diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 16d4c300..e0287659 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -27,16 +27,16 @@
     readme = f.read()
 
 setup(
-    version='1.9.2',
+    version='1.9.3',
     name='testgres',
-    packages=['testgres', 'testgres.operations'],
+    packages=['testgres', 'testgres.operations', 'testgres.helpers'],
     description='Testing utility for PostgreSQL and its extensions',
     url='https://github.com/postgrespro/testgres',
     long_description=readme,
     long_description_content_type='text/markdown',
     license='PostgreSQL',
-    author='Ildar Musin',
-    author_email='zildermann@gmail.com',
+    author='Postgres Professional',
+    author_email='testgres@postgrespro.ru',
     keywords=['test', 'testing', 'postgresql'],
     install_requires=install_requires,
     classifiers=[],
diff --git a/testgres/__init__.py b/testgres/__init__.py
index 383daf2d..8d0e38c6 100644
--- a/testgres/__init__.py
+++ b/testgres/__init__.py
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@
 from .operations.local_ops import LocalOperations
 from .operations.remote_ops import RemoteOperations
 
+from .helpers.port_manager import PortManager
+
 __all__ = [
     "get_new_node",
     "get_remote_node",
@@ -62,6 +64,6 @@
     "XLogMethod", "IsolationLevel", "NodeStatus", "ProcessType", "DumpFormat",
     "PostgresNode", "NodeApp",
     "reserve_port", "release_port", "bound_ports", "get_bin_path", "get_pg_config", "get_pg_version",
-    "First", "Any",
+    "First", "Any", "PortManager",
     "OsOperations", "LocalOperations", "RemoteOperations", "ConnectionParams"
 ]
diff --git a/testgres/helpers/__init__.py b/testgres/helpers/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/testgres/helpers/port_manager.py b/testgres/helpers/port_manager.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6afdf8a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testgres/helpers/port_manager.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import socket
+import random
+from typing import Set, Iterable, Optional
+
+
+class PortForException(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+class PortManager:
+    def __init__(self, ports_range=(1024, 65535)):
+        self.ports_range = ports_range
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def is_port_free(port: int) -> bool:
+        """Check if a port is free to use."""
+        with socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) as s:
+            try:
+                s.bind(("", port))
+                return True
+            except OSError:
+                return False
+
+    def find_free_port(self, ports: Optional[Set[int]] = None, exclude_ports: Optional[Iterable[int]] = None) -> int:
+        """Return a random unused port number."""
+        if ports is None:
+            ports = set(range(1024, 65535))
+
+        if exclude_ports is None:
+            exclude_ports = set()
+
+        ports.difference_update(set(exclude_ports))
+
+        sampled_ports = random.sample(tuple(ports), min(len(ports), 100))
+
+        for port in sampled_ports:
+            if self.is_port_free(port):
+                return port
+
+        raise PortForException("Can't select a port")
diff --git a/testgres/node.py b/testgres/node.py
index 52e6d2ee..20cf4264 100644
--- a/testgres/node.py
+++ b/testgres/node.py
@@ -623,8 +623,8 @@ def status(self):
                 "-D", self.data_dir,
                 "status"
             ]  # yapf: disable
-            status_code, out, err = execute_utility(_params, self.utils_log_file, verbose=True)
-            if 'does not exist' in err:
+            status_code, out, error = execute_utility(_params, self.utils_log_file, verbose=True)
+            if error and 'does not exist' in error:
                 return NodeStatus.Uninitialized
             elif 'no server running' in out:
                 return NodeStatus.Stopped
@@ -717,7 +717,7 @@ def start(self, params=[], wait=True):
 
         try:
             exit_status, out, error = execute_utility(_params, self.utils_log_file, verbose=True)
-            if 'does not exist' in error:
+            if error and 'does not exist' in error:
                 raise Exception
         except Exception as e:
             msg = 'Cannot start node'
@@ -791,7 +791,7 @@ def restart(self, params=[]):
 
         try:
             error_code, out, error = execute_utility(_params, self.utils_log_file, verbose=True)
-            if 'could not start server' in error:
+            if error and 'could not start server' in error:
                 raise ExecUtilException
         except ExecUtilException as e:
             msg = 'Cannot restart node'
diff --git a/testgres/operations/local_ops.py b/testgres/operations/local_ops.py
index 36b14058..93ebf012 100644
--- a/testgres/operations/local_ops.py
+++ b/testgres/operations/local_ops.py
@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@
 import psutil
 
 from ..exceptions import ExecUtilException
-from .os_ops import ConnectionParams, OsOperations
-from .os_ops import pglib
+from .os_ops import ConnectionParams, OsOperations, pglib, get_default_encoding
 
 try:
     from shutil import which as find_executable
@@ -22,6 +21,14 @@
 error_markers = [b'error', b'Permission denied', b'fatal']
 
