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Disable-PSRemoting

  • Reference
Module:
Microsoft.PowerShell.Core

Prevents PowerShell endpoints from receiving remote connections.

Syntax

Disable-PSRemoting
       [-Force]
       [-WhatIf]
       [-Confirm]
       [<CommonParameters>]

Description

This cmdlet is only available on the Windows platform.

The Disable-PSRemoting cmdlet blocks remote access to all PowerShell version 6 and greater session endpoint configurations on the local computer. It does not affect Windows PowerShell endpoint configurations. To disable Windows PowerShell session endpoint configurations, run Disable-PSRemoting command from within a Windows PowerShell session.

To re-enable remote access to all PowerShell version 6 and greater session endpoint configurations, use the Enable-PSRemoting cmdlet. To re-enable remote access to all Windows PowerShell session endpoint configurations, run Enable-PSRemoting from within a Windows PowerShell session.

Note

If you want to disable all PowerShell remote access to a local Windows machine, you must run this command both from a within PowerShell version 6 or greater session and from within a Windows PowerShell session. Windows PowerShell is installed on all Windows machines by default.

To disable and re-enable remote access to specific session endpoint configurations, use the Enable-PSSessionConfiguration and Disable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlets. To set specific access configurations of individual endpoints, use the Set-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet along with the AccessMode parameter. For more information about session configurations, see about_Session_Configurations.

Note

Even after running Disable-PSRemoting you can still make loopback connections on the local machine. A loopback connection is a PowerShell remote session that originates from and connects to the same local machine. Remote sessions from external sources remain blocked. For loopback connections you must use implicit credentials along the EnableNetworkAccess parameter. For more information about loopback connections, see New-PSSession.

This cmdlet is only available on the Windows platform. It is not available on Linux or macOS versions of PowerShell. To run this cmdlet, start PowerShell with the Run as administrator option.

Examples

Example 1: Prevent remote access to all PowerShell session configurations

This example prevents remote access to all PowerShell session endpoint configurations on the computer.

Disable-PSRemoting

WARNING: PowerShell remoting has been disabled only for PowerShell 6+ configurations and does not affect
 Windows PowerShell remoting configurations. Run this cmdlet in Windows PowerShell to affect all PowerShell
 remoting configurations.

WARNING: Disabling the session configurations does not undo all the changes made by the Enable-PSRemoting
 or Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. You might have to manually undo the changes by following these steps:
    1. Stop and disable the WinRM service.
    2. Delete the listener that accepts requests on any IP address.
    3. Disable the firewall exceptions for WS-Management communications.
    4. Restore the value of the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to 0, which restricts remote access to
       members of the Administrators group on the computer.

Example 2: Prevent remote access to all PowerShell session configurations without confirmation prompt

This example prevents remote access all PowerShell session endpoint configurations on the computer without prompting.

Disable-PSRemoting -Force

WARNING: PowerShell remoting has been disabled only for PowerShell 6+ configurations and does not affect
 Windows PowerShell remoting configurations. Run this cmdlet in Windows PowerShell to affect all PowerShell
 remoting configurations.

WARNING: Disabling the session configurations does not undo all the changes made by the Enable-PSRemoting
 or Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. You might have to manually undo the changes by following these steps:
    1. Stop and disable the WinRM service.
    2. Delete the listener that accepts requests on any IP address.
    3. Disable the firewall exceptions for WS-Management communications.
    4. Restore the value of the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to 0, which restricts remote access to
       members of the Administrators group on the computer.

Example 3: Effects of running this cmdlet

This example shows the effect of using the Disable-PSRemoting cmdlet. To run this command sequence, start PowerShell with the Run as administrator option.

After disabling the sessions configurations, the New-PSSession cmdlet attempts to create a remote session to the local computer (also known as a "loopback"). Because remote access is disabled on the local machine, the command fails.

