diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/docsite/rst/os_guide/windows_winrm.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/docsite/rst/os_guide/windows_winrm.rst | 1013 |
1 files changed, 1013 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/docsite/rst/os_guide/windows_winrm.rst b/docs/docsite/rst/os_guide/windows_winrm.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..242cd1f --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/docsite/rst/os_guide/windows_winrm.rst @@ -0,0 +1,1013 @@ +.. _windows_winrm: + +Windows Remote Management +========================= +Unlike Linux/Unix hosts, which use SSH by default, Windows hosts are +configured with WinRM. This topic covers how to configure and use WinRM with Ansible. + +.. contents:: + :local: + :depth: 2 + + +What is WinRM? +---------------- + +WinRM is a management protocol used by Windows to remotely communicate with +another server. It is a SOAP-based protocol that communicates over HTTP/HTTPS, and is +included in all recent Windows operating systems. Since Windows +Server 2012, WinRM has been enabled by default, but in most cases extra +configuration is required to use WinRM with Ansible. + +Ansible uses the `pywinrm <https://github.com/diyan/pywinrm>`_ package to +communicate with Windows servers over WinRM. It is not installed by default +with the Ansible package, but can be installed by running the following: + +.. code-block:: shell + + pip install "pywinrm>=0.3.0" + +.. Note:: on distributions with multiple python versions, use pip2 or pip2.x, + where x matches the python minor version Ansible is running under. + +.. Warning:: + Using the ``winrm`` or ``psrp`` connection plugins in Ansible on MacOS in + the latest releases typically fail. This is a known problem that occurs + deep within the Python stack and cannot be changed by Ansible. The only + workaround today is to set the environment variable ``no_proxy=*`` and + avoid using Kerberos auth. + + +.. _winrm_auth: + +WinRM authentication options +----------------------------- + +When connecting to a Windows host, there are several different options that can be used +when authenticating with an account. The authentication type may be set on inventory +hosts or groups with the ``ansible_winrm_transport`` variable. + +The following matrix is a high level overview of the options: + ++-------------+----------------+---------------------------+-----------------------+-----------------+ +| Option | Local Accounts | Active Directory Accounts | Credential Delegation | HTTP Encryption | ++=============+================+===========================+=======================+=================+ +| Basic | Yes | No | No | No | ++-------------+----------------+---------------------------+-----------------------+-----------------+ +| Certificate | Yes | No | No | No | ++-------------+----------------+---------------------------+-----------------------+-----------------+ +| Kerberos | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ++-------------+----------------+---------------------------+-----------------------+-----------------+ +| NTLM | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ++-------------+----------------+---------------------------+-----------------------+-----------------+ +| CredSSP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ++-------------+----------------+---------------------------+-----------------------+-----------------+ + +.. _winrm_basic: + +Basic +^^^^^^ + +Basic authentication is one of the simplest authentication options to use, but is +also the most insecure. This is because the username and password are simply +base64 encoded, and if a secure channel is not in use (eg, HTTPS) then it can be +decoded by anyone. Basic authentication can only be used for local accounts (not domain accounts). + +The following example shows host vars configured for basic authentication: + +.. code-block:: yaml+jinja + + ansible_user: LocalUsername + ansible_password: Password + ansible_connection: winrm + ansible_winrm_transport: basic + +Basic authentication is not enabled by default on a Windows host but can be +enabled by running the following in PowerShell: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Service\Auth\Basic -Value $true + + +.. _winrm_certificate: + +Certificate +^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +Certificate authentication uses certificates as keys similar to SSH key +pairs, but the file format and key generation process is different. + +The following example shows host vars configured for certificate authentication: + +.. code-block:: yaml+jinja + + ansible_connection: winrm + ansible_winrm_cert_pem: /path/to/certificate/public/key.pem + ansible_winrm_cert_key_pem: /path/to/certificate/private/key.pem + ansible_winrm_transport: certificate + +Certificate authentication is not enabled by default on a Windows host but can +be enabled by running the following in PowerShell: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Service\Auth\Certificate -Value $true + +.. Note:: Encrypted private keys cannot be used as the urllib3 library that + is used by Ansible for WinRM does not support this functionality. + +.. Note:: Certificate authentication does not work with a TLS 1.3 connection. + +.._winrm_certificate_generate: + +Generate a Certificate +++++++++++++++++++++++ + +A certificate must be generated before it can be mapped to a local user. +This can be done using one of the following methods: + +* OpenSSL +* PowerShell, using the ``New-SelfSignedCertificate`` cmdlet +* Active Directory Certificate Services + +Active Directory Certificate Services is beyond of scope in this documentation but may be +the best option to use when running in a domain environment. For more information, +see the `Active Directory Certificate Services documentation <https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-R2-and-2008/cc732625(v=ws.11)>`_. + +.. Note:: Using the PowerShell cmdlet ``New-SelfSignedCertificate`` to generate + a certificate for authentication only works when being generated from a + Windows 10 or Windows Server 2012 R2 host or later. OpenSSL is still required to + extract the private key from the PFX certificate to a PEM file for Ansible + to use. + +To generate a certificate with ``OpenSSL``: + +.. code-block:: shell + + # Set the name of the local user that will have the key mapped to + USERNAME="username" + + cat > openssl.conf << EOL + distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name + [req_distinguished_name] + [v3_req_client] + extendedKeyUsage = clientAuth + subjectAltName = otherName:1.3.6.1.4.1.311.20.2.3;UTF8:$USERNAME@localhost + EOL + + export OPENSSL_CONF=openssl.conf + openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 3650 -newkey rsa:2048 -out cert.pem -outform PEM -keyout cert_key.pem -subj "/CN=$USERNAME" -extensions v3_req_client + rm openssl.conf + + +To generate a certificate with ``New-SelfSignedCertificate``: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + # Set the name of the local user that will have the key mapped + $username = "username" + $output_path = "C:\temp" + + # Instead of generating a file, the cert will be added to the personal + # LocalComputer folder in the certificate store + $cert = New-SelfSignedCertificate -Type Custom ` + -Subject "CN=$username" ` + -TextExtension @("2.5.29.37={text}1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.2","2.5.29.17={text}upn=$username@localhost") ` + -KeyUsage DigitalSignature,KeyEncipherment ` + -KeyAlgorithm RSA ` + -KeyLength 2048 + + # Export the public key + $pem_output = @() + $pem_output += "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----" + $pem_output += [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($cert.RawData) -replace ".{64}", "$&`n" + $pem_output += "-----END CERTIFICATE-----" + [System.IO.File]::WriteAllLines("$output_path\cert.pem", $pem_output) + + # Export the private key in a PFX file + [System.IO.File]::WriteAllBytes("$output_path\cert.pfx", $cert.Export("Pfx")) + + +.. Note:: To convert the PFX file to a private key that pywinrm can use, run + the following command with OpenSSL + ``openssl pkcs12 -in cert.pfx -nocerts -nodes -out cert_key.pem -passin pass: -passout pass:`` + +.. _winrm_certificate_import: + +Import a Certificate to the Certificate Store ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +Once a certificate has been generated, the issuing certificate needs to be +imported into the ``Trusted Root Certificate Authorities`` of the +``LocalMachine`` store, and the client certificate public key must be present +in the ``Trusted People`` folder of the ``LocalMachine`` store. For this example, +both the issuing certificate and public key are the same. + +Following example shows how to import the issuing certificate: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + $cert = New-Object -TypeName System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate2 "cert.pem" + + $store_name = [System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.StoreName]::Root + $store_location = [System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.StoreLocation]::LocalMachine + $store = New-Object -TypeName System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Store -ArgumentList $store_name, $store_location + $store.Open("MaxAllowed") + $store.Add($cert) + $store.Close() + + +.. Note:: If using ADCS to generate the certificate, then the issuing + certificate will already be imported and this step can be skipped. + +The code to import the client certificate public key is: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + $cert = New-Object -TypeName System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate2 "cert.pem" + + $store_name = [System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.StoreName]::TrustedPeople + $store_location = [System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.StoreLocation]::LocalMachine + $store = New-Object -TypeName System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Store -ArgumentList $store_name, $store_location + $store.Open("MaxAllowed") + $store.Add($cert) + $store.Close() + + +.. _winrm_certificate_mapping: + +Mapping a Certificate to an Account ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +Once the certificate has been imported, map it to the local user account: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + $username = "username" + $password = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "password" -AsPlainText -Force + $credential = New-Object -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList $username, $password + + # This is the issuer thumbprint which in the case of a self generated cert + # is the public key thumbprint, additional logic may be required for other + # scenarios + $thumbprint = (Get-ChildItem -Path cert:\LocalMachine\root | Where-Object { $_.Subject -eq "CN=$username" }).Thumbprint + + New-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\ClientCertificate ` + -Subject "$username@localhost" ` + -URI * ` + -Issuer $thumbprint ` + -Credential $credential ` + -Force + + +Once this is complete, the hostvar ``ansible_winrm_cert_pem`` should be set to +the path of the public key and the ``ansible_winrm_cert_key_pem`` variable should be set to +the path of the private key. + + +.. _winrm_ntlm: + +NTLM +^^^^^ + +NTLM is an older authentication mechanism used by Microsoft that can support +both local and domain accounts. NTLM is enabled by default on the WinRM +service, so no setup is required before using it. + +NTLM is the easiest authentication protocol to use and is more secure than +``Basic`` authentication. If running in a domain environment, ``Kerberos`` should be used +instead of NTLM. + +Kerberos has several advantages over using NTLM: + +* NTLM is an older protocol and does not support newer encryption + protocols. +* NTLM is slower to authenticate because it requires more round trips to the host in + the authentication stage. +* Unlike Kerberos, NTLM does not allow credential delegation. + +This example shows host variables configured to use NTLM authentication: + +.. code-block:: yaml+jinja + + ansible_user: LocalUsername + ansible_password: Password + ansible_connection: winrm + ansible_winrm_transport: ntlm + +.. _winrm_kerberos: + +Kerberos +^^^^^^^^^ + +Kerberos is the recommended authentication option to use when running in a +domain environment. Kerberos supports features like credential delegation and +message encryption over HTTP and is one of the more secure options that +is available through WinRM. + +Kerberos requires some additional setup work on the Ansible host before it can be +used properly. + +The following example shows host vars configured for Kerberos authentication: + +.. code-block:: yaml+jinja + + ansible_user: username@MY.DOMAIN.COM + ansible_password: Password + ansible_connection: winrm + ansible_port: 5985 + ansible_winrm_transport: kerberos + +As of Ansible version 2.3, the Kerberos ticket will be created based on +``ansible_user`` and ``ansible_password``. If running on an older version of +Ansible or when ``ansible_winrm_kinit_mode`` is ``manual``, a Kerberos +ticket must already be obtained. See below for more details. + +There are some extra host variables that can be set: + +.. code-block:: yaml + + ansible_winrm_kinit_mode: managed/manual (manual means Ansible will not obtain a ticket) + ansible_winrm_kinit_cmd: the kinit binary to use to obtain a Kerberos ticket (default to kinit) + ansible_winrm_service: overrides the SPN prefix that is used, the default is ``HTTP`` and should rarely ever need changing + ansible_winrm_kerberos_delegation: allows the credentials to traverse multiple hops + ansible_winrm_kerberos_hostname_override: the hostname to be used for the kerberos exchange + +.. _winrm_kerberos_install: + +Installing the Kerberos Library ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +Some system dependencies that must be installed prior to using Kerberos. The script below lists the dependencies based on the distro: + +.. code-block:: shell + + # Through Yum (RHEL/Centos/Fedora for the older version) + yum -y install gcc python-devel krb5-devel krb5-libs krb5-workstation + + # Through DNF (RHEL/Centos/Fedora for the newer version) + dnf -y install gcc python3-devel krb5-devel krb5-libs krb5-workstation + + # Through Apt (Ubuntu) + sudo apt-get install python-dev libkrb5-dev krb5-user + + # Through Portage (Gentoo) + emerge -av app-crypt/mit-krb5 + emerge -av dev-python/setuptools + + # Through Pkg (FreeBSD) + sudo pkg install security/krb5 + + # Through OpenCSW (Solaris) + pkgadd -d http://get.opencsw.org/now + /opt/csw/bin/pkgutil -U + /opt/csw/bin/pkgutil -y -i libkrb5_3 + + # Through Pacman (Arch Linux) + pacman -S krb5 + + +Once the dependencies have been installed, the ``python-kerberos`` wrapper can +be install using ``pip``: + +.. code-block:: shell + + pip install pywinrm[kerberos] + + +.. note:: + While