 
+def has_errors(output):
+    if output:
+        if isinstance(output, str):
+            output = output.encode(get_default_encoding())
+        return any(marker in output for marker in error_markers)
+    return False
+
+
 class LocalOperations(OsOperations):
     def __init__(self, conn_params=None):
         if conn_params is None:
@@ -33,72 +40,80 @@ def __init__(self, conn_params=None):
         self.remote = False
         self.username = conn_params.username or self.get_user()
 
-    # Command execution
-    def exec_command(self, cmd, wait_exit=False, verbose=False,
-                     expect_error=False, encoding=None, shell=False, text=False,
-                     input=None, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
-                     get_process=None, timeout=None):
-        """
-        Execute a command in a subprocess.
-
-        Args:
-        - cmd: The command to execute.
-        - wait_exit: Whether to wait for the subprocess to exit before returning.
-        - verbose: Whether to return verbose output.
-        - expect_error: Whether to raise an error if the subprocess exits with an error status.
-        - encoding: The encoding to use for decoding the subprocess output.
-        - shell: Whether to use shell when executing the subprocess.
-        - text: Whether to return str instead of bytes for the subprocess output.
-        - input: The input to pass to the subprocess.
-        - stdout: The stdout to use for the subprocess.
-        - stderr: The stderr to use for the subprocess.
-        - proc: The process to use for subprocess creation.
-        :return: The output of the subprocess.
-        """
-        if os.name == 'nt':
-            with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile() as buf:
-                process = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdout=buf, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
-                process.communicate()
-                buf.seek(0)
-                result = buf.read().decode(encoding)
-            return result
-        else:
+    @staticmethod
+    def _raise_exec_exception(message, command, exit_code, output):
+        """Raise an ExecUtilException."""
+        raise ExecUtilException(message=message.format(output),
+                                command=command,
+                                exit_code=exit_code,
+                                out=output)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _process_output(encoding, temp_file_path):
+        """Process the output of a command from a temporary file."""
+        with open(temp_file_path, 'rb') as temp_file:
+            output = temp_file.read()
+            if encoding:
+                output = output.decode(encoding)
+            return output, None  # In Windows stderr writing in stdout
+
+    def _run_command(self, cmd, shell, input, stdin, stdout, stderr, get_process, timeout, encoding):
+        """Execute a command and return the process and its output."""
+        if os.name == 'nt' and stdout is None:  # Windows
+            with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode='w+b', delete=False) as temp_file:
+                stdout = temp_file
+                stderr = subprocess.STDOUT
+                process = subprocess.Popen(
+                    cmd,
+                    shell=shell,
+                    stdin=stdin or subprocess.PIPE if input is not None else None,
+                    stdout=stdout,
+                    stderr=stderr,
+                )
+                if get_process:
+                    return process, None, None
+                temp_file_path = temp_file.name
+
+            # Wait process finished
+            process.wait()
+
+            output, error = self._process_output(encoding, temp_file_path)
+            return process, output, error
+        else:  # Other OS
             process = subprocess.Popen(
                 cmd,
                 shell=shell,
-                stdout=stdout,
-                stderr=stderr,
+                stdin=stdin or subprocess.PIPE if input is not None else None,
+                stdout=stdout or subprocess.PIPE,
+                stderr=stderr or subprocess.PIPE,
             )
             if get_process:
-                return process
-
+                return process, None, None
             try:
-                result, error = process.communicate(input, timeout=timeout)
+                output, error = process.communicate(input=input.encode(encoding) if input else None, timeout=timeout)
+                if encoding:
+                    output = output.decode(encoding)
+                    error = error.decode(encoding)
+                return process, output, error
             except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
                 process.kill()
                 raise ExecUtilException("Command timed out after {} seconds.".format(timeout))
-            exit_status = process.returncode
-
-            error_found = exit_status != 0 or any(marker in error for marker in error_markers)
 
