How to access Nano Server

Because Nano Server does not support a local session, it must be accessed remotely.

1. Start an elevated PowerShell ISE session.

   You can do this by running the following command from any command line:

   RunAs /user:Administrator PowerShell_ISE.exe

   Alternatively, you can Ctrl+Shift+Click (or Ctrl+Shift+Double-Click) on the PowerShell ISE icon to start it with elevated (Admin) privileges. The ISE is not strictly required but it makes it easier to edit remote files (using psEdit) and remotely debug PowerShell scripts.

2. Set the Trusted Host.

   This is a one-time setting for each remote machine. You’re basically telling your development machine to trust the remote Nano Server.

   Set-Item WSMan:\LocalHost\Client\TrustedHosts "192.168.0.100"  
   # replace with your Nano Server's IP address
   

   If this is a safe development environment, and you don't want to set the trusted host for each remote machine individually, you can just enter:

   Set-Item WSMan:\LocalHost\Client\TrustedHosts *
   

3. Start the session.

   Enter the following commands into the PowerShell ISE command line:

   $ip = "192.168.0.100"  # replace with your Nano Server's IP address  
   $s = New-PSSession -ComputerName $ip -Credential ~\Administrator  
   Enter-PSSession -Session $s
   

   Having the IP address in a variable will come in handy when you need to copy files to/from your Nano Server. If you prefer brevity, enter the session directly using the following one-liner:

   Enter-PSSession –ComputerName "192.168.0.100" -Credential ~\Administrator
   

4. Exit the session.

   Once you’re all done with your Nano Server, exit the session as follows:

   Exit-PSSession