How to Run WMIC

To invoke the WMIC command prompt, type

wmic

in the standard XP or .NET Server command interpreter (cmd.exe), a Telnet session, or the Run dialog box. These startup methods are available locally or through a .NET Server Terminal Services session.

The first time you start WMIC, Windows installs it on the computer and displays the WMIC command prompt, wmic:root\cli>. At this prompt, you enter commands interactively. For example, the command

process where name='outlook.exe' call terminate

closes Microsoft Outlook if it’s running. After the command runs, the WMIC command prompt reappears. Note that you must type each command in this article on one line, not split across multiple lines, for the commands to run properly. (Some commands in the tables and listings in this article are split across multiple lines for publication purposes.)

WMIC also runs in noninteractive mode. This mode is especially useful when you need to complete a single task or you need to run WMIC commands in a batch file. To run a command in noninteractive mode, you start WMIC and run the command in the same line of code. For example, you can open a command prompt and type

wmic /node:SERVER1 printer list status

to check the status of printers attached to SERVER1. In this example, WMIC starts, uses the /node switch to establish a remote connection to SERVER1, and runs a command to display printer status information. After the command runs and displays results, the command prompt reappears.

You can remotely access any WMI-enabled computer from any computer running WMIC. The computer you want to access doesn’t require WMIC. For example, you can start WMIC from a computer running XP Professional Edition to manage a mix of computers running XP, Win2K, Windows NT 4.0, Windows Me, and Windows 9x.

WMIC Command-Line Components

WMIC uses global switches, aliases, verbs, commands, and command-line help to empower the interface. Global switches are settings that apply to and for the entire WMIC session. For example, the /trace:on switch enables error tracing. While this switch is on, WMIC returns error information for every command you execute. The /node switch lets you access a remote computer. The /interactive:on switch ensures that WMIC prompts you for confirmation before performing delete operations. Other global switches include /role, /user, /implevel, and /namespace.

As I explained earlier, aliases are the friendly syntax intermediaries between you and the WMI namespace. Verbs are the actions you want to take when specifying an alias. I’ve already shown you the List and Call verbs. Table 1 describes the other WMIC verbs and provides a sample command for each one.