Troubleshooting WMIC

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Troubleshooting

What problem are you having?

  • Parameter not valid

  • Value map does not contain the input value for this property

  • RPC error on the unsuccessful connection to a computer or node

  • Query fails or is slow

  • Output is not properly aligned in rows and columns

  • Localized version of WMIC is not available (in some Multilingual User Interface (MUI) or Language Interface Packs

  • XSL files on Windows XP Professional are not supporting arrays

  • Input parameter is of OBJECT type

Parameter not valid

Cause: A parameter name is misspelled or does not apply to the object in question. A required parameter might also be missing, which can include key values or writeable values.

Solution: You must specify the name, user name, and variable value when you create an environment variable.

Value map does not contain the input value for this property

Cause: Could be that the needed parameter is not used in the query.

Solution: You can interpret the value for an input parameter by referring to the schema information, the method's description qualifier in the corresponding Managed Object Format (MOF) file, or to the MSDN description of the method.

Some schema information can be retrieved using WMIC, for example:

  • wmic:root\cli>alias OS list full /format:table

  • wmic:root\cli>process call /?:full

RPC error on the unsuccessful connection to a computer or node.

Cause: The computer or node has a firewall set to block incoming calls.

Solution:

  • Ping computer's IP for the availability of the computer.

  • Disable firewall on computer.

Cause: The computer has UNIX, Linux, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows NT 4 operating system that has no network-enabled WMI or WBEM support.

Solution:

  • Enable WMI or WBEM support in the operating system.

  • Deploy operating systems with network-enabled WMI or WBEM support.

Query fails or is slow

Cause: The query does not have enough parameters.

Solution: Narrow down query using Named parameters or WHERE clause. For example:

  • wmic:root\cli>Alias OS list brief

  • wmic:root\cli>nteventlog application get /format:list

  • wmic:root\cli>UserAccount where "Domain='DomainName' and Name='UserName'" get /all

Output is not properly aligned in rows and columns.

Cause: Display space is too small.

Solution:

  • Increase Screen Buffer Size for Command (CMD) window.

  • Use WordPad.exe instead of Notepad to open large text files.

  • Use more criteria on query to display only necessary information.

  • Use a custom XSL file to display custom formatting.

Localized version of WMIC is not available (in some Multilingual User Interface (MUI) or Language Interface Packs)

Cause: Installed localized version of operating system.

Solution: Use the /LOCALE:ms_409 switch to set up English Locale as the default.

XSL files on Windows XP Professional are not supporting arrays

Cause: Operating system does not support XSL file arrays.

Solution: Use XSL from the Windows Server 2003 family to query other computers, including Windows XP Professional

Input parameter is of OBJECT type

Cause: Support is not fully implemented yet for input parameters which are of the OBJECT type. The default value (an empty string: "") is the only value currently supported.

Solution: Use the following command to set sharing of the c:\test directory for three users:

WMIC SHARE CALL Create "","test","3","TestShareName","","c:\test",0