PowerShell WMI and CIM Querying objects
Example
CIM/WMI is most commonly used to query information or configuration on a device. Thof a class that represents a configuration, process, user etc. In PowerShell there are multiple ways to access these classes and instances, but the most common ways are by using the Get-CimInstance (CIM) or Get-WmiObject (WMI) cmdlets.
List all objects for CIM-class
You can list all instances of a class.
3.0
CIM:
> Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Process
ProcessId Name HandleCount WorkingSetSize VirtualSize
--------- ---- ----------- -------------- -----------
0 System Idle Process 0 4096 65536
4 System 1459 32768 3563520
480 Secure System 0 3731456 0
484 smss.exe 52 372736 2199029891072
....
....
WMI:
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Process
Using a filter
You can apply a filter to only get specific instances of a CIM/WMI-class. Filters are written using WQL (default) or CQL (add -QueryDialect CQL). -Filter uses the WHERE-part of a full WQL/CQL-query.
3.0
CIM:
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Process -Filter "Name = 'powershell.exe'"
ProcessId Name HandleCount WorkingSetSize VirtualSize
--------- ---- ----------- -------------- -----------
4800 powershell.exe 676 88305664 2199697199104
WMI:
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Process -Filter "Name = 'powershell.exe'"
...
Caption : powershell.exe
CommandLine : "C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe"
CreationClassName : Win32_Process
CreationDate : 20160913184324.393887+120
CSCreationClassName : Win32_ComputerSystem
CSName : STACKOVERFLOW-PC
Description : powershell.exe
ExecutablePath : C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
ExecutionState :
Handle : 4800
HandleCount : 673
....
Using a WQL-query:
You can also use a WQL/CQL-query to query and filter instances.
3.0
CIM:
Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT * FROM Win32_Process WHERE Name = 'powershell.exe'"
ProcessId Name HandleCount WorkingSetSize VirtualSize
--------- ---- ----------- -------------- -----------
4800 powershell.exe 673 88387584 2199696674816
Querying objects in a different namespace:
3.0
CIM:
> Get-CimInstance -Namespace "root/SecurityCenter2" -ClassName AntiVirusProduct
displayName : Windows Defender
instanceGuid : {D68DDC3A-831F-4fae-9E44-DA132C1ACF46}
pathToSignedProductExe : %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe
pathToSignedReportingExe : %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MsMpeng.exe
productState : 397568
timestamp : Fri, 09 Sep 2016 21:26:41 GMT
PSComputerName :
WMI:
> Get-WmiObject -Namespace "root\SecurityCenter2" -Class AntiVirusProduct
__GENUS : 2
__CLASS : AntiVirusProduct
__SUPERCLASS :
__DYNASTY : AntiVirusProduct
__RELPATH : AntiVirusProduct.instanceGuid="{D68DDC3A-831F-4fae-9E44-DA132C1ACF46}"
__PROPERTY_COUNT : 6
__DERIVATION : {}
__SERVER : STACKOVERFLOW-PC
__NAMESPACE : ROOT\SecurityCenter2
__PATH : \\STACKOVERFLOW-PC\ROOT\SecurityCenter2:AntiVirusProduct.instanceGuid="{D68DDC3A-831F-4fae-9E44-DA132C1ACF46}"
displayName : Windows Defender
instanceGuid : {D68DDC3A-831F-4fae-9E44-DA132C1ACF46}
pathToSignedProductExe : %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe
pathToSignedReportingExe : %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MsMpeng.exe
productState : 397568
timestamp : Fri, 09 Sep 2016 21:26:41 GMT
PSComputerName : STACKOVERFLOW-PC