-            if encoding:
-                result = result.decode(encoding)
-                error = error.decode(encoding)
-
-            if expect_error:
-                raise Exception(result, error)
-
-            if exit_status != 0 or error_found:
-                if exit_status == 0:
-                    exit_status = 1
-                raise ExecUtilException(message='Utility exited with non-zero code. Error `{}`'.format(error),
-                                        command=cmd,
-                                        exit_code=exit_status,
-                                        out=result)
-            if verbose:
-                return exit_status, result, error
-            else:
-                return result
+    def exec_command(self, cmd, wait_exit=False, verbose=False, expect_error=False, encoding=None, shell=False,
+                     text=False, input=None, stdin=None, stdout=None, stderr=None, get_process=False, timeout=None):
+        """
+        Execute a command in a subprocess and handle the output based on the provided parameters.
+        """
+        process, output, error = self._run_command(cmd, shell, input, stdin, stdout, stderr, get_process, timeout, encoding)
+        if get_process:
+            return process
+        if process.returncode != 0 or (has_errors(error) and not expect_error):
+            self._raise_exec_exception('Utility exited with non-zero code. Error `{}`', cmd, process.returncode, error)
+
+        if verbose:
+            return process.returncode, output, error
+        else:
+            return output
 
     # Environment setup
     def environ(self, var_name):
@@ -210,7 +225,7 @@ def read(self, filename, encoding=None, binary=False):
             if binary:
                 return content
             if isinstance(content, bytes):
-                return content.decode(encoding or 'utf-8')
+                return content.decode(encoding or get_default_encoding())
             return content
 
     def readlines(self, filename, num_lines=0, binary=False, encoding=None):
diff --git a/testgres/operations/os_ops.py b/testgres/operations/os_ops.py
index 9261cacf..dd6613cf 100644
--- a/testgres/operations/os_ops.py
+++ b/testgres/operations/os_ops.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import locale
+
 try:
     import psycopg2 as pglib  # noqa: F401
 except ImportError:
@@ -14,6 +16,10 @@ def __init__(self, host='127.0.0.1', ssh_key=None, username=None):
         self.username = username
 
 
+def get_default_encoding():
+    return locale.getdefaultlocale()[1] or 'UTF-8'
+
+
 class OsOperations:
     def __init__(self, username=None):
         self.ssh_key = None
@@ -75,7 +81,7 @@ def write(self, filename, data, truncate=False, binary=False, read_and_write=Fal
     def touch(self, filename):
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
-    def read(self, filename):
+    def read(self, filename, encoding, binary):
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
     def readlines(self, filename):
diff --git a/testgres/operations/remote_ops.py b/testgres/operations/remote_ops.py
index 0a545834..01251e1c 100644
--- a/testgres/operations/remote_ops.py
+++ b/testgres/operations/remote_ops.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import locale
 import logging
 import os
 import subprocess
@@ -15,12 +14,7 @@
         raise ImportError("You must have psycopg2 or pg8000 modules installed")
 
 from ..exceptions import ExecUtilException
-
-from .os_ops import OsOperations, ConnectionParams
-
-ConsoleEncoding = locale.getdefaultlocale()[1]
-if not ConsoleEncoding:
-    ConsoleEncoding = 'UTF-8'
+from .os_ops import OsOperations, ConnectionParams, get_default_encoding
 
 error_markers = [b'error', b'Permission denied', b'fatal', b'No such file or directory']
 
@@ -36,7 +30,7 @@ def kill(self):
 
     def cmdline(self):
         command = "ps -p {} -o cmd --no-headers".format(self.pid)
-        stdin, stdout, stderr = self.ssh.exec_command(command, verbose=True, encoding=ConsoleEncoding)
+        stdin, stdout, stderr = self.ssh.exec_command(command, verbose=True, encoding=get_default_encoding())
         cmdline = stdout.strip()
         return cmdline.split()
 
