How can I remotely run commands on a Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 box?

A. Vista and Server 2008 support the WS-Management and Windows Remote Shell. To enable connectivity to a machine, run the Winrm Quickconfig command. For example,

C:>winrm quickconfig
WinRM is not set up to allow remote access to this machine for management.
The following changes must be made:
Create a WinRM listener on HTTP://* to accept WS-Man requests to any IP on thismachine.
Enable the WinRM firewall exception.
Make these changes [y/n]?

When you choose “y,” the following will occur:

WinRM has been updated for remote management.
Created a WinRM listener on HTTP://* to accept WS-Man requests to any IP on this machine.
WinRM firewall exception enabled.

On the client, use the Winrs command with the -r switch to identify the remote system, then the remote command you want to run. For example,

winrs -r:savdaldc01 hostname 
savdaldc01
hostname
savdalwks10

Notice that my local hostname is savdalwk10, but when I run the same command to the remote savdaldc01, the hostname response is the correct remote name.