Getting Powershell commands, functions, modules, etc without installing anything.

Dave:    Hey Buddy, you should look at this cool script that I found.

Buddy:  Really, what does it do?

Dave:    It’s so cool. It will connect to any SQL server and report back information about each database that is hosted on it.

Buddy:  That’s cool. Did you tell the SQL admin about it?

Dave:    Yup, he said it was easier than the expensive product we just spent 50k on. Plus he didn’t need to do anything extra.

Buddy:  I just tried it but it keeps giving me errors.

Dave:    Well do you have SQL installed on your workstation? Greg and I do.

Buddy:  No, where can I install it from? Do I need a license? How much space does it need?

Dave:    Here try running Import-RemoteCommands.ps1 –Computername someSQLservername instead then try it again.

Buddy:  Awesome it works now, what did that do?

Dave:   The Import-RemoteCommands.ps1 script temporarily imports all commands, functions, modules, etc. from a remote computer to your local session so you can run almost any PowerShell script without having to install things locally to a system.

Buddy:  But what if I want to run something like that on a server? Will I need to submit a change so the boss doesn’t have an aneurism?

Dave:    You shouldn’t because as soon as you close the PowerShell window all those commands go away! You can even use it for a list of computers, so if you want SQL plugins, the AD module and the SCOM module, just list all those server names separated by a coma.

Buddy:  I just opened a new console window but Import-RemoteCommands is giving me an error now.

Dave:    For it to work you need two things, 1. PowerShell remoting needs to be enabled on the computers you list. 2. You need local admin or PowerShell remoting access on those computers.

 OK, so this didn't happen quite the way I portrayed it but it's pretty close.