Ansible executes commands through WinRM. These processes are different from
running a command locally in these ways:
* Unless using an authentication option like CredSSP or Kerberos with
credential delegation, the WinRM process does not have the ability to
delegate the user's credentials to a network resource, causing ``Access is
Denied`` errors.
* All processes run under WinRM are in a non-interactive session. Applications
that require an interactive session will not work.
* When running through WinRM, Windows restricts access to internal Windows
APIs like the Windows Update API and DPAPI, which some installers and
programs rely on.
Some ways to bypass these restrictions are to:
* Use ``become``, which runs a command as it would when run locally. This will
bypass most WinRM restrictions, as Windows is unaware the process is running
under WinRM when ``become`` is used. See the :doc:`become` documentation for more
information.
* Use a scheduled task, which can be created with ``win_scheduled_task``. Like
``become``, it will bypass all WinRM restrictions, but it can only be used to run
commands, not modules.
* Use ``win_psexec`` to run a command on the host. PSExec does not use WinRM
and so will bypass any of the restrictions.
* To access network resources without any of these workarounds, an
authentication option that supports credential delegation can be used. Both
CredSSP and Kerberos with credential delegation enabled can support this.
See :doc:`become` more info on how to use become. The limitations section at
:doc:`windows_winrm` has more details around WinRM limitations.
This program won't install with Ansible
```````````````````````````````````````
See `the question <http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/windows_faq.html#i-can-run-this-command-locally-but-it-does-not-work-under-ansible>`_ for more information about WinRM limitations.
What modules are available?
```````````````````````````
Most of the Ansible modules in Ansible Core are written for a combination of
Linux/Unix machines and arbitrary web services. These modules are written in
Python and most of them do not work on Windows.
Because of this, there are dedicated Windows modules that are written in
PowerShell and are meant to be run on Windows hosts. A list of this modules
can be found `here <http://docs.ansible.com/list_of_windows_modules.html>`_.
In addition, the following Ansible Core modules/action-plugins work with Windows:
* add_host
* assert
* async_status
* debug
* fail
* fetch
* group_by
* include
* include_role
* include_vars
* meta
* pause
* raw
* script
* set_fact
* set_stats
* setup
* slurp
* template (also: win_tempate)
* wait_for_connection
Can I run Python modules?
`````````````````````````
No, the WinRM connection protocol is set to use PowerShell modules, so Python
modules will not work. A way to bypass this issue to use
``delegate_to: localhost`` to run a Python module on the Ansible controller.
This is useful if during a playbook, an external service needs to be contacted
and there is no equivalent Windows module available.
Can I connect over SSH?
```````````````````````
Microsoft has announced and is developing a fork of OpenSSH for Windows that
allows remote manage of Windows servers through the SSH protocol instead of
WinRM. While this can be installed and used right now for normal SSH clients,
it is still in beta from Microsoft and the required functionality has not been
developed within Ansible yet.
There are future plans on adding this feature and this page will be updated
once more information can be shared.
Why is connecting to the host via ssh failing?
``````````````````````````````````````````````
When trying to connect to a Windows host and the output error indicates that
SSH was used, then this is an indication that the connection vars are not set
properly or the host is not inheriting them correctly.
Make sure ``ansible_connection: winrm`` is set in the inventory for the Windows
host.
Why are my credentials are being rejected?
``````````````````````````````````````````
This can be due to a myriad of reasons unrelated to incorrect credentials.
See HTTP 401/Credentials Rejected at :doc:`windows_setup` for a more detailed
guide of this could mean.
Why am I getting an error SSL CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED?