@@ -51,6 +45,10 @@ def __init__(self, conn_params: ConnectionParams):
         self.conn_params = conn_params
         self.host = conn_params.host
         self.ssh_key = conn_params.ssh_key
+        if self.ssh_key:
+            self.ssh_cmd = ["-i", self.ssh_key]
+        else:
+            self.ssh_cmd = []
         self.remote = True
         self.username = conn_params.username or self.get_user()
         self.add_known_host(self.host)
@@ -97,9 +95,9 @@ def exec_command(self, cmd, wait_exit=False, verbose=False, expect_error=False,
         """
         ssh_cmd = []
         if isinstance(cmd, str):
-            ssh_cmd = ['ssh', f"{self.username}@{self.host}", '-i', self.ssh_key, cmd]
+            ssh_cmd = ['ssh', f"{self.username}@{self.host}"] + self.ssh_cmd + [cmd]
         elif isinstance(cmd, list):
-            ssh_cmd = ['ssh', f"{self.username}@{self.host}", '-i', self.ssh_key] + cmd
+            ssh_cmd = ['ssh', f"{self.username}@{self.host}"] + self.ssh_cmd + cmd
         process = subprocess.Popen(ssh_cmd, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
         if get_process:
             return process
@@ -145,7 +143,7 @@ def environ(self, var_name: str) -> str:
         - var_name (str): The name of the environment variable.
         """
         cmd = "echo ${}".format(var_name)
-        return self.exec_command(cmd, encoding=ConsoleEncoding).strip()
+        return self.exec_command(cmd, encoding=get_default_encoding()).strip()
 
     def find_executable(self, executable):
         search_paths = self.environ("PATH")
@@ -176,11 +174,11 @@ def set_env(self, var_name: str, var_val: str):
 
     # Get environment variables
     def get_user(self):
-        return self.exec_command("echo $USER", encoding=ConsoleEncoding).strip()
+        return self.exec_command("echo $USER", encoding=get_default_encoding()).strip()
 
     def get_name(self):
         cmd = 'python3 -c "import os; print(os.name)"'
-        return self.exec_command(cmd, encoding=ConsoleEncoding).strip()
+        return self.exec_command(cmd, encoding=get_default_encoding()).strip()
 
     # Work with dirs
     def makedirs(self, path, remove_existing=False):
@@ -227,7 +225,7 @@ def listdir(self, path):
         return result.splitlines()
 
     def path_exists(self, path):
-        result = self.exec_command("test -e {}; echo $?".format(path), encoding=ConsoleEncoding)
+        result = self.exec_command("test -e {}; echo $?".format(path), encoding=get_default_encoding())
         return int(result.strip()) == 0
 
     @property
@@ -248,9 +246,9 @@ def mkdtemp(self, prefix=None):
         - prefix (str): The prefix of the temporary directory name.
         """
         if prefix:
-            command = ["ssh", "-i", self.ssh_key, f"{self.username}@{self.host}", f"mktemp -d {prefix}XXXXX"]
+            command = ["ssh"] + self.ssh_cmd + [f"{self.username}@{self.host}", f"mktemp -d {prefix}XXXXX"]
         else:
-            command = ["ssh", "-i", self.ssh_key, f"{self.username}@{self.host}", "mktemp -d"]
+            command = ["ssh"] + self.ssh_cmd + [f"{self.username}@{self.host}", "mktemp -d"]
 
         result = subprocess.run(command, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, text=True)
 
@@ -264,9 +262,9 @@ def mkdtemp(self, prefix=None):
 
     def mkstemp(self, prefix=None):
         if prefix:
-            temp_dir = self.exec_command("mktemp {}XXXXX".format(prefix), encoding=ConsoleEncoding)
+            temp_dir = self.exec_command("mktemp {}XXXXX".format(prefix), encoding=get_default_encoding())
         else:
-            temp_dir = self.exec_command("mktemp", encoding=ConsoleEncoding)
+            temp_dir = self.exec_command("mktemp", encoding=get_default_encoding())
 
         if temp_dir:
             if not os.path.isabs(temp_dir):
@@ -283,7 +281,9 @@ def copytree(self, src, dst):
         return self.exec_command("cp -r {} {}".format(src, dst))
 
