PSRemoting - PSSessionConfiguration - Using PSSnapin in ModulesToImport

PowerShell Help
1

I have been playing with creating my own PSSessionConfiguration in PS V3 on 2008 R2 Enterprise SP1. For the most part I’ve been able to successfully get most aspects working, but I am puzzled when it comes to using a PSSnapin in the ModulesToImport. Standard modules work fine.

According to get-help the -ModulesToImport parameter is String with a default value of Microsoft.PowerShell.Core, and “Specifies the modules and snap-ins that are automatically imported into sessions that use the session configuration.”

I can include a PSSnapin name in the ModulesToImport parameter of New-PSSessionConfigurationFile & I can then do the Register-PSSessionConfiguration using that file. The PSSessionConfiguration looks like this:

PS C:\> Get-PSSessionConfiguration TestSnapinEndPoint | FL *

Copyright                     : (c) 2014 Don Hunt. All rights reserved.
Description                   : Trying to find syntax of PSSnapin in ModulesToImport
CompanyName                   : Unknown
GUID                          : 4054684b-38ee-4353-ae69-dee49c1dbf7f
Author                        : Don Hunt
ModulesToImport               : {WDeploySnapin3.0, BitsTransfer}
SessionType                   : Default
ExecutionPolicy               : RemoteSigned
SchemaVersion                 : 1.0.0.0
LanguageMode                  : FullLanguage
Architecture                  : 64
Filename                      : %windir%\system32\pwrshplugin.dll
ResourceUri                   : http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/TestSnapinEndPoint
MaxProcessesPerShell          : 15
MaxConcurrentCommandsPerShell : 1000
Capability                    : {Shell}
xmlns                         : http://schemas.microsoft.com/wbem/wsman/1/config/PluginConfiguration
MaxConcurrentUsers            : 5
pssessionthreadapartmentstate : STA
Name                          : TestSnapinEndPoint
SupportsOptions               : true
pssessionthreadoptions        : ReuseThread
ExactMatch                    : true
ConfigFilePath                : C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\SessionConfig\TestSnapinEndPoint_4054684b-38
                                ee-4353-ae69-dee49c1dbf7f.pssc
RunAsUser                     :
IdleTimeoutms                 : 7200000
OutputBufferingMode           : Block
PSVersion                     : 3.0
SecurityDescriptorSddl        : O:NSG:BAD:P(D;;GA;;;NU)(A;;GA;;;BA)S:P(AU;FA;GA;;;WD)(AU;SA;GXGW;;;WD)
MaxShellsPerUser              : 25
AutoRestart                   : false
MaxShells                     : 25
MaxIdleTimeoutms              : 43200000
Uri                           : http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/TestSnapinEndPoint
SDKVersion                    : 2
XmlRenderingType              : text
RunAsPassword                 :
ProcessIdleTimeoutSec         : 0
ParentResourceUri             : http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/TestSnapinEndPoint
Enabled                       : True
UseSharedProcess              : false
MaxMemoryPerShellMB           : 1024
lang                          : en-US
Permission                    : NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK AccessDenied, BUILTIN\Administrators AccessAllowed

However, I get a runtime error when I try to use this configuration.

PS C:> $pssnap = New-PSSession -EnableNetworkAccess -ConfigurationName TestSnapinEndPoint
New-PSSession : One or more errors occurred processing the module ‘WDeploySnapin3.0’ specified in the
InitialSessionState object used to create this runspace. See the ErrorRecords property for a complete list of errors.
The first error was: The specified module ‘WDeploySnapin3.0’ was not loaded because no valid module file was found in
any module directory.
At line:1 char:11

  • $pssnap = New-PSSession -EnableNetworkAccess -ConfigurationName TestSnapinEndPoi …
  •       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    • CategoryInfo : OpenError: (System.Manageme…RemoteRunspace:RemoteRunspace) [New-PSSession], RemoteExc
      eption
    • FullyQualifiedErrorId : PSSessionOpenFailed

I have been able to work around this by specifying a ScriptsToProcess entry, which just did an Add-PSSnapin of the needed snap in.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Don

2

Are you sure the snapin is appropriately installed on the machine to which you’re remoting?

The first error was: The specified module 'WDeploySnapin3.0' was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any module directory.
3

As mentioned in my original post:[br]

[blockquote]I have been able to work around this by specifying a ScriptsToProcess entry, which just did an Add-PSSnapin of the needed snap in.[/blockquote]

So, if an 

Add-PSSnapin WDeploySnapin3.0
is run on this machine it works fine.[br]

The error messages output are consistent with doing an Import-Module rather than an Add-PSSnapin to make this resource available for use.

Don

4

Right, I didn’t notice the last line you put there.

I get that the documentation says

By default, only the Microsoft.PowerShell.Core snap-in is imported into remote sessions, but unless the cmdlets
are excluded, users can use the Import-Module and Add-PSSnapin cmdlets to add modules and snap-ins to the session.

Each module or snap-in in the value of this parameter can be represented by a string or as a hash table. A module
string consists only of the name of the module or snap-in. A module hash table can include ModuleName,
ModuleVersion, and GUID keys. Only the ModuleName key is required.

but with that said, nothing seems to imply while running these commands, that it actually treats ModulesToImport like anything other than modules, and trying to register WDeploySnapin3.0 as a module will fail.

Perhaps you ought to create an entry on connect and tell Microsoft about it, so they either fix the cmdlet to work as documented, or fix the documentation to prevent misunderstandings.

5

On the other hand, if you create a module of your own

$snapin = Get-PSSnapin -Registered WDeploySnapin3.0
Import-Module (Join-Path $snapin.ApplicationBase $snapin.ModuleName) -Verbose
Export-ModuleMember -Cmdlet *

Put it in C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\TestModule (or name it something else) and then

Register-PSSessionConfiguration -Name T -ModulesToImport 'C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\TestModule'

That at least does seem to work.

6

Martin,

Thanks for taking the time to investigate this scenario. [br]
I think I’ll follow up as you suggested with a Connect entry to tell Microsoft about this.[br]

As I was looking at the current set of PSSnapins on my server, it appeared that only one, WDeploySnapin3.0 could be handled by the technique of

$snapin = Get-PSSnapin -Registered WDeploySnapin3.0
Import-Module (Join-Path $snapin.ApplicationBase $snapin.ModuleName) -Verbose

So, as a somewhat generic work around, given a list of PSnapin resources needed I can dynamically create a script which will do an Add-PSSnapin for each one. [br]
This is not too much additional work on my part, but I was expecting a cleaner solution out of the box.[br]

Thanks again,

Don

7

Please link your entry at connect.microsoft.com as I would like to vote for it. I have dealt with this for months and haven’t been able to get a PowerShell EndPoint/Session Configuration to load a PSSnapin (SharePoint, in my case). I did the same thing, used ScriptsToProcess and a .ps1 file that runs the Add-PSSnapin cmdlet. At one point I added the PSSnapin’s ApplicationBase to $env:PSModulePath - still no luck.

8

Tommy,

Here is a link to the newly created entry at connect.microsoft.com

[url]https://connect.microsoft.com/PowerShell/feedbackdetail/view/945497/pssnapins-listed-in-modulestoimport-parameter-of-new-pssessionconfigurationfile-and-subsequent-register-pssessionconfiguration-cause-runtime-errors-upon-use-of-endpoint[/url]

9

Thanks, Don. I’ve voted and commented.