It is possible to develop PowerShell scripts remotely. In other words, the script is stored and executed on a remote computer, but the input comes from the local editor tool. This works with both the classic Windows PowerShell ISE and with Visual Studio Code. In VS Code, you can work with remote Windows PowerShell as well as remote PowerShell 7 systems.

🎬 I have also created a video on this topic.

Windows PowerShell ISE

The Windows PowerShell ISE only supports remote Windows systems with Windows PowerShell. To develop a script remotely, you can start a session via the menu “File” -> “New Remote PowerShell Tab”.

Start a new remote PowerShell tab in the PowerShell ISE

In the dialog “New Remote PowerShell Tab”, you can then enter the hostname of the remote computer and optionally a different username. If the user you are currently logged in as locally already has rights for the remote computer, you do not need to enter them here again.

Entering the remote computer name in the dialog for a new remote PowerShell tab in the PowerShell ISE

A new tab opens. The square brackets in the prompt indicate that it is a remote system.

PowerShell ISE connected to Server1

To create a new script file on the remote computer, you can use the New-Item cmdlet. To edit a script that is located on the remote computer, you can use the psedit command.

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# Create script file
New-Item RemoteExample.ps1

# Edit script
psedit .\RemoteExample.ps1

Creating and editing a remote script in the PowerShell ISE

A tab for your “remote file” then opens inside the remote tab. If you move the mouse pointer over the title of the remote file tab, a local path appears where the script is cached. If you save the script, the changes are automatically transferred to the remote system.

The remote script in the PowerShell ISE has a local path

Now you can basically develop a script normally in the Windows PowerShell ISE. You can run individual lines or the whole script. The commands are executed on the remote system, as shown in the screenshot below. The content of the variable $ENV:COMPUTERNAME is output, showing that the script is running on host Server1.

Developing a remote script in the PowerShell ISE

Debugging is also possible. In the following screenshot, for example, I set a breakpoint with the F9 key and ran the script in debugging mode with F5.

Debugging a remote script in the PowerShell ISE

When you are done, you can simply close the remote tab.

Closing the remote tab in the PowerShell ISE

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code also supports remote PowerShell development. And here, PowerShell 7 is even possible, while Windows PowerShell still works. The important thing is that you have installed the PowerShell extension. And the extension console must also be running. If you are not already editing a PowerShell script locally, the extension console may not be running yet. To start it, you can open the Command Palette with the key combination “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “P”. There you can search for “PowerShell: Restart Session” and run it.

Visual Studio Code PowerShell extension restart

To connect to a Windows PowerShell system, you can simply run Enter-PSSession <Hostname> in the extension console. For example:

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Enter-PSSession Server1

Visual Studio Code connecting to a remote Windows PowerShell system

If you want to connect to a PowerShell 7 system, you need to provide the -Hostname parameter. Otherwise, the omitted parameter name is interpreted as -ComputerName, which is only suitable for Windows PowerShell systems. In both cases, you can use -Username to specify a different username if your remote system requires it.

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Enter-PSSession -Hostname DC2 -Username administrator

Visual Studio Code connecting to a PowerShell 7 system

Creating and editing scripts is basically the same as in the Windows PowerShell ISE: new script files can be created with New-Item, and editing a script works with psedit. Then you can also run the current line or selection with F8, or the whole script with F5.

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# Create script file
New-Item RemoteExample.ps1

# Edit script
psedit .\RemoteExample.ps1

In theory, remote debugging should also work, but when I tested it in March 2024, it did not work. That seems to be a known issue, and it should work again soon.

When you are done, you can end a remote session with Exit-PSSession.