GUIDES (HTTPS://[Link].

COM/GUIDES)

([Link]
WinRM QuickConfig, HowTo Enable via GPO or Remotely on
All Servers

Marc Wilson ([Link] Last Updated : 02/03/2023

C
onfiguring “WinRM Quickconfig” on remote computers can be a little difficult at times,
especially if this is your first time using the Windows Remote Management service.

There are several ways to go about enabling winrm quickconfig on remote computers,
many admins like to push the task to a GPO and others like to do it through powershell or
3rd Party programs.

We'll highlight 3 different methods we've used in the past to get Windows Remote
Management service enabled, along with avoiding the dreaded “WINRM QUICKCONFIG
ACCESS DENIED” error that many people get when going through this process.
3 Ways to Remotely Enable WinRM on Windows
Clients/Servers:
1. Download and Run this Free Utility from Solarwinds to activate it on Remote 
Machines

2. Setup new Group Policy ([Link] policy management) Object to enable the
WinRM Service and Firewall Rules
3. Use PSEXEC to Remotely Enable on Client Machines

1. Free Utility for Remote Activation

This is by far the easiest way if you've already configured the Windows Firewall in your
network. Solarwinds has a nifty free tool called “Remote Execution Enabler for PowerShell”
that has the functionality to enable and configure WinRm on local and remote hosts within
your network.

Its as easy as entering in the IP Address(es) or IP Address Range of all the computers your
targeting, than enter credentials that have Administrative Rights to that PC (usually accounts
in the Domain Administrators Group will do the trick) and click the “START
CONFIGURATION” button:
 

When the utility is finished starting the Windows Remote Management services on all IP
Addresses or Ranges specified, you will see a green dot with a “Complete” status, as seen
below:
 

Grab the little utility from below and give it a go:

Download Free! ([Link]

btn-org)

2. Setup via Group Policy Object (GPO)

If the above solution didn't work for you, then setting up a GPO to do all the configuration is
the next best thing, as you can assign it to any given computer or OU if necessary. Below
are instructions for Windows 2012 R2 Server GPO setup.
1. Open Group Policy Management from within Administrative Tools folder.

2. Right-click on the desired OU that you want to create a Group Policy Object for and
click on “Create a GPO in this Domain, and Link it here…“

3. Rename the GPO to whatever you would like, “Enable WinRM via GPO” or
something along those lines then click OK.

4. Now that the new GPO has been created, right-click on the Newly created GPO and
click “EDIT“.

5. Expand the Menu tree as follows: Computer Configuration > Policies >
Administrative Templates: Policy definitions > Windows Components >
Windows Remote Management (WinRM) > WinRM Service.

6. Find the setting that says “Allow remote server management through WinRM”
and right-click and click “EDIT” to configure the settings. (see image below)

7. When the dialog box opens up, click “Enabled” and under the options section, either
specify an IP Address range or put an Asterisk “*” to allow all IP addresses to
remotely manage the PC. (We recommend specifying an IP Address to reduce any
 risk of a security compromise of your systems/network).

8. Now lets enable the Windows Remote Mangement (WS-Management) Service to

start automatically.
Go to Computer Configuration > Preferences > Control Panel Settings >
Services and right-click and select “NEW” and the select “Service“.

9. A New Service Properties window will come up and you will need to change Startup
to “Automatic (Delayed Start)” and then in the Service Name dialog box, click the
box with the 3 dots in it to the right of the Service name box and select “Windows
Remote Management (WS-Management)” and click the Select button.

10. Once you've selected the Service, under the “Service action:” pull down, we'll want
to click “Start service“.
 

11. Last Step of this Process is to configure the Windows Firewall to Allow the proper
ports [Link] to Computer Configuration > expand Policies > expand
Windows Settings > expand Security Settings > expand Windows Firewall with
Advanced Security > expand Windows Firewall with Advanced Security >
expand Inbound [Link]-click the Inbound Rules node and choose New Rule.
 (see screenshot below)

12. When the New Inbound Rule wizard box opens, click on the “Predefined” radio
button and scroll down to “Windows Remote Management” and click on it. (see
 screenshot below)

13. Next we'll click on the Left Sidebar menu item that says “Predefined Rules” in order
to not Allow the Firewall to open this Port to the Public [Link] the window
opens, uncheck the box that says Public profile next to it, as seen in the image
below. This ensures that we only allow WinRM access to the Private and Domain
 [Link] Click the Next button:

14. The Last screen of the New Inbound Firewall Wizard will just ask whether to Allow
The Connection or block [Link] sure the that “Allow the connection” radio box is
checked and click Finish.
 

