about_Session_Configurations | Easy Powershell 2.0 Reference

TOPIC
about_Session_Configurations

SHORT DESCRIPTION
Describes session configurations, which determine the users who can
connect to the computer remotely and the commands they can run.

LONG DESCRIPTION
    A session configuration is a group of settings on the local computer
    that define the Environment for the Windows PowerShell sessions that are
    created when remote users connect to the local computer.

    Administrators of the computer can use session configurations to protect
    the computer and to define custom Environments for users who connect to
    the computer.

    Administrators can also use session configurations to determine the
    permissions that are required to connect to the computer remotely. By
    default, only members of the Administrators group have permission to
    use the session configuration to connect remotely, but you can change
    the default settings to allow all users, or selected users, to connect
    remotely to your computer.

    Session configurations are a feature of Web Services for Management
    (WS-Management) based Windows PowerShell remoting. They are used only
    when you use the New-PSSession, Invoke-Command, or Enter-PSSession cmdlets
    to connect to a remote computer.

    Note: To manage the session configurations on a computer that is running
         Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, or a later version of Windows,
         start Windows PowerShell with the “Run as administrator” option.

About Session Configurations

     Every Windows PowerShell session uses a session configuration. This
     includes persistent sessions that you create by using the New-PSSession
     or Enter-PSSession cmdlets, and the temporary sessions that Windows
     PowerShell creates when you use the ComputerName parameter of a cmdlet
     that uses WS-Management-based remoting technology, such as
     Invoke-Command.

     Administrators can use session configurations to protect the resources
     of the computer and to create custom Environments for users who connect
     to the computer. For example, you can use a session configuration to
     limit the size of objects that the computer receives in the session,
     to define the language mode of the session, and to specify the cmdlets,
     providers, and Functions that are available in the session.

     By configuring the security descriptor of a session configuration, you
     determine who can use the session configuration to connect to the
     computer. Users must have Execute permission to a session configuration
     to use it in a session. If a user does not have the required permissions
     to use any of the session configurations on a computer, the user cannot
     connect to the computer remotely.

     By default, only Administrators of the computer have permission to use
     the default session configurations. But, you can change the security
     descriptors to allow everyone, no one, or only selected users to use
     the session configurations on your computer.

Default Session Configurations

     Windows PowerShell includes a built-in session configuration named
     Microsoft.PowerShell. On computers running 64-bit versions of Windows,
     Windows PowerShell also provides Microsoft.PowerShell32, a 32-bit
     session configuration.

     These session configurations are used for sessions by default, that is,
     when a command to create a session does not include the ConfigurationName
     parameter of the New-PSSession, Enter-PSSession, or Invoke-Command
     cmdlet.

     The security descriptors for the default session configurations allow
     only members of the Administrators group on the local computer to use
     them. As such, only members of the Administrators group can connect to
     the computer remotely unless you change the default settings.

     You can change the default session configurations by using the
     $PSSessionConfigurationName preference Variable. For more information,
     see about_preference_variables.

Viewing Session Configurations on the Local Computer

To get the session configurations on your local computer, use the
Get-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet.

For example, type:

C:\PS> Get-PSSessionConfiguration | Format-List -property name, permission

Name : microsoft.powershell
Permission : BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed

Name : microsoft.powershell32
Permission : BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed

     You can also use the WS-Management provider in Windows PowerShell to view
     session configurations. The WS-Management provider creates a WSMan:
     drive in your session.

     In the WSMan: drive, session configurations are in the Plugin node.
     (All session configurations are in the Plugin node, but there are items
     in the Plugin node that are not session configurations.)

For example, to view the session configurations on the local computer,
type:

C:\PS> dir WSMan:\localhost\plugin\microsoft*

WSManConfig: Microsoft.WSMan.Management\WSMan::localhost\Plugin

         Name                     Type                 Keys
         —-                     —-                 —-
         microsoft.powershell     Container            {Name=microsoft.powershell}
         microsoft.powershell32    Container            {Name=microsoft.powershell}

Viewing Session Configurations on a Remote Computer

     To view the session configurations on a remote computer, use the
     Connect-WSMan cmdlet to add a note for the remote computer to the WSMan:
     drive on your local computer, and then use the WSMan: drive to view
     the session configurations.

For example, the following command adds a node for the Server01 remote
computer to the WSMan: drive on the local computer.

