Querying information by using WMI and CIM

Exercise 1: Querying information by using WMI

Task 1: Query IP addresses

1. On LON-CL1, select Start, and then enter powersh.
2. In the results list, right-click Windows PowerShell or activate its context menu, and then select Run as administrator.

3. To find a repository class that lists the IP addresses being used by a computer, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\cimv2 -List | Where Name -like '*configuration*' | Sort Name
   

   Notice the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class.

4. To retrieve all instances of the class depicting static IP addresses, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration | Where DHCPEnabled -eq $False | Select IPAddress
   

   Remember that you can run the first command and pipe its output to Get-Member to review the properties that are available.

Task 2: Query operating system version information

1. To find a repository class that lists operating system information, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\cimv2 -List | Where Name -like '*operating*' | Sort Name
   

   Notice the Win32_OperatingSystem class.

2. To display a list of properties for the class, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_OperatingSystem | Get-Member
   

3. Notice the Version, ServicePackMajorVersion, and BuildNumber properties.

4. To display the specified information, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_OperatingSystem | Select Version,ServicePackMajorVersion,BuildNumber
   

Task 3: Query computer system hardware information

1. To find a repository class that displays computer system information, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\cimv2 -List | Where Name -like '*system*' | Sort Name 
   

   Notice the Win32_ComputerSystem class.

2. To display a list of instance properties and values, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_ComputerSystem | Format-List -Property *
   

   Remember that Get-Member doesn’t display property values, but Format-List can.

3. To display the specified information, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_ComputerSystem | Select Manufacturer,Model,@{n='RAM';e={$PSItem.TotalPhysicalMemory}}
   

Task 4: Query service information

1. To find a repository class that contains information about services, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\cimv2 -List | Where Name –like '*service*' | Sort Name
   

   Notice the Win32_Service class.

2. To display a list of instance properties and values, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Service | FL *
   

3. To display the specified information, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and press the Enter key:

   Get-WmiObject –Class Win32_Service –Filter "Name LIKE 'S%'" | Select Name,State,StartName
   

4. Leave the Windows PowerShell console open for the next exercise.

Exercise 2: Querying information by using CIM

Task 1: Query user accounts

1. To find a repository class that lists user accounts, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-CimClass -ClassName *user*
   

   Notice the Win32_UserAccount class.

2. To display a list of class properties, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_UserAccount | Get-Member
   

3. To display the specified information, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_UserAccount | Format-Table -Property Caption,Domain,SID,FullName,Name
   

   Notice the returned list of all domain and local accounts.

Task 2: Query BIOS information

1. To find a repository class that contains BIOS information, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Get-CimClass -ClassName *bios*
   

   Notice the Win32_BIOS class.

2. To display the specified information, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_BIOS
   

Task 3: Query network adapter configuration information

1. To display a list of all the local Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration instances, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-CimInstance -Classname Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration
   

2. To display a list of all the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration instances that exist on LON-DC1, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

   Get-CimInstance -Classname Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration -ComputerName LON-DC1
   

Task 4: Query user group information

1. To find a repository class that lists user groups, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Get-CimClass -ClassName *group*
   

   Notice the Win32_Group class.

2. To display the specified information, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Group -ComputerName LON-DC1
   

3. Leave the Windows PowerShell console open for the next exercise.

Exercise 3: Invoking methods

Task 1: Invoke a CIM method

1. To restart LON-DC1, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Invoke-CimMethod -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem -ComputerName LON-DC1 -MethodName Reboot
   

   Notice the response that includes ReturnValue=0 and PSComputerName=LON-DC1.

2. Switch to the LON-DC1 virtual machine and observe it restarting.
3. When the restart is complete, switch back to the LON-CL1 virtual machine.

Task 2: Invoke a WMI method

1. To review properties of the WinRM service, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Get-Service WinRM | FL *
   

   Note that the StartType is Manual.

2. To change the start mode of the specified service, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Service -Filter "Name='WinRM'" | Invoke-WmiMethod -Name ChangeStartMode -Argument 'Automatic'
   

3. To verify that the StartType of the WinRM service has changed, enter the following command in the Windows PowerShell console, and then press the Enter key:

    Get-Service WinRM | FL *
   

   Note that the StartType is Automatic.