Disable-PSRemoting -Force
New-PSSession -ComputerName localhost -ConfigurationName PowerShell.6

WARNING: Disabling the session configurations does not undo all the changes made by the Enable-PSRemoting
 or Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. You might have to manually undo the changes by following these steps:
    1. Stop and disable the WinRM service.
    2. Delete the listener that accepts requests on any IP address.
    3. Disable the firewall exceptions for WS-Management communications.
    4. Restore the value of the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to 0, which restricts remote access to
       members of the Administrators group on the computer.

New-PSSession : [localhost] Connecting to remote server localhost failed with the following error
 message : Access is denied. For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.
At line:1 char:1
+ New-PSSession -ComputerName localhost -ConfigurationName PowerShell.6
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo          : OpenError: (System.Management.A\u2026tion.RemoteRunspace:RemoteRunspace)
 [New-PSSession], PSRemotingTransportException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : AccessDenied,PSSessionOpenFailed

Example 4: Effects of running this cmdlet and Enable-PSRemoting

This example shows the effect on the session configurations of using the Disable-PSRemoting and Enable-PSRemoting cmdlets.

Disable-PSRemoting is used to disable remote access to all PowerShell session endpoint configurations. The Force parameter suppresses all user prompts. The Get-PSSessionConfiguration and Format-Table cmdlets display the session configurations on the computer.

The output shows that all remote users with a network token are denied access to the endpoint configurations. Administrators group on the local computer are allowed access to the endpoint configurations as long as they are connecting locally (also known as loopback) and using implicit credentials.

Disable-PSRemoting -Force
Get-PSSessionConfiguration | Format-Table -Property Name, Permission -AutoSize

Enable-PSRemoting -Force
Get-PSSessionConfiguration | Format-Table -Property Name, Permission -AutoSize

Name               Permission
----               ----------
PowerShell.6       NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed ...
PowerShell.6.2.0   NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed ...

Name               Permission
----               ----------
PowerShell.6       NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed ...
PowerShell.6.2.0   NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed ...

The Enable-PSRemoting cmdlet re-enables remote access to all PowerShell session endpoint configurations on the computer. The Force parameter suppresses all user prompts and restarts the WinRM service without prompting. The new output shows that the AccessDenied security descriptors have been removed from all session configurations.

Example 5: Loopback connections with disabled session endpoint configurations

This example demonstrates how endpoint configurations are disabled, and shows how to make a successful loopback connection to a disabled endpoint. Disable-PSRemoting disables all PowerShell session endpoint configurations.

Disable-PSRemoting -Force

WARNING: PowerShell remoting has been disabled only for PowerShell 6+ configurations and does not affect
 Windows PowerShell remoting configurations. Run this cmdlet in Windows PowerShell to affect all PowerShell
 remoting configurations.

WARNING: Disabling the session configurations does not undo all the changes made by the Enable-PSRemoting
 or Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. You might have to manually undo the changes by following these steps:
    1. Stop and disable the WinRM service.
    2. Delete the listener that accepts requests on any IP address.
    3. Disable the firewall exceptions for WS-Management communications.
    4. Restore the value of the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to 0, which restricts remote access to
       members of the Administrators group on the computer.

New-PSSession -ComputerName localhost -ConfigurationName powershell.6 -Credential (Get-Credential)

PowerShell credential request
Enter your credentials.
User: UserName
Password for user UserName: ************

New-PSSession: [localhost] Connecting to remote server localhost failed with the following error message
 : Access is denied. For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.

New-PSSession -ComputerName localhost -ConfigurationName powershell.6 -EnableNetworkAccess

Id Name       Transport ComputerName  ComputerType   State   ConfigurationName   Availability
 -- ----       --------- ------------  ------------   -----   -----------------   ------------
 1  Runspace1  WSMan     localhost     RemoteMachine  Opened  powershell.6           Available

The first use of New-PSSession attempts to create a remote session to the local machine. The ConfigurationName parameter is used to specify a disabled PowerShell endpoint. Credentials are explicitly passed to the command through the Credential parameter. This type of connection goes through the network stack and is not a loopback. Consequently, the connection attempt to the disabled endpoint fails with an Access is denied error.

The second use of New-PSSession also attempts to create a remote session to the local machine. In this case, it succeeds because it is a loopback connection that bypasses the network stack.

