WMI is a powerful information repository – if you know the names of WMI classes:
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_BIOS Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_Share Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem
If you want to explore WMI, then the following code may come handy. Find-WmiClass accepts a simple keyword such as “video”, “network”, “ipaddress”. It then retrieves all WMI classes that contain the keyword either in its class name, or one of its properties or methods.
function Find-WmiClass { param([Parameter(Mandatory)]$Keyword) Write-Progress -Activity "Finding WMI Classes" -Status "Searching" # find all WMI classes... Get-WmiObject -Class * -List | # that contain the search keyword Where-Object { # is there a property or method with the keyword? $containsMember = ((@($_.Properties.Name) -like "*$Keyword*").Count -gt 0) -or ((@($_.Methods.Name) -like "*$Keyword*").Count -gt 0) # is the keyword in the class name, and is it an interesting type of class? $containsClassName = $_.Name -like "*$Keyword*" -and $_.Properties.Count -gt 2 -and $_.Name -notlike 'Win32_Perf*' $containsMember -or $containsClassName } Write-Progress -Activity "Find WMI Classes" -Completed } $classes = Find-WmiClass $classes | # let the user select one of the found classes Out-GridView -Title "Select WMI Class" -OutputMode Single | ForEach-Object { # get all instances of the selected class Get-CimInstance -Class $_.Name | # show all properties Select-Object -Property * | Out-GridView -Title "Instances" }
The user can then select one of the classes found, and the code then shows the actual instances of this class.
Disclaimer: there are some rare classes with thousands of instances, such as CIM_File. When selecting a WMI class with so many instances, the script may take a long time to complete.
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