     # Work with files
-    def write(self, filename, data, truncate=False, binary=False, read_and_write=False, encoding=ConsoleEncoding):
+    def write(self, filename, data, truncate=False, binary=False, read_and_write=False, encoding=None):
+        if not encoding:
+            encoding = get_default_encoding()
         mode = "wb" if binary else "w"
         if not truncate:
             mode = "ab" if binary else "a"
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ def write(self, filename, data, truncate=False, binary=False, read_and_write=Fal
 
         with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode=mode, delete=False) as tmp_file:
             if not truncate:
-                scp_cmd = ['scp', '-i', self.ssh_key, f"{self.username}@{self.host}:{filename}", tmp_file.name]
+                scp_cmd = ['scp'] + self.ssh_cmd + [f"{self.username}@{self.host}:{filename}", tmp_file.name]
                 subprocess.run(scp_cmd, check=False)  # The file might not exist yet
                 tmp_file.seek(0, os.SEEK_END)
 
@@ -302,18 +302,17 @@ def write(self, filename, data, truncate=False, binary=False, read_and_write=Fal
                 data = data.encode(encoding)
 
             if isinstance(data, list):
-                data = [(s if isinstance(s, str) else s.decode(ConsoleEncoding)).rstrip('\n') + '\n' for s in data]
+                data = [(s if isinstance(s, str) else s.decode(get_default_encoding())).rstrip('\n') + '\n' for s in data]
                 tmp_file.writelines(data)
             else:
                 tmp_file.write(data)
 
             tmp_file.flush()
-
-            scp_cmd = ['scp', '-i', self.ssh_key, tmp_file.name, f"{self.username}@{self.host}:{filename}"]
+            scp_cmd = ['scp'] + self.ssh_cmd + [tmp_file.name, f"{self.username}@{self.host}:{filename}"]
             subprocess.run(scp_cmd, check=True)
 
             remote_directory = os.path.dirname(filename)
-            mkdir_cmd = ['ssh', '-i', self.ssh_key, f"{self.username}@{self.host}", f"mkdir -p {remote_directory}"]
+            mkdir_cmd = ['ssh'] + self.ssh_cmd + [f"{self.username}@{self.host}", f"mkdir -p {remote_directory}"]
             subprocess.run(mkdir_cmd, check=True)
 
             os.remove(tmp_file.name)
@@ -334,7 +333,7 @@ def read(self, filename, binary=False, encoding=None):
         result = self.exec_command(cmd, encoding=encoding)
 
         if not binary and result:
-            result = result.decode(encoding or ConsoleEncoding)
+            result = result.decode(encoding or get_default_encoding())
 
         return result
 
@@ -347,7 +346,7 @@ def readlines(self, filename, num_lines=0, binary=False, encoding=None):
         result = self.exec_command(cmd, encoding=encoding)
 
         if not binary and result:
-            lines = result.decode(encoding or ConsoleEncoding).splitlines()
+            lines = result.decode(encoding or get_default_encoding()).splitlines()
         else:
             lines = result.splitlines()
 
@@ -375,10 +374,10 @@ def kill(self, pid, signal):
 
     def get_pid(self):
         # Get current process id
-        return int(self.exec_command("echo $$", encoding=ConsoleEncoding))
+        return int(self.exec_command("echo $$", encoding=get_default_encoding()))
 
     def get_process_children(self, pid):
-        command = ["ssh", "-i", self.ssh_key, f"{self.username}@{self.host}", f"pgrep -P {pid}"]
+        command = ["ssh"] + self.ssh_cmd + [f"{self.username}@{self.host}", f"pgrep -P {pid}"]
 
         result = subprocess.run(command, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE, text=True)
 
diff --git a/testgres/utils.py b/testgres/utils.py
index db75fadc..b21fc2c8 100644
--- a/testgres/utils.py
+++ b/testgres/utils.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
 
 import os
-import port_for
+
 import sys
 
 from contextlib import contextmanager
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 from six import iteritems
 
+from .helpers.port_manager import PortManager
 from .exceptions import ExecUtilException
 from .config import testgres_config as tconf
 