Ansible has supported Kerberos auth through ``pywinrm`` for some + time, optional features or more secure options may only be available in + newer versions of the ``pywinrm`` and/or ``pykerberos`` libraries. It is + recommended you upgrade each version to the latest available to resolve + any warnings or errors. This can be done through tools like ``pip`` or a + system package manager like ``dnf``, ``yum``, ``apt`` but the package + names and versions available may differ between tools. + + +.. _winrm_kerberos_config: + +Configuring Host Kerberos ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +Once the dependencies have been installed, Kerberos needs to be configured so +that it can communicate with a domain. This configuration is done through the +``/etc/krb5.conf`` file, which is installed with the packages in the script above. + +To configure Kerberos, in the section that starts with: + +.. code-block:: ini + + [realms] + +Add the full domain name and the fully qualified domain names of the primary +and secondary Active Directory domain controllers. It should look something +like this: + +.. code-block:: ini + + [realms] + MY.DOMAIN.COM = { + kdc = domain-controller1.my.domain.com + kdc = domain-controller2.my.domain.com + } + +In the section that starts with: + +.. code-block:: ini + + [domain_realm] + +Add a line like the following for each domain that Ansible needs access for: + +.. code-block:: ini + + [domain_realm] + .my.domain.com = MY.DOMAIN.COM + +You can configure other settings in this file such as the default domain. See +`krb5.conf <https://web.mit.edu/kerberos/krb5-1.12/doc/admin/conf_files/krb5_conf.html>`_ +for more details. + +.. _winrm_kerberos_ticket_auto: + +Automatic Kerberos Ticket Management +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +Ansible version 2.3 and later defaults to automatically managing Kerberos tickets +when both ``ansible_user`` and ``ansible_password`` are specified for a host. In +this process, a new ticket is created in a temporary credential cache for each +host. This is done before each task executes to minimize the chance of ticket +expiration. The temporary credential caches are deleted after each task +completes and will not interfere with the default credential cache. + +To disable automatic ticket management, set ``ansible_winrm_kinit_mode=manual`` +through the inventory. + +Automatic ticket management requires a standard ``kinit`` binary on the control +host system path. To specify a different location or binary name, set the +``ansible_winrm_kinit_cmd`` hostvar to the fully qualified path to a MIT krbv5 +``kinit``-compatible binary. + +.. _winrm_kerberos_ticket_manual: + +Manual Kerberos Ticket Management ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +To manually manage Kerberos tickets, the ``kinit`` binary is used. To +obtain a new ticket the following command is used: + +.. code-block:: shell + + kinit username@MY.DOMAIN.COM + +.. Note:: The domain must match the configured Kerberos realm exactly, and must be in upper case. + +To see what tickets (if any) have been acquired, use the following command: + +.. code-block:: shell + + klist + +To destroy all the tickets that have been acquired, use the following command: + +.. code-block:: shell + + kdestroy + +.. _winrm_kerberos_troubleshoot: + +Troubleshooting Kerberos +++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +Kerberos is reliant on a properly-configured environment to +work. To troubleshoot Kerberos issues, ensure that: + +* The hostname set for the Windows host is the FQDN and not an IP address. + * If you connect using an IP address you will get the error message `Server not found in Kerberos database`. + * To determine if you are connecting using an IP address or an FQDN run your playbook (or call the ``win_ping`` module) using the `-vvv` flag. + +* The forward and reverse DNS lookups are working properly in the domain. To + test this, ping the windows host by name and then use the ip address returned + with ``nslookup``. The same name should be returned when using ``nslookup`` + on the IP address. + +* The Ansible host's clock is synchronized with the domain controller. Kerberos + is time sensitive, and a little clock drift can cause the ticket generation + process to fail. + +* Ensure that the fully qualified domain name for the domain is configured in + the ``krb5.conf`` file. To check this, run: + + .. code-block:: console + + kinit -C username@MY.DOMAIN.COM + klist + + If the domain name returned by ``klist`` is different from the one requested, + an alias is being used. The ``krb5.conf`` file needs to be updated so that + the fully qualified domain name is used and not an alias. + +* If the default kerberos tooling has been replaced or modified (some IdM solutions may do this), this may cause issues when installing or upgrading the Python Kerberos library. As of the time of this writing, this library is called ``pykerberos`` and is known to work with both MIT