Windows equivalent of ssh – how to connect to a remote machine and access command line

command linesshtelnetwindows

I'm having a difficult time coming up with a solution to extend a framework that was designed for *nix machines over to windows. The framework currently runs from one *nix server and ssh's out to other *nix servers and performs a bunch of different commands like checking log files, syncing files from source control, submitting logs back to source control, etc. The big piece I'm stuck on is how to connect to the remote windows machines and access the command line. The connection can be coming from another Windows machine also, it doesn't have to start from a unix machine, it can go from windows to windows instead of unix to windows.

Here's an example of how commands are currently ran on unix systems. Something like this is in a loop that goes through a list of server names. I need to get something like this to run on windows machines.

ssh ${user}@${server} "cd /app/app_name/logs; <export source control params>; <submit logs to source control>" >> Log.txt

Also, I would prefer not to use a 3rd party tool (my budget is about $0). I've checked out PsExec and a couple others but it looks like you need admin access or have to pass users/pass in plain text.

Best Answer

Use Powershell Remoting:

Updated link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/learn/remoting/running-remote-commands?view=powershell-7

Copy pasted form an older version:

Windows PowerShell Remoting

Windows PowerShell remoting, which uses the WS-Management protocol, lets you run any Windows PowerShell command on one or many remote computers. It lets you establish persistent connections, start 1:1 interactive sessions, and run scripts on multiple computers. To use Windows PowerShell remoting, the remote computer must be configured for remote management. After you have configured Windows PowerShell remoting, many remoting strategies are available to you. The remainder of this document lists just a few of them. #Start an Interactive Session To start an interactive session with a single remote computer, use the Enter-PSSession cmdlet. For example, to start an interactive session with the Server01 remote computer, type:

Enter-PSSession Server01

The command prompt changes to display the name of the computer to which you are connected. From then on, any commands that you type at the prompt run on the remote computer and the results are displayed on the local computer.

To end the interactive session, type:

Exit-PSSession

#Run a Remote Command

To run any command on one or many remote computers, use the Invoke-Command cmdlet. For example, to run a Get-UICulture command on the Server01 and Server02 remote computers, type:

invoke-command -computername Server01, Server02 {get-UICulture}

The output is returned to your computer.

LCID    Name     DisplayName               PSComputerName
----    ----     -----------               --------------
1033    en-US    English (United States)   server01.corp.fabrikam.com
1033    en-US    English (United States)   server02.corp.fabrikam.com

#Run a Script

To run a script on one or many remote computers, use the FilePath parameter of the Invoke-Command cmdlet. The script must be on or accessible to your local computer. The results are returned to your local computer.

For example, the following command runs the DiskCollect.ps1 script on the Server01 and Server02 remote computers.

invoke-command -computername Server01, Server02 -filepath c:\Scripts\DiskCollect.ps1

#Establish a Persistent Connection

To run a series of related commands that share data, create a session on the remote computer and then use the Invoke-Command cmdlet to run commands in the session that you create. To create a remote session, use the New-PSSession cmdlet.

For example, the following command creates a remote session on the Server01 computer and another remote session on the Server02 computer. It saves the session objects in the $s variable.

$s = new-pssession -computername Server01, Server02

Now that the sessions are established, you can run any command in them. And because the sessions are persistent, you can collect data in one command and use it in a subsequent command.

For example, the following command runs a Get-Hotfix command in the sessions in the $s variable and it saves the results in the $h variable. The $h variable is created in each of the sessions in $s, but it does not exist in the local session.

invoke-command -session $s {$h = get-hotfix}

Now you can use the data in the $h variable in subsequent commands, such as the following one. The results are displayed on the local computer.

invoke-command -session $s {$h | where {$_.installedby -ne "NTAUTHORITY\SYSTEM"} }
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