WMI Object Class and WMI Administrative Tools

I received a few emails about WMI Object Class after publishing the Group Policy Objects (GPO) and WMI Filter blog (http://portal.sivarajan.com/2011/05/group-policy-objects-gpo-and-wmi-filter.html).  Most of the questions were about how to  identify the WMI Object Class.

WMI Administrative Tools

In my opinion, the WMI Administrative Tools is the best option get these information.  This tool includes:

1. WMI CIM Studio: view and edit classes, properties, qualifiers, and instances in a CIM repository; run selected methods; generate and compile MOF files.
2. WMI Object Browser: view objects, edit property values and qualifiers, and run methods.
3. WMI Event Registration Tool: configure permanent event consumers ,create or view instances of event consumers, filters, bindings, and timer system classes.
4. WMI Event Viewer: displays events for all instances of registered consumers.

The WMI Object Browser tool gives you the object class information for the WMI filter. 

You can download the WMI Administrative Tools from the following location:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=6430f853-1120-48db-8cc5-f2abdc3ed314

WMI Code Generator Tool

You can also use WMI Code Generator tool.  The WMI Code Creator tool generates code that uses WMI to obtain management information or perform management tasks. You can use the tool to learn how to manage computers using WMI scripting and WMI .NET. The tool generates code that runs on the local computer, a remote computer, or a group of remote computers based on your selection from the Target Computer menu on the tool.

You can download this tool from the following location:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=2cc30a64-ea15-4661-8da4-55bbc145c30e&displaylang=en

Read More

Group Policy Objects (GPO) and WMI Filter

As you know, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) filters allow you to dynamically determine the scope of Group Policy objects (GPOs) based on attributes of the target computer. I started seeing many questions about verifying these WMI Filters prior to implementing it. You can use the wbemtest tool to verify the result.

More info about wbemtest tool - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee692770.aspx

In this example my goal is to verify an IP address using a WMI query. 

1.  Open wbemtest tool (Run -> type wbemtest)

2.  On the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester window, select Connect.

Note: For the local machine, click Connect with correct Namespace. For a remote computer, use the \\Remte\root\cimv2 format.

3.  Select Query button. 

4.  Enter your query string in the Enter Query box and click Apply. 

Note: In the below example, I am searching for 10.15.2.X IP address in the IP V4 Windows Routing Table. 

When a GPO that is linked to a WMI filter is applied on the target computer, the filter is evaluated on the target computer. If the WMI filter evaluates to false, the GPO is not applied (except if the client computer is running Windows 2000, in which case the filter is ignored and the GPO is always applied).  If the WMI filter evaluates to true, the GPO is applied.

As you can see in the following screenshot, the select * from Win32_IP4RouteTable Where Name Like "192.168.10.%" query returns a True value. 

In this example, select * from Win32_IP4RouteTable Where Name Like "192.168.10.%" query returns a  False value. 

Read More

Group Policy Report- Last time Group Policy was applied

I have created this post based on the question post on the TechNet forum. Here is a simple procedure you can use to generate a report with “Last time Group Policy was applied” information remotely.

The idea to run GPResult remotely using /S command and filter it using a FIND command. Here is the sample script:

echo off

FOR /f %%i in (C:\Computers.txt) do (

echo %%i >> C:\GPOutput.txt

gpresult /R /S %%i | find “Last time Group Policy was applied:”

>>C:\GPOutput.txt

)

The computers.txt files in an input file which contains all computer names. The Last time Group Policy was applied date will be in the GPOoutput.txt file

Read More

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Client Group Policy Documentation

When deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 clients, one way system administrators can provide the appropriate registry settings for each user is by defining Group Policies using an administrative template (.adm) file. Administrative template files contain specific information about which Group Policies the application implements, where policies are stored, and how to configure policies.

This download package contains the Communicator.adm file and a spreadsheet that documents the Group Policy settings for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 clients, including Office Communicator 2007, Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Attendant, and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat.

Download at source: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5d6f4b90-6980-430b-9f97-ffadbc07b7a9&displayLang=en

Read More