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WMI Query Language (WQL)

Introduction to WMI Query Language (WQL)

WMI Query Language (WQL) is a powerful query language used to retrieve management information from Windows-based systems.

It allows users to interact with the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) infrastructure to gather information about system settings, configurations, and status.

In this lecture and lab workbook, you will learn the fundamentals of WQL, its syntax, and how to use it to query WMI data effectively.

---

Part 1: Understanding WMI Query Language (WQL)

What is WMI Query Language (WQL)?

WMI Query Language (WQL) is a SQL-like language used to query WMI to retrieve information about managed objects.

WQL queries are used to access a wide range of system information, from hardware and software inventory to system configuration settings.

Advantages of WQL

WQL offers the following advantages:

- **Powerful Querying**: WQL allows for complex and specific queries to be made against WMI objects.

- **Integration with WMI**:

WQL seamlessly integrates with WMI, enabling access to a wealth of system management information.

- **Standardized Syntax**:

WQL uses a standardized syntax similar to SQL, making it familiar to users with SQL experience.

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Part 2: WQL Syntax and Basic Queries

WQL Syntax

WQL queries follow a syntax similar to SQL.

A basic WQL query structure consists of the

`SELECT` and `FROM` clauses and optional `WHERE` and `GROUP BY` clauses.

- The `SELECT` clause specifies the properties of WMI objects to retrieve.

- The `FROM` clause specifies the WMI class to query.

- The `WHERE` clause filters the results based on specified conditions.

- The `GROUP BY` clause allows results to be grouped based on specific properties.

Basic WQL Queries

Let's look at a few basic WQL queries to understand the syntax:

1. Retrieve all properties of a specific WMI class: ```plaintext

SELECT * FROM Win32_Process

To run the WMI query `SELECT * FROM Win32_Process`, you can use PowerShell on a Windows machine.

This query is used to retrieve information about all the processes running on a Windows system.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to execute this query:

### Steps to Run WMI Query in PowerShell

1. **Open PowerShell**:

- You can open PowerShell by searching for it in the Start menu, or by pressing `Windows key + X` and selecting “Windows PowerShell” from the menu.

2. **Run the Query**:

- In the PowerShell window, you can execute the WMI query using the `Get-WmiObject` cmdlet. Type the following command and press Enter:

```powershell

Get-WmiObject -Query 'SELECT * FROM Win32_Process'

```

- This command tells PowerShell to use the `Get-WmiObject` cmdlet to perform a WMI query. The `-Query` parameter is used to specify the actual WQL (WMI Query Language) query.

3. **View the Results**:

- After you run the command, PowerShell will display information about all the processes currently running on your system.

- The information will include various details like process ID, name, executable path, etc.

4. **Optional - Formatting the Output**:

- If you want to format the output or retrieve specific properties, you can pipe the output to the `Select-Object` cmdlet. For example:

```powershell

Get-WmiObject -Query 'SELECT * FROM Win32_Process' | Select-Object ProcessName, ExecutablePath

```

- This will display only the process names and their executable paths.

### Additional Tips

- **Running as Administrator**: For certain queries or on certain systems, you might need to run PowerShell as an administrator to get complete information.

- **Learning More About WMI Classes**: The `Win32_Process` class is just one example. You can explore other WMI classes using PowerShell to gather different types of system information.

- **Alternative Cmdlets**: In newer versions of PowerShell, `Get-CimInstance` is often preferred over `Get-WmiObject`. The usage is similar:

```powershell

Get-CimInstance -Query 'SELECT * FROM Win32_Process'

```

- **Remote Query Execution**: You can also run WMI queries on remote machines by adding the `-ComputerName` parameter to your cmdlet.

Remember, running these queries gives you access to a lot of system information, so it's essential to use them responsibly, especially when working on shared or production environments.

