Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, Fourth Edition

13 Remote control: One-to-one and one-to-many

Let’s take a look at the Invoke-ScriptBlock command. Notice that it has a -ComputerName parameter. Hmmm . . . does that mean it can run commands on other hosts too? After a bit of experimenting, you’ll discover that’s exactly what it does. How many other commands have the ability to connect to remote machines? While there is not a way to obtain a concrete number to answer this question, there are quite a lot.

What we’ve realized is that PowerShell’s creators are a bit lazy—and that’s a good thing. Because they didn’t want to have to code a -HostName parameter for every single cmdlet, they created a shell-wide system called remoting. This system enables you to run any cmdlet on a remote computer. In ...