WMIC: WMI command-line utility

The WMI command-line (WMIC) utility provides a command-line interface for Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). WMIC is compatible with existing shells and utility commands. The following information is a general reference guide for WMIC. For more information and guidelines on how to use WMIC, including additional information on aliases, verbs, switches, and commands, see Using Windows Management Instrumentation command-line and WMIC - Take command-line control over WMI.

An alias is a friendly renaming of a class, property, or method that makes WMI easier to use and read. You can determine what aliases are available for WMIC through the /? command. You can also determine the aliases for a specific class using the <className> /? command. For more information, see WMIC aliases.

A switch is a WMIC option that you can set globally or optionally. For a list of available switches, see WMIC switches.

To use verbs in WMIC, enter the alias name followed by the verb. If an alias doesn't support a verb, you receive the message "provider is not capable of the attempted operation." For more info, see WMIC verbs.

Most aliases support the following verbs:

Returns the result of the Associators of (<wmi_object>) query where <wmi_object> is the path of objects returned by the PATH or CLASS commands. The results are instances associated with the object. When ASSOC is used with an alias, the classes with the class underlying the alias are returned. By default, the output is returned in HTML format.

The ASSOC verb has the following switches:

Example: os assoc

Executes a method.

Example: service where caption="telnet" call startservice

Creates a new instance, and sets the property values. CREATE can't be used to create a new class.

Example: environment create name="temp"; variablevalue="new"

Deletes the current instance or set of instances. DELETE can be used to delete a class.

Example: process where name="calc.exe" delete

Retrieves specific property values.

GET has the following switches:

Example: process get name

Shows data. LIST is the default verb.

LIST has the following adverbs:

LIST has the following switches:

Example: process list brief

Assigns values to properties.

Example: environment set name="temp", variablevalue="new"

Global switches are used to set defaults for the WMIC environment. You can view the current value of the conditions set by these switches by entering the CONTEXT command.

Namespace that the alias uses typically. The default is root\cimv2.

Example: /namespace:\\root

Namespace that WMIC typically looks in for aliases and other WMIC information.

Example: /role:\\root

Computer names, comma delimited. All commands are synchronously executed against all computers listed in this value. File names must be prefixed with &. Computer names within a file must be comma delimited or on separate lines.

Impersonation level.

Example: /implevel:Anonymous

Authentication level.

Example: /authlevel:Pkt

Locale.

Example: /locale:ms_411

Enables or disables all privileges.

Example: /privileges:enable or /privileges:disable

Displays the success or failure of all functions used to execute WMIC commands.

Example: /trace:on or /trace:off

Records all output to an XML file. Output is also displayed at the command prompt.

Example: /record:MyOutput.xml

Typically, delete commands are confirmed.

Example: /interactive:on or /interactive:off

If ON, the /NODE computers are pinged before sending WMIC commands to them. If a computer doesn't respond, then the WMIC commands aren't sent to it.

Example: /failfast:on or /failfast:off

User name used by WMIC when accessing the /NODE computers or computers specified in the aliases. You're prompted for the password. A user name can't be used with the local computer.

Example: /user:JSMITH

Password used by WMIC when accessing the /NODE computers. The password is visible at the command line.

Example: /password:password

Specifies a mode for all output redirection. Output doesn't appear at the command line and the destination is cleared before output begins. Valid values are STDOUT, CLIPBOARD, or a file name.

Example: /output:clipboard

Specifies a mode for all output redirection. Output doesn't appear at the command line and the destination is not cleared before output begins and output is appended to the end of the current contents of the destination. Valid values are STDOUT, CLIPBOARD, or a file name.

Example: /append:clipboard

Used with the LIST and GET /EVERY switch. If AGGREGATE is ON, LIST and GET display their results when all computers in the /NODE have either responded or timed out. If AGGREGATE is OFF, LIST and GET display their results as soon as they are received.

Example: /aggregate:off or /aggregate:on

The following WMIC commands are available at all times. For more information, see WMIC commands.

Escapes from the default alias mode of WMIC to access classes in the WMI schema directly. For more information on available WMI classes, see WMI classes.

Example: wmic /output:c:\ClassOutput.htm class Win32_SoundDevice

Escapes from the default alias mode of WMIC to access instances in the WMI schema directly.

Example: wmic /output:c:\PathOutput.txt path Win32_SoundDevice get /value

Displays the current values of all global switches.

Example: wmic context

Exits from WMIC.

Example: wmic quit

Exits from WMIC.

Example: wmic exit