# Which authentication option is used by default for WinRM?

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/which-authentication-option-is-used-by-default-for-winrm/40832>\
**Category:** Get Help\
**Tags:** windows\
**Created:** [March 6, 2025, 4:28pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/which-authentication-option-is-used-by-default-for-winrm/40832 "2025-03-06T16:28:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aep-sunlife](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/aep-sunlife/32/7823_2.png) [@aep-sunlife](https://forum.ansible.com/u/aep-sunlife)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 4:28pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/which-authentication-option-is-used-by-default-for-winrm/40832/1 "2025-03-06T16:28:30Z")

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The Ansible documentation about WinRM neglects to specify _which_ authentication mechanism is the default for WinRM connections (Basic vs Certificate vs Kerberos vs NTLM vs CredSSP). Can we please indicate this more clearly on the official documentation page?

> **[Windows Remote Management — Ansible Community Documentation](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/os_guide/windows_winrm.html)**

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**Author:** ![binbashroot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@binbashroot](https://forum.ansible.com/u/binbashroot)\
**Post date:** [March 6, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/which-authentication-option-is-used-by-default-for-winrm/40832/2 "2025-03-06T19:22:08Z")

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There is no “default”, you must specify which one to use.