Discussion
Although PowerShell does not directly let you access and manipulate the registry of a remote computer, it still supports this by working with the .NET Framework. The functionality exposed by the .NET Framework is a bit more developeroriented than we want, so we can instead use a script to make it easier to work with.
Example 186 lets you list child items in a remote registry key, much like you do on the local computer. In order for this script to succeed, the target computer must have the remote registry service enabled and running.
Example 186. GetRemoteRegistryChildItem.ps1
############################################################################## ## ## GetRemoteRegistryChildItem.ps1 ## ## Get the list of subkeys below a given key. ## ## ie: ## ## PS >GetRemoteRegistryChildItem LEEDESK HKLM:\Software ## ##############################################################################
param( $computer = $(throw "Please specify a computer name."), $path = $(throw "Please specify a registry path") )
## Validate and extract out the registry key if($path match "^HKLM:\\(.*)") {
$baseKey = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenRemoteBaseKey(
"LocalMachine", $computer) } elseif($path match "^HKCU:\\(.*)") {
$baseKey = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenRemoteBaseKey
("CurrentUser", $computer) } else {
WriteError ("Please specify a fullyqualified registry path " + "(i.e.: HKLM:\Software) of the registry key to open.") return }
## Open the key $key = $baseKey.OpenSubKey($matches[1])
## Retrieve all of its children foreach($subkeyName in $key.GetSubKeyNames()) {
## Open the subkey $subkey = $key.OpenSubKey($subkeyName)
## Add information so that PowerShell displays this key like regular ## registry key $returnObject = [PsObject] $subKey
Example 186. GetRemoteRegistryChildItem.ps1 (continued)
$returnObject | AddMember NoteProperty PsChildName $subkeyName $returnObject | AddMember NoteProperty Property $subkey.GetValueNames()
## Output the key $returnObject
## Close the child key $subkey.Close() }
## Close the key and base keys $key.Close() $baseKey.Close()