2. Retrieve specific properties of a WMI class with a filter: ```plaintext SELECT Name, ProcessId FROM Win32_Process WHERE Name like 'Notepad%' ```

---

Part 3: Lab Workbook - Hands-on WQL Queries

Lab Instructions In this lab session, you will practice writing WQL queries to retrieve specific information from WMI. You will use the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) tool to execute WQL queries and observe the results.

Lab Tasks 1. Task 1: Connect to WMI using WMIC** - Open Command Prompt as an administrator. - Run the following command to start the WMIC tool: ```plaintext wmic ```

2. Task 2: Write and Execute WQL Queries** - Use the following WQL queries to retrieve information: - Query 1: Retrieve a list of all running processes and their process IDs. - Query 2: Retrieve the name and installation date of installed software.

3. Task 3: Analyze and Interpret Results** - After executing each query, observe the results and interpret the retrieved data.

Lab Summary In this lab, you have gained hands-on experience with writing and executing WQL queries to retrieve system information. WQL provides a powerful method to access and manage information within Windows-based systems using WMI.

---

In conclusion, understanding WMI Query Language (WQL) is essential for system administrators and IT professionals working with Windows management and monitoring. It offers a versatile and standardized method to access a wide range of system information through the Windows Management Instrumentation infrastructure. By mastering WQL, you gain valuable insights into system management and configuration, empowering you to efficiently monitor and maintain Windows-based environments.

Generate a listing of processes without the additional details using the `Get-WmiObject` cmdlet in PowerShell.

To do this, you will modify the command to select only the names of the processes.

Here's how you can do it:

1. **Open PowerShell**: - You can do this by searching for it in the Start menu, or by pressing `Windows key + X` and selecting “Windows PowerShell” from the menu.

2. **Run the Modified Query**: - In the PowerShell window, enter the following command: ```powershell Get-WmiObject -Query 'SELECT * FROM Win32_Process' | Select-Object Name ``` - This command uses the `Get-WmiObject` cmdlet to execute the WMI query and then pipes (`|`) the output to the `Select-Object` cmdlet. The `Select-Object Name` part tells PowerShell to only display the names of the processes, filtering out all other details.

3. **View the Results**: - After running the command, PowerShell will display a list of process names. This will be a simpler list without the additional details like process ID, executable path, etc.

### Additional Notes

- **Running as Administrator**: For comprehensive access to all processes, consider running PowerShell as an administrator. - **Exporting the List**: If you want to save this list to a file, you can add `| Out-File -FilePath C:\path\to\your\file.txt` at the end of the command. - **Alternative Cmdlet**: As mentioned earlier, in newer PowerShell versions, `Get-CimInstance` is often recommended. The equivalent command would be: ```powershell Get-CimInstance -Query 'SELECT * FROM Win32_Process' | Select-Object Name This approach provides a clean and straightforward list of processes, making it easier to view and analyze.

More details

You can retrieve both the list of processes and their resource utilization using PowerShell.

This typically includes details like CPU usage, memory usage, and more.

Combine the `Get-WmiObject` cmdlet with the appropriate class and then select the necessary properties.

### PowerShell Script to Get Processes and Resource Utilization

```powershell $processes = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process | Select-Object Name, @{Name="CPU";Expression={($_.GetRelated('Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfProc_Process') | Measure-Object -Property PercentProcessorTime -Sum).Sum}}, @{Name="Memory";Expression={($_.WS / 1MB)}}

$processes | Format-Table -AutoSize ```

In this script:

1. `Get-WmiObject Win32_Process` gets the details of each process. 2. `Select-Object` is used to select the process name, CPU usage, and memory usage. - The CPU usage is obtained by relating the process to `Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfProc_Process` and summing up the `PercentProcessorTime`. - The memory usage (`WS` - Working Set) is obtained directly from the `Win32_Process` object and converted to megabytes (MB) for readability.

3. `Format-Table -AutoSize` formats the output as a table for better readability.

### Writing the Output to a Text File

If you want to save this information to a text file, you can do so using `Out-File`:

```powershell $processes | Out-File -FilePath "C:\path\to\output.txt" ```

Replace `"C:\path\to\output.txt"` with your desired file path.

