
Right-click Windows PowerShell, and then click "Run as administrator".

To start Windows PowerShell with the "Run as administrator" option:

Click Start, click All Programs, and then click the Windows PowerShell folder.
Right-click Windows PowerShell, and then click "Run as administrator".

The "Run as administrator" option is also available in other Windows Explorer entries for Windows PowerShell, including shortcuts. Just right-click the item, and then click "Run as administrator".

When you start Windows PowerShell from another program such as Cmd.exe, use the "Run as administrator" option to start the program.

HOW TO CONFIGURE YOUR COMPUTER FOR REMOTING

Computers running all supported versions of Windows can establish remote connections to and run remote commands in PowerShell without any configuration. However, to receive connections, and allow users to create local and remote user-managed PowerShell sessions ("PSSessions") and run commands on the local computer, you must enable PowerShell remoting on the computer.

Windows Server 2012 and newer releases of Windows Server are enabled for PowerShell remoting by default. If the settings are changed, you can restore the default settings by running the Enable-PSRemoting cmdlet.

On all other supported versions of Windows, you need to run the Enable-PSRemoting cmdlet to enable PowerShell remoting.

The remoting features of PowerShell are supported by the WinRM service, which is the Microsoft implementation of the Web Services for Management (WS-Management) protocol. When you enable PowerShell remoting, you change the default configuration of WS-Management and add system configuration that allow users to connect to WS-Management.

To configure PowerShell to receive remote commands:

Start PowerShell with the "Run as administrator" option.
At the command prompt, type: Enable-PSRemoting

To verify that remoting is configured correctly, run a test command such as the following command, which creates a remote session on the local computer.

New-PSSession

If remoting is configured correctly, the command will create a session on the local computer and return an object that represents the session. The output should resemble the following sample output:

Id Name        ComputerName    State    ConfigurationName
-- ----        ------------    -----    -----
1  Session1    localhost       Opened   Microsoft.PowerShell

If the command fails, for assistance, see about_Remote_Troubleshooting.

UNDERSTAND POLICIES

When you work remotely, you use two instances of PowerShell, one on the local computer and one on the remote computer. As a result, your work is affected by the Windows policies and the PowerShell policies on the local and remote computers.

In general, before you connect and as you are establishing the connection, the policies on the local computer are in effect. When you are using the connection, the policies on the remote computer are in effect.