Run CmdLets Without Installing The Modules - Implicit Remoting
All the IT administrators they work with remote computers as part of their regular activities, and most of the time they use explicit remoting by mentioning the -Computername parameter to the cmdlets, and most commonly used cmdlet is Invoke-Command along with the other cmdlets like Get-Service, Get-Process, Get-WmiObject, Get-EventLog and etc…
Invoke-Command -ComputerName Server -ScriptBlock { $env:COMPUTERNAME }
Get-Service -ComputerName Server -Name servicename
Get-Process -ComputerName Server -Name processname
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_OperatingSystem -ComputerName Server
Get-EventLog -ComputerName Server -LogName Application -Newest 5
What is Implicit Remoting in PowerShell?
Bring the modules installed on the remote computer and import them on your local computer to run the cmdlets natively as if they are installed on your local computer. But in fact, the cmdlets run against the remote computer from which the module is imported.
We need to establish a connection to the remote computer, then load the required modules into the remote session and then export the session modules to our local computer.
Establish the remote computer session
Open a PowerShell session with elevated privileges and create a new pssession to the remote computer from which you want to import the module…
$dcsession = New-PSSession -ComputerName DC2K16
The session output will be as below…
$dcsession
Id Name ComputerName ComputerType State ConfigurationName Availability
-- ---- ------------ ------------ ----- ----------------- ------------
1 WinRM1 DC2K16 RemoteMachine Opened Microsoft.PowerShell Available
The above command to establish the connection to the remote computer works with the computer connected to the same domain, if it is not connected to the domain or from a different domain you need to add the remote computer name or IP to your local computer’s WinRM TrustedHosts list, and pass the credentials using -Credential parameter to the cmdlet.
Load the required module into the remote session
Basically, I want to connect to my DC server and export the ActiveDirectory module to my local session…
Invoke-Command -Session $dcsession -ScriptBlock {
Import-Module -Name ActiveDirectory
}
The module is loaded in the remote session and it is ready to export into the local PowerShell session.
Export the module from remote session to the local session
You can export the module with a different name altogether and also add a prefix to the cmdlets at the time of loading the module. When you export the module it will be created under $env:PSModulePath.
Export-PSSession -Session $dcsession -CommandName *-AD* -OutputModule RemoteDCModule -AllowClobber
Directory: C:\Users\kiran\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\RemoteDCModule
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 05-02-2019 10:32 PM 99 RemoteDCModule.format.ps1xml
-a---- 05-02-2019 10:32 PM 594 RemoteDCModule.psd1
-a---- 05-02-2019 10:32 PM 396254 RemoteDCModule.psm1
Exporting the module is nothing but the PowerShell creates functions by default with the name same as the cmdlet name to execute on the remote computer where the module is exported from, and then wraps up all these functions into a proper script module(.psm1) ready to import.
Import the module and run the cmdlets
The exported module is ready to be copied and imported on any computer, provided the computer can be connected to the remote server. When you import the module and run the cmdlet for the first time within the session it will create a new pssession to the remote computer and then executes the command, and the same pssession will be used till the current session alive.
# Without prefix
Import-Module -Name RemoteDCModule
# With prefix
Import-Module -Name RemoteDCModule -Prefix FromDC
Adding prefix will help us to identify the cmdlets easily, it’s not mandatory though.
# On the remote computer
Import-Module ActiveDirectory
Get-Command -Module ActiveDirectory | Select-Object -First 4
CommandType Name Version Source
----------- ---- ------- ------
Cmdlet Add-ADCentralAccessPolicyMember 1.0.0.0 ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet Add-ADComputerServiceAccount 1.0.0.0 ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet Add-ADDomainControllerPasswordReplicationPolicy 1.0.0.0 ActiveDirectory
Cmdlet Add-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicySubject 1.0.0.0 ActiveDirectory
Notice the CommandType is CmdLet on the remote computer when you actually import the module.
# On the local computer, import the exported module with prefix
Import-Module RemoteDCModule -Prefix FromDC
Get-Command -Module RemoteDCModule | Select-Object -First 4
CommandType Name Version Source
----------- ---- ------- ------
Function Add-FromDCADCentralAccessPolicyMember 1.0 RemoteDCModule
Function Add-FromDCADComputerServiceAccount 1.0 RemoteDCModule
Function Add-FromDCADDomainControllerPasswordReplication... 1.0 RemoteDCModule
Function Add-FromDCADFineGrainedPasswordPolicySubject 1.0 RemoteDCModule
Here the CommandType is Function and also notice the prefix FromDC in the noun. As I mentioned earlier, PowerShell creates a function to execute the actual command using Invoke-Command on the remote computer. If you want to know more about how the function is created, then pick any function from the exported module and see the definition of it using the command below…
# Syntax
(Get-Command -Name <function-name>).Definition
#Example
(Get-Command -Name Get-FromDCADUser).Definition
Execute the CmdLets
Since the exported module is saved in the local filesystem, you don’t need to create the remote computer session every time you execute the commands, the module will take care of establishing the connection to the remote computer and execute the commands against. So you can remove the remote session…
Remove-PSSession -Session $dcsession
Now, run any command and notice that there is a new session will be created (highlighted below)
So finally to justify the title of this post, you can run the cmdlets without installing the modules on the local computer. Especially it is much helpful on PowerShell Core, because some modules work with Windows PowerShell don’t work with PowerShell Core.