### Notes and Considerations

- **Performance Impact**: Note that this script may take some time to execute, as it calculates the CPU usage for each process individually. - **Administrative Privileges**: Running this script with administrative privileges may provide more comprehensive results, especially on systems with restricted access. - **Memory Usage Representation**: The memory usage in this script is represented in MB. This is the process's current working set size, which is the set of memory pages touched recently by the threads in the process.

This approach should provide a detailed overview of the processes running on your system along with their respective CPU and memory utilization. Remember, resource utilization metrics can fluctuate rapidly, so the values provided are snapshots at the time of query execution.

Saving to a text file:

In PowerShell, you can easily redirect the output of a command to a text file.

To write the output of your command to a text file, you can use the `Out-File` cmdlet.

Here's how you can modify your command to save the list of process names to a file:

```powershell Get-WmiObject -Query 'SELECT * FROM Win32_Process' | Select-Object Name | Out-File -FilePath 'C:\path\to\output.txt' ```

In this command: - `Get-WmiObject -Query 'SELECT * FROM Win32_Process'` retrieves the processes. - `Select-Object Name` filters the output to show only the process names. - `Out-File -FilePath 'C:\path\to\output.txt'` writes the output to a file located at `C:\path\to\output.txt`. You should replace `'C:\path\to\output.txt'` with the actual path and filename where you want to save the file.

### Additional Tips:

- **Specifying the Output Path**: Ensure that the directory where you want to save the file already exists. PowerShell will not automatically create a new directory if the specified path doesn't exist. - **File Overwriting**: If the specified file already exists, `Out-File` will overwrite it by default. To append to an existing file instead, use the `-Append` parameter with `Out-File`. - **Encoding**: If you need a specific text encoding for your file, you can use the `-Encoding` parameter. For example, to use UTF-8 encoding, add `-Encoding UTF8` to the `Out-File` cmdlet. - **Alternative Redirection Operators**: Besides `Out-File`, you can also use redirection operators, like `>` for writing to a file (e.g., `... | Select-Object Name > 'C:\path\to\output.txt'`). However, `Out-File` provides more control and is generally preferred for scripting.

Remember to replace `'C:\path\to\output.txt'` with the actual path where you want to save the file, and ensure you have the necessary permissions to write to that location.

Summate and Group by

To create a PowerShell script that groups processes by their name and provides a summed total of their CPU and memory usage:

You must modify the approach a bit. The following script will do this:

### PowerShell Script for Summed Total of CPU and Memory Usage by Process

```powershell # Getting process details $processes = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process

# Calculating CPU usage and memory usage, grouped by process name

$groupedProcesses = $processes | Group-Object -Property Name | Select-Object Name,

@{Name="TotalCPU";Expression={($_.Group | Measure-Object -Property CPU -Sum).Sum}},

@{Name="TotalMemoryMB";Expression={($_.Group | Measure-Object -Property WS -Sum).Sum / 1MB}}

# Formatting and displaying the output

$groupedProcesses | Sort-Object TotalCPU -Descending | Format-Table -AutoSize ```

In this script:

1. We use `Get-WmiObject Win32_Process` to fetch the processes. 2. We group these processes by their `Name` property using `Group-Object -Property Name`. 3. For each group, we calculate: - `TotalCPU`: The sum of the CPU time used by all instances of the process. - `TotalMemoryMB`: The total memory (Working Set) used by all instances of the process, converted to MB for readability. 4. Finally, we sort the results by `TotalCPU` in descending order and format them as a table.