At this point, you've successfully finished the GPO and you'll need to wait for the GPO to
propagate throughout your network.

3. PSEXEC for WinRM Activation

If either of the two options above don't work for you, using PSEXEC to remotely enable the
service is another option, if you prefer. Here are the relevant commands you will need in
order to execute “winrm quickconfig” using PSexec command line utility.

1. Make sure you have PSEXEC installed on your machine and the proper “PATH”
setup within your system variables – this should be automatically added when you
install [Link] you dont have PSEXEC installed yet, grab the download from
here ([Link] (its part of the
PSTOOLS package) and install it.

2. Launch the an elevated “Command Prompt” window using your local/domain

administrator account as the user of the target machine/s, to ensure that you have
the necessary permissions to configure WinRM remotely on machines in your
[Link] run “Command Prompt” as a different user, hold the Shift Key down and
right-click on the Command Prompt link and click on “Run as Different User” and
then enter in a user account that has Administrator Privileges on all computers your
 

targeting.

3. Run one of the following commands below:

psexec \\ComputerName -s [Link] quickconfig -q

or create a text file with all the computer names you want to target and save them
on your C:\ drive and run the command below to enable on all PC's in the specified
text file we just [Link] you can run any one of the commands below
depending on what you want to accomplish

psexec @c:\[Link] -s [Link] quickconfig -q

4. If all goes well, you'll see a screen like the one below that confirms everything has
been configured properly for WinRM on the remote machine/s.
 

WinRM FAQs

is WinRM the same as RDP?

WinRM and RDP are two different systems but they can be used for the same purpose,
which is to get remote access to a computer and execute commands. WinRM is a text-based
system but RDP shows the Desktop of the remote computer.

Is WinRM a security risk?

WinRM uses HTTP by default and that isn't secure. However, you can configure the system
to use HTTPS for connections and that makes WinRM secure.

Does WinRM use TLS?

WinRM will use Transport Layer Security (TLS) if you specify that it should run its
connections with HTTPS.

How does WinRM QuickConfig configure the firewall on the remote

computer?

WinRM QuickConfig configures the firewall on the remote computer by adding a rule to allow
incoming traffic on the WinRM port (default is 5985).

Is WinRM QuickConfig secure?

WinRM QuickConfig uses the HTTPS protocol to encrypt communication between the
remote and local computers, making it secure for remote management.
What are the prerequisites for using WinRM QuickConfig on a
remote computer?
The prerequisites for using WinRM QuickConfig on a remote computer include having 
administrative privileges on both the local and remote computers and having network
connectivity between the computers.

How can I verify that WinRM is configured correctly on a remote

computer?

To verify that WinRM is configured correctly on a remote computer, you can use the “WinRM
Id” command to retrieve information about the remote computer and the WinRM
configuration. If the command returns information about the remote computer and the
WinRM configuration, it means that WinRM is configured correctly.
Related Articles:

What Is WinRM? Windows Remote Management command-line Utility

([Link]

 Share  Tweet  

Marc Wilson  ([Link]

See Full Bio & All Articles from this Author. ([Link]
 

([Link]
e-banner-300x250)

Search … 

WHITE PAPERS

Network Management Software Buyers Guide White Paper

Having trouble choosing the right NMS for your network? Grab this White
paper and evaluate your options along with specific needs for your
environment.

([Link]
Use Deep Packet Analysis for Monitoring Client/Server
Connections
Learn how to use Deep packet analysis to discovery and monitor the
way people access your servers and interfaces on a granular level.


([Link]

Network & Internet SLOW? Diagnose your Bandwidth

Usage Today!
Learn how to diagnose issues with slow internet connectivity, high
bandwidth usage and more with this Free Whitepaper.

([Link]
718927341208374-ttle-img)

Latest Tips & Tricks for using Netflow!

Check out these Simple ways to use Netflow in your network and get the
most of our your switches and routers when collecting and analyzing
data.

([Link]
 

([Link]
e-banner-300x250)

([Link]

Copyright [Link] © 2023. All Rights Reserved Contact Us (contact) Privacy Policy (privacy)

Advertise (advertise) Terms of Use (terms-of-use) Disclaimer (disclaimer-and-disclosure)

(HTTP://WWW.
[Link]
/)
INFO & FRIENDS

About [Link] (/about)

Sign-Up for our Newsletters

LATEST SOFTWARE

Reviews (/reviews) Network Topology ([Link]

mapping-software)
Guides (/guides)
Network Management
Software (/software) ([Link]
Tutorials (/tutorials) software)
Application Monitoring
([Link]
software)

Copyright [Link] © 2023. All Rights Reserved