A loopback connection is created when the following conditions are met:

  • The computer name to connect to is 'localhost'.
  • No credentials are passed in. Current logged in user (implicit credentials) is used for the connection.
  • The EnableNetworkAccess switch parameter is used.

For more information on loopback connections, see New-PSSession document.

Example 6: Disabling all PowerShell remoting endpoint configurations

This example demonstrates how running the Disable-PSRemoting command does not affect Windows PowerShell endpoint configurations. Get-PSSessionConfiguration run within Windows PowerShell shows all endpoint configurations. We see that the Windows PowerShell endpoint configurations are not disabled.

Disable-PSRemoting -Force
powershell.exe -command 'Get-PSSessionConfiguration'

WARNING: PowerShell remoting has been disabled only for PowerShell 6+ configurations and does not affect
 Windows PowerShell remoting configurations. Run this cmdlet in Windows PowerShell to affect all PowerShell
 remoting configurations.

WARNING: Disabling the session configurations does not undo all the changes made by the Enable-PSRemoting
 or Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. You might have to manually undo the changes by following these steps:
    1. Stop and disable the WinRM service.
    2. Delete the listener that accepts requests on any IP address.
    3. Disable the firewall exceptions for WS-Management communications.
    4. Restore the value of the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to 0, which restricts remote access to
       members of the Administrators group on the computer.

Name          : microsoft.powershell
PSVersion     : 5.1
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote
                Management Users AccessAllowed

Name          : microsoft.powershell.workflow
PSVersion     : 5.1
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed

Name          : microsoft.powershell32
PSVersion     : 5.1
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote
                Management Users AccessAllowed

Name          : PowerShell.6
PSVersion     : 6.2
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators
                AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed

Name          : PowerShell.6.2.2
PSVersion     : 6.2
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators
                AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed

powershell.exe -command 'Disable-PSRemoting -Force'
powershell.exe -command 'Get-PSSessionConfiguration'

WARNING: Disabling the session configurations does not undo all the changes made by the Enable-PSRemoting or
Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. You might have to manually undo the changes by following these steps:
    1. Stop and disable the WinRM service.
    2. Delete the listener that accepts requests on any IP address.
    3. Disable the firewall exceptions for WS-Management communications.
    4. Restore the value of the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to 0, which restricts remote access to members of the
Administrators group on the computer.

Name          : microsoft.powershell
PSVersion     : 5.1
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators
                AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed

Name          : microsoft.powershell.workflow
PSVersion     : 5.1
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management
                Users AccessAllowed

Name          : microsoft.powershell32
PSVersion     : 5.1
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators
                AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed

Name          : PowerShell.6
PSVersion     : 6.2
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators
                AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed

Name          : PowerShell.6.2.2
PSVersion     : 6.2
StartupScript :
RunAsUser     :
Permission    : NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators
                AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed

To disable these endpoint configurations, the Disable-PSRemoting command must be run from within a Windows PowerShell session. Now, Get-PSSessionConfiguration run from within Windows PowerShell shows that all endpoint configurations are disabled.

Example 7: Prevent remote access to session configurations that have custom security descriptors

This example demonstrates that the Disable-PSRemoting cmdlet disables remote access to all session configurations that include session configurations with custom security descriptors.

Register-PSSessionConfiguration creates the Test session configuration. The FilePath parameter specifies a session configuration file that customizes the session. The ShowSecurityDescriptorUI parameter displays a dialog box that sets permissions for the session configuration. In the Permissions dialog box, we create custom full-access permissions for the indicated user.

The Get-PSSessionConfiguration and Format-Table cmdlets display the session configurations and their properties. The output shows that the Test session configuration allows interactive access and special permissions for the indicated user.

Disable-PSRemoting disables remote access to all session configurations.