### Writing the Output to a Text File

To save this output to a text file, append the `Out-File` cmdlet:

```powershell $groupedProcesses | Sort-Object TotalCPU -Descending | Format-Table -AutoSize | Out-File -FilePath "C:\path\to\output.txt" ```

Replace `"C:\path\to\output.txt"` with your desired file path.

### Additional Notes

- **CPU Time**: The `CPU` property represents the amount of time that the thread has executed in user mode and kernel mode, measured in milliseconds. - **Working Set (Memory)**: This represents the current size, in bytes, of the Working Set of this process. The Working Set is the set of memory pages touched recently by the threads in the process. - **Performance Considerations**: This script could take some time to run, especially on systems with many processes, due to the grouping and calculation. - **Run As Administrator**: Running the PowerShell script as an administrator may provide more accurate and comprehensive results.

This script provides a concise summary of CPU and memory usage per process type, aiding in identifying processes that are consuming significant system resources.

To expand the script to sort processes by their resource usage and report only on the top 10% of resource consumers,

you'll first need to sort the processes based on a criterion (like Total CPU or Total Memory usage),

then calculate the top 10% of these sorted processes.

### PowerShell Script for Reporting Top 10% Resource Consumers

```powershell # Getting process details $processes = Get-WmiObject Win32_Process

# Calculating CPU and memory usage, grouped by process name $groupedProcesses = $processes | Group-Object -Property Name | Select-Object Name, @{Name="TotalCPU";Expression={($_.Group | Measure-Object -Property CPU -Sum).Sum}}, @{Name="TotalMemoryMB";Expression={($_.Group | Measure-Object -Property WS -Sum).Sum / 1MB}}

# Sorting by Total CPU and Total Memory usage (descending) $sortedProcesses = $groupedProcesses | Sort-Object TotalCPU, TotalMemoryMB -Descending

# Calculating top 10% of the sorted list $top10PercentCount = [math]::Ceiling($sortedProcesses.Count * 0.1) $top10PercentProcesses = $sortedProcesses | Select-Object -First $top10PercentCount

# Formatting and displaying the output $top10PercentProcesses | Format-Table -AutoSize ```

In this script:

1. The `Group-Object` cmdlet groups the processes by their `Name` property. 2. For each group, it calculates `TotalCPU` and `TotalMemoryMB`. 3. The script sorts the grouped processes by `TotalCPU` and `TotalMemoryMB` in descending order. 4. It calculates the count for the top 10% of processes using the total count of the sorted processes. 5. It then selects only the top 10% of these processes for the final output. 6. The final output is formatted as a table for easy reading.

