WMI Reference (Windows)

WMI Reference

The WMI Reference contains the following topics that discuss the core features of WMI.

Section	Description
WMI Classes	Complete list of the classes defined by WMI.
WMI Providers	List of preinstalled providers that can request information from, and send instructions to, WMI managed objects.
COM API for WMI	Complete list of the COM interfaces used by C and C++ management applications and providers to access WMI.
Scripting API for WMI	Complete list of the components of the Scripting API for WMI. This reference provides information for developers that write applications using the Microsoft Visual Basic development system, Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript), and Microsoft JScript development software.
WMI and SQL	WMI queries use WQL, a subset of SQL named WQL.
WMI Log Files	WMI and the WMI providers create several log files that assist in troubleshooting.
WMI Security	This section provides a list of objects used in security descriptors and constants used in methods that manipulate security descriptors or privileges.
WMI Command-Line Tools	Syntax used by mofcomp, winmgmt, wmic, smi2smir, and wmiadap.
WMI Infrastructure Objects and Values	Information about WMI return codes, events, qualifiers, Managed Object Format (MOF) syntax, performance counter types, and other data used by WMI providers, scripts, and applications.

Send comments about this topic to Microsoft

Build date: 6/15/2009

Tags

: reference (x) wim (x) wmi (x) Add a tag

Community Content

Add new content

Annotations

Access WMI Objects from PowerShell

Thomas Lee ... APNET | Edit | Show History

Note that you can also access and manipulate WMI objects using PowerShell. PowerShell helps administrators to access the richness and power of WMI in several ways:

The Get-WMIObject cmdlet enables you to get any WMI object that is represented in the CIM. You can also use Get-WMIObject to list out the WMI classes present to aid in discovery.
The [wmi], [wmiclass] and [wmisearcher] type accelerators that simplfy accessing WMI objects.
Default formatting for core objects to aid in discovery.

Some of the WMI classes here have been decorated with samples using PowerShell.