Microsoft® Windows® Management Instrumentation (WMI) is Microsoft's implementation of the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) effort. It is implemented on Microsoft Windows platforms.
There are two components to WMI. In the Dell™ OpenManage™ Client Instrumentation (OMCI) architecture diagram (see Figure 1-1), both of these components are represented by the Microsoft WMI Object Manager box. The first component is the Common Information Model (CIM) Object Manager (CIMOM), which is the interface and manipulation point for CIM objects and information. It acts as a facilitator in gathering information and manipulating object properties. Microsoft has implemented this component as the winmgmt service. The CIMOM is a software middle layer that mediates interactions between high-level management applications and the lower levels of instrumentation, such as OMCI and other providers. The CIMOM ensures that data supplied by providers is presented to management applications in a uniform and provider-independent way. The CIMOM does this, in part, by using the Component Object Model (COM) Application Programming Interface (API) for communication with providers and management applications.
The other WMI component is the repository. The repository is a binary file where the CIMOM stores management data. Such data includes information from the compiled Managed Object Format (MOF) file(s), including the CIM class definitions, properties, qualifiers, and hierarchical relationships. Instance data, as it becomes available, is also stored here.
WMI Security
WMI provides for user authentication before granting access to CIM data and methods. Access privileges are enforced by distributed component object model (DCOM) security and the CIMOM. Access, whether full or limited, can be granted to users on per-namespace basis. There is no implementation of classor property-level security. By default, users that are members of the administrators group have full local and remote access to WMI.
WMI security can be configured using the WMI Control available in the Computer Management console under the Services and Applications section. Right-click WMI Control, and then click Properties. You can configure namespace-specific security from the Security tab. WMI Control can also be executed from the Start menu or the command prompt by running wmimgmt.msc.
NOTE: To connect remotely to WMI services, you must have administrative rights for both the local and the remote systems.
NOTE: In Microsoft Windows XP, the default authentication level is changed from CONNECT to PACKET level. This results in a backward compatibility problem with Windows 2000. Systems running Windows 2000 need to have Service Pack 2 installed to be able to connect to WMI on systems running Windows XP.
Retrieving Dell Information With SMS 2.0
Due to inherent limitations, Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0 can only retrieve information from the root\cimv2 namespace. OMCI provides information in the root\dellomci namespace. However, to make certain key attributes available to SMS, OMCI duplicates them in the root\cimv2 namespace. For Dell systems running OMCI, you can import the following system attributes into SMS 2.0:
Service tag
Asset tag
System vendor
System description
Basic input/output (BIOS) revision
BIOS date
Processor type
Processor speed
To retrieve these Dell attributes, edit the sms_def.mof file found on the SMS server in the sms\inboxes\clifiles.src\hinv directory. Add the following lines to the end of the sms_def.mof file:
WMI provides a scripting interface. Using VBScript or JScript, you can write scripts that connect to WMI services locally or remotely, retrieve information, or execute methods. Because OMCI is implemented through WMI, most OMCI tasks can be scripted. This section provides sample VBScript scripts as examples only.
NOTE: To connect remotely to WMI services, you must have administrative rights for both the local and the remote systems.
The following text files contain sample scripts. To execute any of the scripts, save the script with a .vbs extension. At the command prompt, type cscript.exe //nologo <script name> and the appropriate parameters. If you do not specify any parameters, the usage for the script will be printed out.
NOTE: The sample scripts are provided as examples only, and have not been tested, nor are warranted in any way by Dell; Dell disclaims any liability in connection therewith. Dell provides no technical support with regard to such scripting. For more information on WMI scripting, refer to applicable Microsoft documentation.