### Writing the Output to a Text File

To save this output to a text file, use the `Out-File` cmdlet:

```powershell $top10PercentProcesses | Format-Table -AutoSize | Out-File -FilePath "C:\path\to\output.txt" ```

Remember to replace `"C:\path\to\output.txt"` with your actual file path.

### Additional Notes

- **Resource Criterion**: The script currently sorts based on both `TotalCPU` and `TotalMemoryMB`. You might want to adjust this based on which specific resource usage you're more interested in. - **Rounding**: The use of `[math]::Ceiling` ensures that you always round up to get at least one process, even if 10% of your process count does not result in a whole number. - **Permissions**: Execute the script with appropriate permissions, especially if you're on a restricted or managed system.

This script effectively identifies the top resource-consuming processes, which can be particularly useful for system analysis and optimization tasks.

Lecture: Understanding WMIC – Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line

#### Introduction

Welcome to this session on WMIC, or Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line. Today, we'll delve into what WMIC is, how it is used, and why it's an important tool for system administrators and IT professionals.

#### What is WMIC?

1. **Background**

- WMIC is the command-line interface to Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

- WMI itself is a Windows feature that provides a standardized way to access management information, including details about the operating system, services, and hardware.

2. **WMIC as a Tool**

- It allows users to access WMI data directly from the command line or within batch scripts.

- WMIC provides a more straightforward method to fetch system information, manage processes, services, and more, using simple, SQL-like queries.

#### How to Use WMIC

1. **Accessing WMIC** - You can start WMIC by simply typing `wmic` in the Command Prompt.

⁠

2. Executing Queries - Once in the WMIC environment, you can execute various commands to interact with the system.

- For example, `wmic process list brief` displays a brief list of all running processes.

3. Utilizing Aliases

- WMIC uses aliases for sets of WMI classes and their properties, making it easier to retrieve specific information. - For instance, the `process` alias refers to the Win32_Process class, which contains information about processes running on the system.

4. Output Formats - WMIC allows you to format the output in various ways, such as list, table, or even CSV format, which is useful for scripting and automation.

Why Use WMIC?

1. Scripting and Automation

- WMIC is an invaluable tool for scripting and automation on Windows systems. - It can be easily integrated into batch scripts to automate routine tasks like system monitoring, process management, and software updates.

2. Simplified Management

- WMIC simplifies the process of managing various aspects of the Windows operating system and networked computers. - It provides a more accessible interface for those who prefer command-line tools over graphical interfaces.

3. **Remote Administration** - WMIC can be used to execute commands on remote machines, facilitating easy management of multiple systems in a network.

4. **Troubleshooting and Diagnostics** - It is a powerful tool for troubleshooting and diagnostics, allowing quick retrieval of detailed system information, aiding in problem identification.

Transition to Modern Tools

- **PowerShell Integration**

- While WMIC remains a powerful tool, it's important to note that PowerShell now offers similar and more advanced capabilities for managing Windows systems. - PowerShell provides more comprehensive scripting features and is considered the future of Windows automation and scripting.

Conclusion

WMIC stands out as a user-friendly, versatile tool for Windows system administration.

Understanding and utilizing WMIC can greatly enhance your ability to manage and automate tasks in a Windows environment.

As we move forward, integrating PowerShell with your skillset will further expand your capabilities in system management and automation.

To practice writing and executing WQL (Windows Management Instrumentation Query Language) queries in a lab environment using Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC), you will need to use the Windows Command Prompt, as WMIC is a command-line tool distinct from PowerShell. However, you can still run WMIC commands within the PowerShell ISE by invoking them through the Command Prompt interface within PowerShell. Here's how you can do it:

### Task 1: Connect to WMI using WMIC in PowerShell ISE

1. **Open PowerShell ISE as an Administrator**:

- Click on the Start Menu.

- Type “PowerShell ISE.”

- Right-click on “Windows PowerShell ISE” and select “Run as administrator.”

2. **Start WMIC in PowerShell ISE**:

- Once the PowerShell ISE is open, you can start the WMIC tool by typing the following command at the PowerShell prompt and pressing Enter:

```powershell

cmd /c wmic

```

- This command (`cmd /c wmic`) opens the Command Prompt within PowerShell ISE and then executes the `wmic` command, starting the WMIC tool.

3. **Using WMIC**:

- After executing the above command, you should see the `wmic:root\cli>` prompt, indicating that WMIC is running and ready to accept commands.

- Now, you can enter WQL queries directly in this WMIC session.

4. **Example WMIC Query**:

- For example, to list all the running processes, you could use:

```plaintext

process list brief

- This command will display a brief list of all processes currently running on the system.

5. **Exiting WMIC**:

- To exit WMIC and return to the PowerShell prompt, type `exit` and press Enter.

### Additional Information

- **About WMIC**: WMIC is a command-line interface that provides access to WMI. You can use it to execute WQL queries, which are SQL-like queries for retrieving management information from Windows systems.

- **WMIC vs PowerShell**: While WMIC is powerful, it's important to note that it's distinct from PowerShell. PowerShell offers similar capabilities through cmdlets like `Get-WmiObject` and `Get-CimInstance`.

- **PowerShell for WMI**: As you progress, consider using PowerShell directly for WMI-related tasks, as PowerShell provides more robust and flexible scripting capabilities.

By following these steps, you should be able to practice WQL queries using WMIC within PowerShell ISE, combining the strengths of both command-line interfaces.

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