and Heimdal Kerberos libraries. To resolve ``pykerberos`` installation issues, ensure the system dependencies for Kerberos have been met (see: `Installing the Kerberos Library`_), remove any custom Kerberos tooling paths from the PATH environment variable, and retry the installation of Python Kerberos library package. + +.. _winrm_credssp: + +CredSSP +^^^^^^^ + +CredSSP authentication is a newer authentication protocol that allows +credential delegation. This is achieved by encrypting the username and password +after authentication has succeeded and sending that to the server using the +CredSSP protocol. + +Because the username and password are sent to the server to be used for double +hop authentication, ensure that the hosts that the Windows host communicates with are +not compromised and are trusted. + +CredSSP can be used for both local and domain accounts and also supports +message encryption over HTTP. + +To use CredSSP authentication, the host vars are configured like so: + +.. code-block:: yaml+jinja + + ansible_user: Username + ansible_password: Password + ansible_connection: winrm + ansible_winrm_transport: credssp + +There are some extra host variables that can be set as shown below: + +.. code-block:: yaml + + ansible_winrm_credssp_disable_tlsv1_2: when true, will not use TLS 1.2 in the CredSSP auth process + +CredSSP authentication is not enabled by default on a Windows host, but can +be enabled by running the following in PowerShell: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + Enable-WSManCredSSP -Role Server -Force + +.. _winrm_credssp_install: + +Installing CredSSP Library +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +The ``requests-credssp`` wrapper can be installed using ``pip``: + +.. code-block:: bash + + pip install pywinrm[credssp] + +.. _winrm_credssp_tls: + +CredSSP and TLS 1.2 ++++++++++++++++++++ + +By default the ``requests-credssp`` library is configured to authenticate over +the TLS 1.2 protocol. TLS 1.2 is installed and enabled by default for Windows Server 2012 +and Windows 8 and more recent releases. + +There are two ways that older hosts can be used with CredSSP: + +* Install and enable a hotfix to enable TLS 1.2 support (recommended + for Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7). + +* Set ``ansible_winrm_credssp_disable_tlsv1_2=True`` in the inventory to run + over TLS 1.0. This is the only option when connecting to Windows Server 2008, which + has no way of supporting TLS 1.2 + +See :ref:`winrm_tls12` for more information on how to enable TLS 1.2 on the +Windows host. + +.. _winrm _credssp_cert: + +Set CredSSP Certificate ++++++++++++++++++++++++ + +CredSSP works by encrypting the credentials through the TLS protocol and uses a self-signed certificate by default. The ``CertificateThumbprint`` option under the WinRM service configuration can be used to specify the thumbprint of +another certificate. + +.. Note:: This certificate configuration is independent of the WinRM listener + certificate. With CredSSP, message transport still occurs over the WinRM listener, + but the TLS-encrypted messages inside the channel use the service-level certificate. + +To explicitly set the certificate to use for CredSSP: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + # Note the value $certificate_thumbprint will be different in each + # situation, this needs to be set based on the cert that is used. + $certificate_thumbprint = "7C8DCBD5427AFEE6560F4AF524E325915F51172C" + + # Set the thumbprint value + Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Service\CertificateThumbprint -Value $certificate_thumbprint + +.. _winrm_nonadmin: + +Non-Administrator Accounts +--------------------------- + +WinRM is configured by default to only allow connections from accounts in the local +``Administrators`` group. This can be changed by running: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + winrm configSDDL default + +This will display an ACL editor, where new users or groups may be added. To run commands +over WinRM, users and groups must have at least the ``Read`` and ``Execute`` permissions +enabled. + +While non-administrative accounts can be used with WinRM, most typical server administration +tasks require some level of administrative access, so the utility is usually limited. + +.. _winrm_encrypt: + +WinRM Encryption +----------------- + +By default WinRM will fail to work when running over an unencrypted channel. +The WinRM protocol considers the channel to be encrypted if using TLS over HTTP +(HTTPS) or using message level encryption. Using WinRM with TLS is the +recommended option as it works with all authentication options, but requires +a certificate to be created and used on the WinRM listener. + +If in a domain environment, ADCS can create a certificate for the host that +is issued by the domain itself. + +If using HTTPS is not an option, then HTTP can be used when the authentication +option is ``NTLM``, ``Kerberos`` or ``CredSSP``. These protocols