Register-PSSessionConfiguration -Name Test -FilePath .\TestEndpoint.pssc -ShowSecurityDescriptorUI -Force
Get-PSSessionConfiguration | Format-Table -Property Name, Permission -Wrap

Disable-PSRemoting -Force
Get-PSSessionConfiguration | Format-Table -Property Name, Permission -Wrap
New-PSSession -ComputerName localhost -ConfigurationName Test

Name               Permission
----               ----------
PowerShell.6       NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed,
                   BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed
PowerShell.6.2.0   NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed,
                   BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed
Test               NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed,
                   User01 AccessAllowed

WARNING: Disabling the session configurations does not undo all the changes made by the Enable-PSRemoting
 or Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. You might have to manually undo the changes by following these steps:
    1. Stop and disable the WinRM service.
    2. Delete the listener that accepts requests on any IP address.
    3. Disable the firewall exceptions for WS-Management communications.
    4. Restore the value of the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to 0, which restricts remote access to
       members of the Administrators group on the computer.

Name               Permission
----               ----------
PowerShell.6       NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed,
                   BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed
PowerShell.6.2.0   NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed,
                   BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Remote Management Users AccessAllowed
Test               NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed,
                   BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed, User01 AccessAllowed

New-PSSession : [localhost] Connecting to remote server localhost failed with the following error message
 : Access is denied. For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.
At line:1 char:1
+ New-PSSession -ComputerName localhost -ConfigurationName Test
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo          : OpenError: (System.Management.A\u2026tion.RemoteRunspace:RemoteRunspace)
 [New-PSSession], PSRemotingTransportException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : AccessDenied,PSSessionOpenFailed

Now the Get-PSSessionConfiguration and Format-Table cmdlets shows that an AccessDenied security descriptor for all network users is added to all session configurations, including the Test session configuration. Although the other security descriptors are not changed, the "network_deny_all" security descriptor takes precedence. This is illustrated by the attempt to use New-PSSession to connect to the Test session configuration.

Example 8: Re-enable remote access to selected session configurations

This example shows how to re-enable remote access only to selected session configurations. After disabling all session configurations, we re-enable a specific session.

The Set-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet is used to change the PowerShell.6 session configuration. The AccessMode parameter with a value of Remote re-enables remote access to the configuration.

Disable-PSRemoting -Force
Get-PSSessionConfiguration | Format-Table -Property Name, Permission -AutoSize

Set-PSSessionConfiguration -Name PowerShell.6 -AccessMode Remote -Force
Get-PSSessionConfiguration | Format-Table -Property Name, Permission -AutoSize

WARNING: Disabling the session configurations does not undo all the changes made by the Enable-PSRemoting
 or Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet. You might have to manually undo the changes by following these steps:
    1. Stop and disable the WinRM service.
    2. Delete the listener that accepts requests on any IP address.
    3. Disable the firewall exceptions for WS-Management communications.
    4. Restore the value of the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to 0, which restricts remote access to
       members of the Administrators group on the computer.

Name                 Permission
----                 ----------
PowerShell.6         NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Adm ...
PowerShell.6.2.0     NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Adm ...

Name                 Permission
----                 ----------
PowerShell.6         NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\ ...
PowerShell.6.2.0     NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE AccessAllowed, BUILTIN\Adm ...

Parameters

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:cf
Position:Named
Default value:False
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-Force

Forces the command to run without asking for user confirmation.

Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

-WhatIf

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

Type:SwitchParameter
Aliases:wi
Position:Named
Default value:False
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

Inputs

None

You can't pipe objects to this cmdlet.

Outputs

None

This cmdlet returns no output.

Notes

This cmdlet is only available on Windows platforms.

  • Disabling the session configurations does not undo all the changes that were made by the Enable-PSRemoting or Enable-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlets. You might have to undo the following changes manually.

    1. Stop and disable the WinRM service.
    2. Delete the listener that accepts requests on any IP address.
    3. Disable the firewall exceptions for WS-Management communications.
    4. Restore the value of the LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy to 0, which restricts remote access to members of the Administrators group on the computer.

  • A session endpoint configuration is a group of settings that define the environment for a session. Every session that connects to the computer must use one of the session endpoint configurations that are registered on the computer. By denying remote access to all session endpoint configurations, you effectively prevent remote users from establishing sessions that connect to the computer.