WMI to use or not to use
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From: Tom Shelton on 2 Jan 2010 01:15 On 2010-01-02, mayayana <mayaXXyana(a)rcXXn.com> wrote: > >> (1)What is the downside of using WMI? > > Slow. Clunky. Poorly designed with tedious, > non-intuitive SQL syntax required. May not > be running/installed. > The SQL-like design provides ways to build > all sorts of different query variations, which is > interesting. But that same flexibility make WMI > very difficult to learn. > >> (2)Can I distribute the MS WMICORE or just suggest a user download WMI for >> Win not having WMI like Win98 etc? > > Yes. It's pre-installed starting with either 2000 > or ME. I'm not certain 200 has it, but I know ME > does. On NT it runs as a service. On 9x it's set > to run at startup. On NT I've also found that it > requires DCOM Process Launcher service. So it's > the sort of thing that's likely to be up and running on > a corporate intranet but really *should* be disabled > on a stand-alone system where it's unlikely to be > used. Nevertheless, both services run by default, > so it should be commonly available. > > I've used it a fair amount with scripting. It's mainly > useful as a scripting tool to supplement the WSH. > But I don't find it to be very useful except for getting > system info. (I actually disable it when I'm not using > it. I figure there's no sense leaving it running when there > could be a slight chance of security risk.) > The WMI Registry functions are a joke. The WMI software > product functions are just a partial, superfluous wrapper > around WindowsInstaller, which has a better COM interface > available directly. > It's mostly used by network admins who want to > manage a lot of machines with script. > I't works well for automating IIS. Creation of websites, etc. -- Tom Shelton
From: Tom Shelton on 2 Jan 2010 01:16 On 2010-01-02, C. Kevin Provance <*@*.*> wrote: > "Bee" <Bee(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:37F39B6C-F47C-42B5-A79E-4654D2520502(a)microsoft.com... >| (1)What is the downside of using WMI? >| (2)Can I distribute the MS WMICORE or just suggest a user download WMI for >| Win not having WMI like Win98 etc? >| I would like to use some WMI calls in my VB6 App. Specifically to get >| Serial Port information. >| (3) If not WMI, then what APIs will give me Serial Port info? >| (4)How do I check for WMI other that error trapping in a wrapper? >| > It sucks and I never and would never use it. I can do anything it does with > API...one way or the other. How 'bout automating the creation of multiple websites on multiple machines? I don't know of an api other then the IIS wmi interfaces for that. -- Tom Shelton
From: mayayana on 2 Jan 2010 10:11 > > I't works well for automating IIS. Creation of websites, etc. > Creation of websites? I don't pay much attention to the in and outs of Windows as a server, so I guess I wouldn't have come across that. But I still don't find anything in the CHM file, other than a brief mention that WMI can be used from as ASP page. I also don't find IIS in the index of my only WMI book. (Though that book is not much good, anyway. It's mostly a recipe book of pre-written scripts specifically for admins.) I don't understand where WMI comes into "creation of websites" on a Windows server. The functionality I've seen is aimed at administration of PCs/workstations. Do you mean like database access or server-side includes? Isn't that all in ASP?
From: Ralph on 2 Jan 2010 11:52 mayayana wrote: >> I't works well for automating IIS. Creation of websites, etc. >> > > Creation of websites? I don't pay much attention > to the in and outs of Windows as a server, so I guess > I wouldn't have come across that. But I still don't > find anything in the CHM file, other than a brief mention > that WMI can be used from as ASP page. I also don't > find IIS in the index of my only WMI book. (Though that > book is not much good, anyway. It's mostly a recipe > book of pre-written scripts specifically for admins.) > > I don't understand where WMI comes into "creation > of websites" on a Windows server. The functionality I've > seen is aimed at administration of PCs/workstations. > Do you mean like database access or server-side includes? > Isn't that all in ASP? WMI is not a single technology in the sense of being an independent free-standing tool, but facilitates working with a variety of management tools. ie, from a 40k foot view - it is a "front-end" for whatever supplies a provider. <g> Take a look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Management_Instrumentation While incomplete it gives a good overview of the possible. -ralph
From: Tom Shelton on 2 Jan 2010 12:15
On 2010-01-02, mayayana <mayaXXyana(a)rcXXn.com> wrote: >> >> I't works well for automating IIS. Creation of websites, etc. >> > > Creation of websites? I don't pay much attention > to the in and outs of Windows as a server, so I guess > I wouldn't have come across that. But I still don't > find anything in the CHM file, other than a brief mention > that WMI can be used from as ASP page. I also don't > find IIS in the index of my only WMI book. (Though that > book is not much good, anyway. It's mostly a recipe > book of pre-written scripts specifically for admins.) > > I don't understand where WMI comes into "creation > of websites" on a Windows server. The functionality I've > seen is aimed at administration of PCs/workstations. > Do you mean like database access or server-side includes? > Isn't that all in ASP? http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms525309.aspx Starting with IIS6 MS introduced WMI interfaces to configuring IIS. So, for instance, I have an automated deployment tool that pushes a code package to a server, then reads an xml configuration file and configures the IIS6 Metabase accordingly. This way the site can be pushed to mutliple servers and setup without having to log on to each one and configure IIS manually. -- Tom Shelton |