will encrypt +the WinRM payload with their own encryption method before sending it to the +server. The message-level encryption is not used when running over HTTPS because the +encryption uses the more secure TLS protocol instead. If both transport and +message encryption is required, set ``ansible_winrm_message_encryption=always`` +in the host vars. + +.. Note:: Message encryption over HTTP requires pywinrm>=0.3.0. + +A last resort is to disable the encryption requirement on the Windows host. This +should only be used for development and debugging purposes, as anything sent +from Ansible can be viewed, manipulated and also the remote session can completely +be taken over by anyone on the same network. To disable the encryption +requirement: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Service\AllowUnencrypted -Value $true + +.. Note:: Do not disable the encryption check unless it is + absolutely required. Doing so could allow sensitive information like + credentials and files to be intercepted by others on the network. + +.. _winrm_inventory: + +Inventory Options +------------------ + +Ansible's Windows support relies on a few standard variables to indicate the +username, password, and connection type of the remote hosts. These variables +are most easily set up in the inventory, but can be set on the ``host_vars``/ +``group_vars`` level. + +When setting up the inventory, the following variables are required: + +.. code-block:: yaml+jinja + + # It is suggested that these be encrypted with ansible-vault: + # ansible-vault edit group_vars/windows.yml + ansible_connection: winrm + + # May also be passed on the command-line through --user + ansible_user: Administrator + + # May also be supplied at runtime with --ask-pass + ansible_password: SecretPasswordGoesHere + + +Using the variables above, Ansible will connect to the Windows host with Basic +authentication through HTTPS. If ``ansible_user`` has a UPN value like +``username@MY.DOMAIN.COM`` then the authentication option will automatically attempt +to use Kerberos unless ``ansible_winrm_transport`` has been set to something other than +``kerberos``. + +The following custom inventory variables are also supported +for additional configuration of WinRM connections: + +* ``ansible_port``: The port WinRM will run over, HTTPS is ``5986`` which is + the default while HTTP is ``5985`` + +* ``ansible_winrm_scheme``: Specify the connection scheme (``http`` or + ``https``) to use for the WinRM connection. Ansible uses ``https`` by default + unless ``ansible_port`` is ``5985`` + +* ``ansible_winrm_path``: Specify an alternate path to the WinRM endpoint, + Ansible uses ``/wsman`` by default + +* ``ansible_winrm_realm``: Specify the realm to use for Kerberos + authentication. If ``ansible_user`` contains ``@``, Ansible will use the part + of the username after ``@`` by default + +* ``ansible_winrm_transport``: Specify one or more authentication transport + options as a comma-separated list. By default, Ansible will use ``kerberos, + basic`` if the ``kerberos`` module is installed and a realm is defined, + otherwise it will be ``plaintext`` + +* ``ansible_winrm_server_cert_validation``: Specify the server certificate + validation mode (``ignore`` or ``validate``). Ansible defaults to + ``validate`` on Python 2.7.9 and higher, which will result in certificate + validation errors against the Windows self-signed certificates. Unless + verifiable certificates have been configured on the WinRM listeners, this + should be set to ``ignore`` + +* ``ansible_winrm_operation_timeout_sec``: Increase the default timeout for + WinRM operations, Ansible uses ``20`` by default + +* ``ansible_winrm_read_timeout_sec``: Increase the WinRM read timeout, Ansible + uses ``30`` by default. Useful if there are intermittent network issues and + read timeout errors keep occurring + +* ``ansible_winrm_message_encryption``: Specify the message encryption + operation (``auto``, ``always``, ``never``) to use, Ansible uses ``auto`` by + default. ``auto`` means message encryption is only used when + ``ansible_winrm_scheme`` is ``http`` and ``ansible_winrm_transport`` supports + message encryption. ``always`` means message encryption will always be used + and ``never`` means message encryption will never be used + +* ``ansible_winrm_ca_trust_path``: Used to specify a different cacert container + than the one used in the ``certifi`` module. See the HTTPS Certificate + Validation section for more details. + +* ``ansible_winrm_send_cbt``: When using ``ntlm`` or ``kerberos`` over HTTPS, + the authentication library will try to send channel binding tokens to + mitigate against man in the middle attacks. This flag controls whether these + bindings will be sent or not (default: ``yes``). + +* ``ansible_winrm_*``: Any additional keyword arguments supported by + ``winrm.Protocol`` may be provided in place of ``*`` + +In addition, there are also specific variables that need to be set +for each authentication option. See