@@ -37,8 +38,8 @@ def reserve_port():
     """
     Generate a new port and add it to 'bound_ports'.
     """
-
-    port = port_for.select_random(exclude_ports=bound_ports)
+    port_mng = PortManager()
+    port = port_mng.find_free_port(exclude_ports=bound_ports)
     bound_ports.add(port)
 
     return port
@@ -80,7 +81,8 @@ def execute_utility(args, logfile=None, verbose=False):
                 lines = [u'\n'] + ['# ' + line for line in out.splitlines()] + [u'\n']
                 tconf.os_ops.write(filename=logfile, data=lines)
         except IOError:
-            raise ExecUtilException("Problem with writing to logfile `{}` during run command `{}`".format(logfile, args))
+            raise ExecUtilException(
+                "Problem with writing to logfile `{}` during run command `{}`".format(logfile, args))
     if verbose:
         return exit_status, out, error
     else:
diff --git a/tests/test_remote.py b/tests/test_remote.py
index 2e0f0676..e0e4a555 100755
--- a/tests/test_remote.py
+++ b/tests/test_remote.py
@@ -11,10 +11,9 @@ class TestRemoteOperations:
 
     @pytest.fixture(scope="function", autouse=True)
     def setup(self):
-        conn_params = ConnectionParams(host=os.getenv('RDBMS_TESTPOOL1_HOST') or '172.18.0.3',
-                                       username='dev',
-                                       ssh_key=os.getenv(
-                                           'RDBMS_TESTPOOL_SSHKEY') or '../../container_files/postgres/ssh/id_ed25519')
+        conn_params = ConnectionParams(host=os.getenv('RDBMS_TESTPOOL1_HOST') or '127.0.0.1',
+                                       username=os.getenv('USER'),
+                                       ssh_key=os.getenv('RDBMS_TESTPOOL_SSHKEY'))
         self.operations = RemoteOperations(conn_params)
 
     def test_exec_command_success(self):
@@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ def test_is_executable_true(self):
         """
         Test is_executable for an existing executable.
         """
-        cmd = "postgres"
+        cmd = os.getenv('PG_CONFIG')
         response = self.operations.is_executable(cmd)
 
         assert response is True
diff --git a/tests/test_simple.py b/tests/test_simple.py
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index 45c28a21..9d31d4d9
--- a/tests/test_simple.py
+++ b/tests/test_simple.py
@@ -74,6 +74,24 @@ def good_properties(f):
             return True
 
 
+def rm_carriage_returns(out):
+    """
+    In Windows we have additional '\r' symbols in output.
+    Let's get rid of them.
+    """
+    if os.name == 'nt':
+        if isinstance(out, (int, float, complex)):
+            return out
+        elif isinstance(out, tuple):
+            return tuple(rm_carriage_returns(item) for item in out)
+        elif isinstance(out, bytes):
+            return out.replace(b'\r', b'')
+        else:
+            return out.replace('\r', '')
+    else:
+        return out
+
+
 @contextmanager
 def removing(f):
     try:
@@ -123,7 +141,7 @@ def test_init_after_cleanup(self):
             node.cleanup()
             node.init().start().execute('select 1')
 
-    @unittest.skipUnless(util_exists('pg_resetwal'), 'might be missing')
+    @unittest.skipUnless(util_exists('pg_resetwal.exe' if os.name == 'nt' else 'pg_resetwal'), 'pgbench might be missing')
     @unittest.skipUnless(pg_version_ge('9.6'), 'requires 9.6+')
     def test_init_unique_system_id(self):
         # this function exists in PostgreSQL 9.6+
@@ -254,34 +272,34 @@ def test_psql(self):
 
             # check returned values (1 arg)
             res = node.psql('select 1')
-            self.assertEqual(res, (0, b'1\n', b''))
+            self.assertEqual(rm_carriage_returns(res), (0, b'1\n', b''))
 
             # check returned values (2 args)
             res = node.psql('postgres', 'select 2')
-            self.assertEqual(res, (0, b'2\n', b''))
+            self.assertEqual(rm_carriage_returns(res), (0, b'2\n', b''))
 
             # check returned values (named)
             res = node.psql(query='select 3', dbname='postgres')
-            self.assertEqual(res, (0, b'3\n', b''))
+            self.assertEqual(rm_carriage_returns(res), (0, b'3\n', b''))
 
             # check returned values (1 arg)
             res = node.safe_psql('select 4')
-            self.assertEqual(res, b'4\n')
+            self.assertEqual(rm_carriage_returns(res), b'4\n')
 
             # check returned values (2 args)
             res = node.safe_psql('postgres', 'select 5')
-            self.assertEqual(res, b'5\n')
+            self.assertEqual(rm_carriage_returns(res), b'5\n')
 