C:\PS> Connect-WSMan server01.corp.fabrikam.com

When the command is complete, you can navigate to the node for the
Server01 computer to view the session configurations.

For example:

C:\PS> cd WSMan:

PS WSMan:\> dir

        ComputerName                                 Type
        ————                                 —-
        localhost                                     Container
        server01.corp.fabrikam.com                    Container

PS WSMan:\> dir server01*\plugin\*

WSManConfig: Microsoft.WSMan.Management\WSMan::server01.corp.fabrikam.com\Plugin

        Name                     Type            Keys
        —-                     —-            —-
        microsoft.powershell     Container     {Name=microsoft.powershell}
        microsoft.powershell32    Container     {Name=microsoft.powershell32}

Changing the Security Descriptor of a Session Configuration

     By default, members of the Administrators group on the computer have
     Execute permission to the default session configurations, but you can
     change the security descriptors on the default session configurations
     and on any session configurations that you create.

     To give other users permission to connect to the computer remotely,
     use the Set-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet to add “Execute” permissions
     for those users to the security descriptors of the Microsoft.PowerShell
     and Microsoft.PowerShell32 session configurations.

     For example, the following command opens a property page that lets you
     change the security descriptor for the Microsoft.PowerShell default
     session configuration.

C:\PS> Set-PSSessionConfiguration -name Microsoft.PowerShell -showSecurityDescriptorUI

     To deny everyone permission to all the session configurations on the
     computer, use the Disable-PSRemoting Function or the
     Disable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. For example, the following
     command adds a “Deny All” entry to all the session configurations on the
     computer.

C:\PS> Disable-PSRemoting

     To add a “Deny All” entry to a particular session configuration, use
     the Disable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. For example, the following
     command adds a “Deny All” entry to the Microsoft.PowerShell session
     configuration.

C:\PS> Disable-PSSessionConfiguration -name Microsoft.PowerShell

     To remove the “Deny All” entry from all the session configurations, use
     the Enable-PSRemoting or Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. For
     example, the following command removes the “Deny All” entry from the
     default session configurations.

C:\PS> Enable-PSSessionConfiguration -name Microsoft.Power*

     To make other changes to the security descriptor of a session
     configuration, use the Set-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. Use the
     SecurityDescriptorSDDL parameter to submit an SDDL string value. Use the
     ShowSecurityDescriptorUI parameter to display a user interface property
     sheet that helps you to create a new SDDL.

For example:

C:\PS> Set-PSSessionConfiguration -name Microsoft.PowerShell -showSecurityDescriptorUI

Creating a New Session Configuration

     To create a new session configuration on the local computer, use the
     Register-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. To define the new session
     configuration, you can use a C# assembly, a Window PowerShell script,
     and the parameters of the Register-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet.

     For example, the following command creates a session configuration
     that is identical the Microsoft.PowerShell session configuration, except
     that it limits the data received from a remote command to 20 megabytes
     (MB). (The default is 50 MB).

c:\PS> Register-PSSessionConfiguration -name NewConfig –MaximumReceivedDataSizePerCommandMB 20

When you create a session configuration, you can manage it by using the
other session configuration cmdlets, and it appears in the WSMan: drive.

For more information, see Register-PSSessionConfiguration.

Removing a Session Configuration

     To remove a session configuration from the local computer, use the
     Unregister-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. For example, the following
     command removes the NewConfig session configuration from the computer.

c:\PS> Unregister-PSSessionConfiguration -name NewConfig

For more information, see Unregister-PSSessionConfiguration.

Selecting a Session Configuration

     To select a particular session configuration for a session, use the
     ConfigurationName parameter of New-PSSession, Enter-PSSession, or
     Invoke-Command.

     For example, this command uses the New-PSSession cmdlet to start a
     PSSession on the Server01 computer. The command uses the
     ConfigurationName parameter to select the WithProfile configuration
     on the Server01 computer.

C:\PS> New-PSSession -computername Server01 -configurationName WithProfile

     This command will succeed only if the current user has permission to use
     the WithProfile session configuration or can supply the credentials of a
     user who has the required permissions.

     You can also use the $PSSessionConfigurationName preference Variable to
     change the default session configuration on the computer. For more
     information about the $PSSessionConfigurationName preference Variable,
     see about_preference_variables.