PowerShell on Linux
When working in a heterogeneous envrionment with different types of OS (Windows, Linux etc.), you probably want to manage systems from a central place. People usually have a RDP session of Windows, then using a multi connection manager like mRemoteNG to connect those systems.
To automate your tasks with scripts, you want them fired from one place as well, either from a Linux box or from a Windows box. PowerShell on Linux from Microsoft provides the possibility to run PowerShell script from a Linux server.
To install PowerShell on your Linux system, follow the link below to install it for your distribution:
Below is the example which I installed PowerShell 7.2 on my Oracle Linux 8. I still used the command yum which is just a symbolic link of dnf on OL8. First intall the powershell repository with curl. Then install powershell itself.
curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/8/prod.repo |tee /etc/yum.repos.d/microsoft.repo yum clean all yum repolist yum repoinfo yum install powershellroot@joeol8test:~# curl https://packages.microsoft.com/config/rhel/8/prod.repo |tee /etc/yum.repos.d/microsoft.repo % Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed 100 192 100 192 0 0 888 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 888 [packages-microsoft-com-prod] name=packages-microsoft-com-prod baseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/rhel/8/prod/ enabled=1 gpgcheck=1 gpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc root@joeol8test:~# cat /etc/yum.repos.d/microsoft.repo [packages-microsoft-com-prod] name=packages-microsoft-com-prod baseurl=https://packages.microsoft.com/rhel/8/prod/ enabled=1 gpgcheck=1 gpgkey=https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc yum clean all yum repolist yum repoinfo root@joeol8test:/etc/yum.repos.d# yum install powershell Last metadata expiration check: 0:01:11 ago on Fri 20 May 2022 08:45:10 AM CDT. Dependencies resolved. =================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Package Architecture Version Repository Size =================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Installing: powershell x86_64 7.2.4-1.rh packages-microsoft-com-prod 66 M Transaction Summary =================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Install 1 Package Total download size: 66 M Installed size: 183 M Is this ok [y/N]: y Downloading Packages: powershell-7.2.4-1.rh.x86_64.rpm 16 MB/s | 66 MB 00:04 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 16 MB/s | 66 MB 00:04 packages-microsoft-com-prod 5.0 kB/s | 983 B 00:00 Importing GPG key 0xBE1229CF: Userid : "Microsoft (Release signing) " Fingerprint: BC52 8686 B50D 79E3 39D3 721C EB3E 94AD BE12 29CF From : https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc Is this ok [y/N]: y Key imported successfully Running transaction check Transaction check succeeded. Running transaction test Transaction test succeeded. Running transaction Preparing : 1/1 Installing : powershell-7.2.4-1.rh.x86_64 1/1 Running scriptlet: powershell-7.2.4-1.rh.x86_64 1/1 Verifying : powershell-7.2.4-1.rh.x86_64 1/1 Installed: powershell-7.2.4-1.rh.x86_64 Complete!
Once installed, you can use the command “pwsh” to enter the interactive mode. However to manage a remote Windows server, usually you still need to do a few extra things:
- install WSMan module or you will see the error like “Invoke-Command: This parameter set requires WSMan, and no supported WSMan client library was found. WSMan is either not installed or unavailable for this system.“
- install the gssntlmssp package which enables GSSAPI (Generic Security Services API) NTLMSSP (NT LAN Manager Security Support Provider for Microsoft Windows) — NTLM authentication or you will see the error like “Connecting to remote server xxxxx failed with the following error message : acquiring creds with username only failed Unspecified GSS failure. Minor code may provide more information SPNEGO cannot find mechanisms to negotiate For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.“
Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet Install-Module -Name PSWSMan Install-WSManroot@joeol8test:~# pwsh PowerShell 7.2.4 Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. https://aka.ms/powershell Type 'help' to get help. PS /root> Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet Untrusted repository You are installing the modules from an untrusted repository. If you trust this repository, change its InstallationPolicy value by running the Set-PSRepository cmdlet. Are you sure you want to install the modules from 'PSGallery'? [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "N"): A PS /root> Install-Module -Name PSWSMan Untrusted repository You are installing the modules from an untrusted repository. If you trust this repository, change its InstallationPolicy value by running the Set-PSRepository cmdlet. Are you sure you want to install the modules from 'PSGallery'? [Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "N"): A PS /root> Install-WSMan WARNING: WSMan libs have been installed, please restart your PowerShell session to enable it in PowerShell PS /root> exit
Note, to get WSMan working, you will need to run pwsh with sudo.
To install the gssntlmssp package, first install the epel repository.
yum install -y epel-release yum install gssntlmssproot@joeol8test:~# yum search gssntlmssp Last metadata expiration check: 0:34:21 ago on Fri 20 May 2022 09:51:16 AM CDT. ======================================================================================== Name Exactly Matched: gssntlmssp ========================================================================================= gssntlmssp.src : GSSAPI NTLMSSP Mechanism gssntlmssp.x86_64 : GSSAPI NTLMSSP Mechanism root@joeol8test:~# yum install gssntlmssp Last metadata expiration check: 0:34:32 ago on Fri 20 May 2022 09:51:16 AM CDT. Dependencies resolved. =================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Package Architecture Version Repository Size =================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Installing: gssntlmssp x86_64 0.7.0-6.el8 ol8_appstream 65 k Transaction Summary =================================================================================================================================================================================================================== Install 1 Package Total download size: 65 k Installed size: 130 k Is this ok [y/N]: y Downloading Packages: gssntlmssp-0.7.0-6.el8.x86_64.rpm 189 kB/s | 65 kB 00:00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 187 kB/s | 65 kB 00:00 Running transaction check Transaction check succeeded. Running transaction test Transaction test succeeded. Running transaction Preparing : 1/1 Installing : gssntlmssp-0.7.0-6.el8.x86_64 1/1 Running scriptlet: gssntlmssp-0.7.0-6.el8.x86_64 1/1 Verifying : gssntlmssp-0.7.0-6.el8.x86_64 1/1 Installed: gssntlmssp-0.7.0-6.el8.x86_64 Complete!
Now you can test your script, for example,
root@joeol8test:~# cat b.ps1 $User = "DOMAIN\user1" $PWord = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "passwd1" -AsPlainText -Force $Credential = New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $User, $PWord invoke-command -ComputerName joewindows -Credential $Credential |sort-object status,PSComputerName|Format-table -AutoSize root@joeol8test:~# pwsh b.ps1 Status Name DisplayName PSComputerName ------ ---- ----------- -------------- Running W32Time Windows Time joewindows
Have fun with PowerShell scripting on your favorite Linux box!