Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line overview

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

Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line overview

The Window Management Instrumentation command-line (WMIC) provides you with a simple command-line interface to Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), so you can take advantage of WMI to manage computers running Microsoft Windows. WMIC interoperates with existing shells and utility commands, and can be easily extended by scripts or other administration-oriented applications.

WMI Providers enable you to use WMI to manage a wide variety of hardware components, operating system subsystems, and application systems. WMIC can be used with all the schemas implemented by those WMI Providers.

WMIC can be used to remotely manage any computer with WMI that is a Windows domain member. WMIC does not have to be available on the remotely managed computer in order for WMIC to manage it.

You can use WMIC to accomplish tasks in the following typical scenarios:

  • Local management of a computer--you are at the computer and use the WMIC command to manage it.

  • Remote management of a computer--you are at one computer and use WMIC to manage another computer.

  • Remote management of multiple computers--you are at on one computer and use WMIC to manage multiple computers with a single command.

  • Remote management of a computer (using a remote session)--you use a remote session technology (such as Telnet or Terminal Services) to connect to a remote computer and manage it with WMIC.

  • Automated management using administrative scripting--you use WMIC to write a simple management script (batch file) to automate the management of a computer (local, remote, or multiple computers--serially or simultaneously).

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