How to add servers to the Trusted Hosts list

In this article, I will show you how to add servers to the Trusted Hosts list via PowerShell and command Prompt for the WinRM client. Please see how to enable and Configure WinRM to accept connection from a specific IP Address. The WSMan provider for PowerShell lets you add, change, clear, and delete WS-Management configuration data on local or remote computers. Please, see Configure Windows Admin Center on Windows Server 2019, and Why Software KVMs such as Synergy is replacing Hardware KVMs.

The WSMan provider exposes a PowerShell drive with a directory structure that corresponds to a logical grouping of WS-Management configuration settings.

For more on WSMan, see the following link. Windows by default have an empty TrustedHosts list, a list that contains those remote computers (hosts) that you can remotely manage from a client without authentication.

Note: In Windows environments using Windows Remote Management (WinRM) can help discover servers using the WinRM protocol. To run PowerShell commands on a device from a remote computer, we have to add the remote machine to the trusted hosts’ list of the host machine.

Remotely manage a list of computers

When you want to remotely manage a list of computers through WinRM (Windows Remote Management), you have to add computers to the TrustedHosts list. Otherwise, you may most likely encounter errors when communicating between the two sides.

For Windows Admin Center Error: Failed to create a scheduled task, there is no disconnected command associated with the runspace. Also, see how to fix “Error: Failed to create a scheduled task, cannot perform the operation because the runspace pool is not in the open state“.

Add servers to the Trusted Hosts list via PowerShell

Using PowerShell, you can see what the current records are in the TrustedHosts file but also how to add new records depending on your scenario.

Ensure the computers (servers) are added to the TrustedHosts. Instead of adding an individual host, use the asterisk (a wild card) to add all subsequent hosts. Note, this is not recommended.

Below are the steps to add a server to the TrustedHosts for the WinRM client. For some troubleshooting tips, see the following link. For errors connecting to a remote server failed and WinRM cannot process the request,.

Set-Item WSMan:localhost\client\trustedhosts -value *

To view the result below, use the command as shown below

Get-Item WSMan:localhost\client\TrustedHosts

Please see How to view and remove Remote Desktop connection history, what are the Concepts of Ansible on Windows using Cygwin, and how to configure a remote server (windows) to Support Ansible.

Add individual servers to the TrustHost

Note: You can add individual servers to the TrustHost via the following methods below.

Set-Item WSMan:localhost\client\trustedhosts -value ServerDC 

In this way, you can add multiple servers to the TrustedHosts for WinRM, provide a single, comma-separated, string of computer names.

Set-Item WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts -Value 'ServerDC,AnsibleClient'

To make this command run in an unattended mode (silently) without prompting you to acknowledge the security configuration, add the -Force to the command as shown below.

Set-Item WSMan:localhost\client\trustedhosts -value ServerDC -Force

Please see how to fix WinRM cannot complete the operation, verify that the specified computer name is valid, and how to configure servers for remote access.

Read the trusted host list with PowerShell

To read the trusted host list with PowerShell, Please run the command below.

Get-Item WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts

To add all domain computers to the TrustedHosts list, use the command as follow, Set-Item WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts *.yourdomain.com

Set-Item WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts *.techdirect.local

Also, see Enabling and Configuring WinRM via GPO, how to delete User Profile in Windows, and There was an error opening the Trusted Platform Module snap-in: You do not have permission to open the Trusted Platform Module Console.

Add servers to the Trusted Hosts list Via the Command Prompt

Run the following command below

winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts="RemoteComputerName"}

I hope you found this blog post helpful. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment session.