Disconnect PSSessions by using Windows PowerShell

  • 3 minutes

You can disconnect from PSSessions when both the initiating computer and the remote computer are running Windows PowerShell 3.0 or later. Disconnecting is typically a manual process. Windows PowerShell can automatically place a connection in the Disconnected state if the connection is interrupted. However, if you close the Windows PowerShell host application, it closes the sessions rather than disconnecting from them.

Using disconnected sessions follows this process:

  1. Use New-PSSession to create the new PSSession. Optionally, use the PSSession to run commands.
  2. Run Disconnect-PSSession to disconnect from the PSSession. Pass the PSSession object you want to disconnect from to the -Session parameter.
  3. Optionally, move to another computer and open Windows PowerShell.
  4. Run Get-PSSession with the -ComputerName parameter to get a list of your PSSessions on the specified computer.
  5. Use Connect-PSSession to reconnect to the desired PSSession.

Note

By default, you can only see and reconnect to your own PSSessions. However, another user can reconnect to a disconnected PSSession if they provide the credentials used to create it.

Retrieve results with Receive-PSSession

Receive-PSSession is an alternative to Connect-PSSession that combines reconnection and output retrieval in a single step. It reconnects to a disconnected session and immediately retrieves any buffered output from commands that ran while the session was disconnected.

Use Receive-PSSession when you want to retrieve results from a long-running command without re-entering an interactive session. Use Connect-PSSession when you want to reconnect and run more commands interactively.

The -OutTarget parameter controls how results are displayed. It accepts Host (the default, which displays results inline) or Job (which returns a background job object for further processing).

Receive-PSSession -ComputerName Server01 -Name Session3

Start a command and disconnect immediately

Invoke-Command with the -InDisconnectedSession parameter creates a session, starts the command, and disconnects immediately—all in one step. You don't need to create a persistent session first or manually disconnect after starting the command.

Use this approach when you want to start a long-running task and retrieve results later, without managing the session yourself. The manual workflow—creating a session with New-PSSession, running commands, then calling Disconnect-PSSession—gives you more control but requires more steps.

When you use -InDisconnectedSession, set -IdleTimeoutSec high enough for the command to complete before the session times out.

Invoke-Command -ComputerName Server01 -InDisconnectedSession -ScriptBlock { Get-WinEvent -LogName System }

Results are retrieved later using Receive-PSSession.