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Guardian Classic

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Add a WinRM node#

Add a node for agentless scanning over Windows Remote Management. Guardian supports multiple node types that can be added using Windows Remote Management (WinRM). For example, you can add Windows Server 2025 nodes, Windows 2022 nodes, Windows 2019 nodes, and more.

Applies to: Guardian Classic

Add a WinRM node#

Adding a WinRM node to your Guardian instance lets you monitor and track the configuration of a Windows system.

Warning

The following process assumes that you already have a Windows Connection Manager configured within your Guardian instance. For more information, see Windows Connection Manager.

To add a WinRM node for Agentless scanning, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Guardian web application, navigate to the Add Nodes tab (Inventory > Add Nodes). The Add Nodes page is displayed.

    Add nodes tab

  2. Type the Windows operating system (OS) the node is running on in the search bar.

  3. Select the node type you want to add and click the Go Agentless button to proceed. The Connect Agentlessly to [Node Type] page is displayed.

    Go agentless windows

  4. Here, complete the following options:

    Connect agentlessy to windows

Connection Method drop-down list

The connection protocol to be used. This is automatically set to 'WinRM' for this node type.

Note

This option is only displayed if the SSH feature is enabled. If not, 'WinRM' is set by default.

Connection Manager group drop-down list
The Connection Manager group that is responsible for scanning your WinRM node. Select a Connection Manager group from the drop-down list.
Node Name field
The name of the node. The value you enter here will be used as the display name in Guardian.
Hostname / IP Address field

The hostname or IP address of your node.

Note

Typically, this is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN). However, it could also be the IP address.

PowerShell script path field

The directory path to the PowerShell script that will be executed. For example, C:\path\to\script.ps1.

Warning

This option is only available if you select to add a 'Script path (Windows)' node.

WinRM Port field
The default port for WinRM. Enter 5985 for HTTP-based connections, or 5986 for HTTPS/cert-based connections. If you are using non-standard ports for WinRM, enter them here.
Guardian Credentials Vault radio button

Option to use credentials stored in the Guardian vault. Select this option to display the Credentials drop-down list, then choose the credentials you want to use. Additionally, you can select 'Add New Credential' to display the Create Credential dialog if you anticipate using these same credentials for other nodes or integrations. For more information, see Create Credential.

Note

The Credentials tab was introduced in V4.3.46.0 of Guardian. For more information, see July 2024 Quarterly Release.

Warning

This option is only displayed if you have the Credentials feature enabled. If you don't, the Username and Password fields are displayed instead, as described below.

Secret Server radio button

Option to use credentials stored in Secret Server. Select this option to display the Secret Server Items drop-down list, then choose the credentials you want to use. The credentials displayed are defined by the Secret Server integration. For more information, see Secret Server Integration.

Note

The Secret Server feature was introduced in V4.3.54.0 of Guardian. For more information, see April 2025 Quarterly Release.

Warning

This option is only displayed if you have the Secret Server feature enabled. If you don't, the Username and Password fields are displayed instead, as described below.

Username and Password field

The username and password of the user account configured to use WinRM.

Note

This option is only displayed if the Credentials feature is not enabled.

CredSSP checkbox
Select to enable an encrypted Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol when authenticating the username and password of the service account. If selected, the authentication process is encrypted during transmission ensuring that login credentials are protected from being intercepted or compromised by unauthorised parties.
  1. Once you've completed the above options click Scan Node to add the WinRM node to your Guardian instance.

Now, Guardian performs an initial scan of the node. You can wait on this page for the scan to finish, at which point you will see a View Scan button. To view the results of this initial scan, click View Scan. However, you can also navigate elsewhere while Guardian performs its initial scan of the node. You can then view the status of the scan on the Job History page (Inventory > Job History). For more information on what to do next after adding a node, see below.

Where next#