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WMI Tasks: Networking

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WMI tasks for networking manage and obtain information about connections and IP or MAC addresses. For other examples, see the TechNet ScriptCenter at https://www.microsoft.com/technet.

The script examples shown in this topic obtain data only from the local computer. For more information about how to use the script to obtain data from remote computers, see Connecting to WMI on a Remote Computer.

The following procedure describes how to run a script.

To run a script

  1. Copy the code and save it in a file with a .vbs extension, such as filename.vbs. Ensure that your text editor does not add a .txt extension to the file.
  2. Open a command prompt window and navigate to the directory where you saved the file.
  3. Type cscript filename.vbs at the command prompt.
  4. If you cannot access an event log, check to see if you are running from an Elevated command prompt. Some Event Log, such as the Security Event Log, may be protected by User Access Controls (UAC).

Note

By default, cscript displays the output of a script in the command prompt window. Because WMI scripts can produce large amounts of output, you might want to redirect the output to a file. Type cscript filename.vbs > outfile.txt at the command prompt to redirect the output of the filename.vbs script to outfile.txt.

The following table lists script examples that can be used to obtain various types of data from the local computer.

How do I... WMI classes or methods
...disable a network connection using WMI? If you are using DHCP, use the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration and the ReleaseDHCPLease method to release the IP address. If you are not using DHCP, you cannot use WMI to disable a network connection. To re-enable the network connection, use objNetCard.RenewDHCPLease. You can also release or renew all of the DHCP leases using the ReleaseDHCPLeaseAll and RenewDHCPLeaseAll methods.
VB 
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject( _
    "winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colNetCards = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Select * From Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration " _
        & "Where IPEnabled = True")
For Each objNetCard in colNetCards
    objNetCard.ReleaseDHCPLease()
Next
PowerShell 
$Computer = "."
$net = Get-WMIObject -class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration -ComputerName $computer
$netenabled = $net | where {$_.IPenabled}
foreach ($NetCard in $netenabled) {
    "Releasing lease on: {0}" -f $netcard.caption
 $netcard.ReleaseDHCPLease()
}
...disable or enable a NIC?

Use the Win32_NetworkAdapter class and the Disable or Enable methods.
...determine which IP address has been assigned to a given network connection?

Use the Win32_NetworkAdapter class and the NetConnectionID property to determine the MAC address of the network connection. Then, use the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class to find the IP address associated with the MAC address.

VB 
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject(_
    "winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Select * From Win32_NetworkAdapter " _
        & "Where NetConnectionID = " & _
        "'Local Area Connection 2'")

For Each objItem in colItems
strMACAddress = objItem.MACAddress
Next


Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * From Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration")


For Each objItem in colItems
If objItem.MACAddress = strMACAddress Then
For Each strIPAddress in objItem.IPAddress
Wscript.Echo "IP Address: " &  strIPAddress
Next
End If
Next
VB 
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject( _
    "winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colNics = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Select * From Win32_NetworkAdapter " _
        & "Where NetConnectionID = " & _
        "'Local Area Connection'")
 
For Each objNic in colNics
    Set colNicConfigs = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
      ("ASSOCIATORS OF " _
          & "{Win32_NetworkAdapter.DeviceID='" & _
      objNic.DeviceID & "'}" & _
      " WHERE AssocClass=Win32_NetworkAdapterSetting")
    For Each objNicConfig In colNicConfigs
        For Each strIPAddress in objNicConfig.IPAddress
            Wscript.Echo "IP Address: " &  strIPAddress
        Next
    Next
Next
...determine the MAC address of a network adapter?

Use the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class and check the value of the MACAddress property.
...determine the IP address of a computer?

Use the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class and check the value of the IPAddress property. This is returned as an array, so use a For-Each loop to get the value.

VB 
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject( _ 
    "winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set IPConfigSet = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Select IPAddress from Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration ")
 
For Each IPConfig in IPConfigSet
    If Not IsNull(IPConfig.IPAddress) Then 
        For i=LBound(IPConfig.IPAddress) _
            to UBound(IPConfig.IPAddress)
                WScript.Echo IPConfig.IPAddress(i)
        Next
    End If
Next
PowerShell 
$Computer = "."
$IPconfigset = Get-WmiObject Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration
  
# Iterate and get IP address
$count = 0
foreach ($IPConfig in $IPConfigSet) {
   if ($Ipconfig.IPaddress) {
      foreach ($addr in $Ipconfig.Ipaddress) {
   "IP Address   : {0}" -f  $addr;
   $count++ 
   }
   }
}
if ($count -eq 0) {"No IP addresses found"}
else {"$Count IP addresses found on this system"}
...configure a computer to start getting its IP address through DHCP?

Use the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class and the EnableDHCP method.

VB 
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject(_
    "winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colNetAdapters = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Select * from Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration " _
        & "where IPEnabled=TRUE")
 
For Each objNetAdapter In colNetAdapters
    errEnable = objNetAdapter.EnableDHCP()
Next
...assign a computer a static IP address?

Use the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class and the EnableStatic method.

VB 
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject( _
    "winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colNetAdapters = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Select * from Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration " _
        & "where IPEnabled=TRUE")
strIPAddress = Array("192.168.1.141")
strSubnetMask = Array("255.255.255.0")
strGateway = Array("192.168.1.100")
strGatewayMetric = Array(1)
 
For Each objNetAdapter in colNetAdapters
    errEnable = objNetAdapter.EnableStatic( _
        strIPAddress, strSubnetMask)
    errGateways = objNetAdapter.SetGateways(_
        strGateway, strGatewaymetric)
Next
...get information about network adapters without also retrieving information about things like RAS and VPN connections?

Use the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class. In your WQL query, use this clause: Where IPEnabled = True.

VB 
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject( _
    "winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set IPConfigSet = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Select IPAddress from Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration" _
        & " where IPEnabled=TRUE")
 
For Each IPConfig in IPConfigSet
    If Not IsNull(IPConfig.IPAddress) Then 
        For i=LBound(IPConfig.IPAddress) _
        to UBound(IPConfig.IPAddress)
            WScript.Echo IPConfig.IPAddress(i)
        Next
    End If
Next
...ping a computer without using Ping.exe?

Use the Win32_PingStatus class.

Win32_PingStatus can return data for computers that have both IPv4 addresses and IPv6 addresses.

VB 
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject(_ 
    "winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colPings = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
    ("Select * From Win32_PingStatus where Address = '192.168.1.1'")

For Each objStatus in colPings
If IsNull(objStatus.StatusCode) _
or objStatus.StatusCode<>0 Then
WScript.Echo "Computer did not respond."
Else
Wscript.Echo "Computer responded."
End If
Next
VB 
strComputer = "client1"
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objScriptExec = objShell.Exec( _
    "ping -n 2 -w 1000 " & strComputer)
strPingResults = LCase(objScriptExec.StdOut.ReadAll)
If InStr(strPingResults, "reply from") Then
    If InStr(strPingResults, "destination net unreachable") Then
        WScript.Echo strComputer & "did not respond to ping."
    Else
        WScript.Echo strComputer & " responded to ping."
    End If 
Else
    WScript.Echo strComputer & " did not respond to ping."
End If

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