Windows Remote Management (WinRM) Node

Once a Connection Manager has been set up, you can add nodes for Agentless scanning and monitoring. Cloudhouse Guardian (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. The following topic describes how to add nodes via WinRM to your instance for monitoring.

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.

  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.

  4. Here, complete the following options:

    Option

    Description
    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.
    Credentials drop-down list

    Option to use a stored credential. Select an option from the drop-down list. 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: 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.
    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 unauthorized parties.

  5. 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.

Next Steps

Once you've added nodes to Guardian, there are a few next steps you can take to get the most out of Guardian and the data it collects. Refer to the topics below for more information on where to go from here.

  • Node Scan Results – View and filter the data collected by Guardian every time a node is scanned.

  • Node Groups – Group nodes together based on similar properties like node type, location, and more.

  • Scan Options – Customize what is scanned on a given node during a node scan.

  • Configuration Differencing – View differences between two nodes, a group of nodes, two scans of the same node, and more.

  • Policies – Define expected configuration states and apply them to nodes or node groups.

  • Integrations – Bring together different systems, applications, or components to work as a unified view and perform different tasks.