the section on authentication above for more information. + +.. Note:: Ansible 2.0 has deprecated the "ssh" from ``ansible_ssh_user``, + ``ansible_ssh_pass``, ``ansible_ssh_host``, and ``ansible_ssh_port`` to + become ``ansible_user``, ``ansible_password``, ``ansible_host``, and + ``ansible_port``. If using a version of Ansible prior to 2.0, the older + style (``ansible_ssh_*``) should be used instead. The shorter variables + are ignored, without warning, in older versions of Ansible. + +.. Note:: ``ansible_winrm_message_encryption`` is different from transport + encryption done over TLS. The WinRM payload is still encrypted with TLS + when run over HTTPS, even if ``ansible_winrm_message_encryption=never``. + +.. _winrm_ipv6: + +IPv6 Addresses +--------------- + +IPv6 addresses can be used instead of IPv4 addresses or hostnames. This option +is normally set in an inventory. Ansible will attempt to parse the address +using the `ipaddress <https://docs.python.org/3/library/ipaddress.html>`_ +package and pass to pywinrm correctly. + +When defining a host using an IPv6 address, just add the IPv6 address as you +would an IPv4 address or hostname: + +.. code-block:: ini + + [windows-server] + 2001:db8::1 + + [windows-server:vars] + ansible_user=username + ansible_password=password + ansible_connection=winrm + + +.. Note:: The ipaddress library is only included by default in Python 3.x. To + use IPv6 addresses in Python 2.7, make sure to run ``pip install ipaddress`` which installs + a backported package. + +.. _winrm_https: + +HTTPS Certificate Validation +----------------------------- + +As part of the TLS protocol, the certificate is validated to ensure the host +matches the subject and the client trusts the issuer of the server certificate. +When using a self-signed certificate or setting +``ansible_winrm_server_cert_validation: ignore`` these security mechanisms are +bypassed. While self signed certificates will always need the ``ignore`` flag, +certificates that have been issued from a certificate authority can still be +validated. + +One of the more common ways of setting up a HTTPS listener in a domain +environment is to use Active Directory Certificate Service (AD CS). AD CS is +used to generate signed certificates from a Certificate Signing Request (CSR). +If the WinRM HTTPS listener is using a certificate that has been signed by +another authority, like AD CS, then Ansible can be set up to trust that +issuer as part of the TLS handshake. + +To get Ansible to trust a Certificate Authority (CA) like AD CS, the issuer +certificate of the CA can be exported as a PEM encoded certificate. This +certificate can then be copied locally to the Ansible controller and used as a +source of certificate validation, otherwise known as a CA chain. + +The CA chain can contain a single or multiple issuer certificates and each +entry is contained on a new line. To then use the custom CA chain as part of +the validation process, set ``ansible_winrm_ca_trust_path`` to the path of the +file. If this variable is not set, the default CA chain is used instead which +is located in the install path of the Python package +`certifi <https://github.com/certifi/python-certifi>`_. + +.. Note:: Each HTTP call is done by the Python requests library which does not + use the systems built-in certificate store as a trust authority. + Certificate validation will fail if the server's certificate issuer is + only added to the system's truststore. + +.. _winrm_tls12: + +TLS 1.2 Support +---------------- + +As WinRM runs over the HTTP protocol, using HTTPS means that the TLS protocol +is used to encrypt the WinRM messages. TLS will automatically attempt to +negotiate the best protocol and cipher suite that is available to both the +client and the server. If a match cannot be found then Ansible will error out +with a message similar to: + +.. code-block:: ansible-output + + HTTPSConnectionPool(host='server', port=5986): Max retries exceeded with url: /wsman (Caused by SSLError(SSLError(1, '[SSL: UNSUPPORTED_PROTOCOL] unsupported protocol (_ssl.c:1056)'))) + +Commonly this is when the Windows host has not been configured to support +TLS v1.2 but it could also mean the Ansible controller has an older OpenSSL +version installed. + +Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 come with TLS v1.2 installed and enabled by +default but older hosts, like Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, have to be enabled +manually. + +.. Note:: There is a bug with the TLS 1.2 patch for Server 2008 which will stop + Ansible from connecting to the Windows host. This means that Server 2008 + cannot be configured to use TLS 1.2. Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 are not + affected by this issue and can use TLS 1.2. + +To verify what protocol the Windows host supports, you can run the following +command on the Ansible controller: + +.. code-block:: shell + + openssl s_client -connect <hostname>:5986 + +The output will contain information about the TLS session and the ``Protocol`` +line will display the version that was negotiated: + +.. code-block:: console + + New, TLSv1/SSLv3, Cipher is ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA + Server public key is 2048 bit + Secure Renegotiation IS supported + Compression: NONE + Expansion: NONE + No ALPN negotiated + SSL-Session: + Protocol : TLSv1 + Cipher : ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA + Session-ID: 962A00001C95D2A601BE1CCFA7831B85A7EEE897AECDBF3D9ECD4A3BE4F6AC9B + Session-ID-ctx: + Master-Key: .... + Start Time: 1552976474 + Timeout : 7200 (sec) + Verify return code: 21 (unable to verify the first certificate) + --- + + New, TLSv1/SSLv3, Cipher is ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 + Server public key is 2048 bit + Secure Renegotiation IS supported + Compression: NONE + Expansion: NONE + No ALPN negotiated + SSL-Session: + Protocol : TLSv1.2 + Cipher : ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 + Session-ID: AE16000050DA9FD44D03BB8839B64449805D9E43DBD670346D3D9E05D1AEEA84 + Session-ID-ctx: + Master-Key: .... + Start Time: 1552976538 + Timeout : 7200 (sec) + Verify return code: 21 (unable to verify the first certificate) + +If the host is returning ``TLSv1`` then it should be configured so that +TLS v1.2 is enable. You can do this by running the following PowerShell +script: + +.. code-block:: powershell + + Function Enable-TLS12 { + param( + [ValidateSet("Server", "Client")] + [String]$Component = "Server" + ) + + $protocols_path = 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols' + New-Item -Path "$protocols_path\TLS 1.2\$Component" -Force + New-ItemProperty -Path "$protocols_path\TLS 1.2\$Component" -Name Enabled -Value 1 -Type DWORD -Force + New-ItemProperty -Path "$protocols_path\TLS 1.2\$Component" -Name DisabledByDefault -Value 0 -Type DWORD -Force + } + + Enable-TLS12 -Component Server + + # Not required but highly recommended to enable the Client side TLS 1.2 components + Enable-TLS12 -Component Client + + Restart-Computer + +The below Ansible tasks can also be used to enable TLS v1.2: + +.. code-block:: yaml+jinja + + - name: enable TLSv1.2 support + win_regedit: + path: HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\{{ item.type }} + name: '{{ item.property }}' + data: '{{ item.value }}' + type: dword + state: present + register: enable_tls12 + loop: + - type: Server + property: Enabled + value: 1 + - type: Server + property: DisabledByDefault + value: 0 + - type: Client + property: Enabled + value: 1 + - type: Client + property: DisabledByDefault + value: 0 + + - name: reboot if TLS config was applied + win_reboot: + when: enable_tls12 is changed + +There are other ways to configure the TLS protocols as well as the cipher +suites that are offered by the Windows host. One tool that can give you a GUI +to manage these settings is `IIS Crypto <https://www.nartac.com/Products/IISCrypto/>`_ +from Nartac Software. + +.. _winrm_limitations: + +WinRM limitations +------------------ +Due to the design of the WinRM protocol , there are a few limitations +when using WinRM that can cause issues when creating playbooks for Ansible. +These include: + +* Credentials are not delegated for most authentication types, which causes + authentication errors when accessing network resources or installing certain + programs. + +* Many calls to the Windows Update API are blocked when running over WinRM. + +* Some programs fail to install with WinRM due to no credential delegation or + because they access forbidden Windows API like WUA over WinRM. + +* Commands under WinRM are done under a non-interactive session, which can prevent + certain commands or executables from running. + +* You cannot run a process that interacts with ``DPAPI``, which is used by some + installers (like Microsoft SQL Server). + +Some of these limitations can be mitigated by doing one of the following: + +* Set ``ansible_winrm_transport`` to ``credssp`` or ``kerberos`` (with + ``ansible_winrm_kerberos_delegation=true``) to bypass the double hop issue + and access network resources + +* Use ``become`` to bypass all WinRM restrictions and run a command as it would + locally. Unlike using an authentication transport like ``credssp``, this will + also remove the non-interactive restriction and API restrictions like WUA and + DPAPI + +* Use a scheduled task to run a command which can be created with the + ``win_scheduled_task`` module. Like ``become``, this bypasses all WinRM + restrictions but can only run a command and not modules. + + +.. seealso:: + + :ref:`playbooks_intro` + An introduction to playbooks + :ref:`playbooks_best_practices` + Tips and tricks for playbooks + :ref:`List of Windows Modules <windows_modules>` + Windows specific module list, all implemented in PowerShell + `User Mailing List <https://groups.google.com/group/ansible-project>`_ + Have a question? Stop by the google group! + :ref:`communication_irc` + How to join Ansible chat channels |