             # check returned values (named)
             res = node.safe_psql(query='select 6', dbname='postgres')
-            self.assertEqual(res, b'6\n')
+            self.assertEqual(rm_carriage_returns(res), b'6\n')
 
             # check feeding input
             node.safe_psql('create table horns (w int)')
             node.safe_psql('copy horns from stdin (format csv)',
                            input=b"1\n2\n3\n\\.\n")
             _sum = node.safe_psql('select sum(w) from horns')
-            self.assertEqual(_sum, b'6\n')
+            self.assertEqual(rm_carriage_returns(_sum), b'6\n')
 
             # check psql's default args, fails
             with self.assertRaises(QueryException):
@@ -455,7 +473,7 @@ def test_synchronous_replication(self):
                     master.safe_psql(
                         'insert into abc select generate_series(1, 1000000)')
                     res = standby1.safe_psql('select count(*) from abc')
-                    self.assertEqual(res, b'1000000\n')
+                    self.assertEqual(rm_carriage_returns(res), b'1000000\n')
 
     @unittest.skipUnless(pg_version_ge('10'), 'requires 10+')
     def test_logical_replication(self):
@@ -589,7 +607,7 @@ def test_promotion(self):
                 # make standby becomes writable master
                 replica.safe_psql('insert into abc values (1)')
                 res = replica.safe_psql('select * from abc')
-                self.assertEqual(res, b'1\n')
+                self.assertEqual(rm_carriage_returns(res), b'1\n')
 
     def test_dump(self):
         query_create = 'create table test as select generate_series(1, 2) as val'
@@ -614,6 +632,7 @@ def test_users(self):
         with get_new_node().init().start() as node:
             node.psql('create role test_user login')
             value = node.safe_psql('select 1', username='test_user')
+            value = rm_carriage_returns(value)
             self.assertEqual(value, b'1\n')
 
     def test_poll_query_until(self):
@@ -728,7 +747,7 @@ def test_logging(self):
                 master.restart()
                 self.assertTrue(master._logger.is_alive())
 
-    @unittest.skipUnless(util_exists('pgbench'), 'might be missing')
+    @unittest.skipUnless(util_exists('pgbench.exe' if os.name == 'nt' else 'pgbench'), 'pgbench might be missing')
     def test_pgbench(self):
         with get_new_node().init().start() as node:
 
@@ -744,6 +763,8 @@ def test_pgbench(self):
             out, _ = proc.communicate()
             out = out.decode('utf-8')
 
+            proc.stdout.close()
+
             self.assertTrue('tps' in out)
 
     def test_pg_config(self):
@@ -977,7 +998,9 @@ def test_child_pids(self):
 
     def test_child_process_dies(self):
         # test for FileNotFound exception during child_processes() function
-        with subprocess.Popen(["sleep", "60"]) as process:
+        cmd = ["timeout", "60"] if os.name == 'nt' else ["sleep", "60"]
+
+        with subprocess.Popen(cmd, shell=True) as process:  # shell=True might be needed on Windows
             self.assertEqual(process.poll(), None)
             # collect list of processes currently running
             children = psutil.Process(os.getpid()).children()
diff --git a/tests/test_simple_remote.py b/tests/test_simple_remote.py
index 1042f3c4..d51820ba 100755
--- a/tests/test_simple_remote.py
+++ b/tests/test_simple_remote.py
@@ -52,10 +52,9 @@
 from testgres.utils import PgVer
 from testgres.node import ProcessProxy, ConnectionParams
 
-conn_params = ConnectionParams(host=os.getenv('RDBMS_TESTPOOL1_HOST') or '172.18.0.3',
-                               username='dev',
-                               ssh_key=os.getenv(
-                                   'RDBMS_TESTPOOL_SSHKEY') or '../../container_files/postgres/ssh/id_ed25519')
+conn_params = ConnectionParams(host=os.getenv('RDBMS_TESTPOOL1_HOST') or '127.0.0.1',
+                               username=os.getenv('USER'),
+                               ssh_key=os.getenv('RDBMS_TESTPOOL_SSHKEY'))
 os_ops = RemoteOperations(conn_params)
 testgres_config.set_os_ops(os_ops=os_ops)
 

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